By Ricardo Ibarra
Welterweight Andre Keys (10-1, 5 KOs) will step into the ring in search of his eleventh professional win on Saturday August 3rd, at the Clackamas Armory in Clackamas, Oregon, taking on durable journeyman Antonio Neal (4-10-1, 3 KOs) in a rematch of their 2016 meeting. The six round fight will head up 2Pound Sports & Entertainment’s second card at the venue, which will also feature an additional five fights including an exhibition bout between former world champions Steve “2 Pound” Forbes and DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley.
As an amateur, Keys claimed multiple regional Golden Gloves titles fighting under the tutelage of former USA Olympic team head coach Tom Mustin. He’s notched ten victories since turning pro in 2016 and has been on a nine-fight win streak since suffering his lone professional defeat—a first round loss to Thomas Turner in March of 2016. Keys claimed a unanimous decision win over Neal in their initial meeting, pitching a shutout over five rounds. In Keys’ most recent outing, the slick Tacoma, WA native defeated Randy Fuentes by split decision last November.
Neal, meanwhile, will be looking for his first win in seven bouts. The tough banger from Sunnyside, Washington last fought on June 1st, battling to a six round split draw against Sean Gee. Keys and Neal will meet at 145 lbs. in their return bout.
In a special attraction three round exhibition, former IBF Jr. lightweight world champion Steve Forbes (36-14, 11 KOs) will meet one-time WBO Jr. welterweight world title holder DeMarcus Corley (51-33-1, 28 KOs). Forbes made a successful return to the ring after a near five-year hiatus in April, scoring a seven round decision win over Tavorus Teague. He had planned on continuing his comeback on this card, but after the death of two close family members forced him to take his attention away from training, he made the decision to postpone his next fight and chose instead to compete in this exhibition. Corley has remained an active fighter over his twenty-six years as a pro. He last fought in March, losing via sixth round TKO to Custio Clayton. When the two former world champions face off, they’ll bring a total of 135 fights of professional experience into the ring.
Four pro fights will make up the remainder of the card. In a four round Jr. middleweight contest, undefeated Oregonian Chris Johnson (4-0, 1 KO) will take on the winless William Fernandez (0-6); Virginia’s DeJon Corley, the son of DeMarcus Corley, will make his professional debut in a four round 140 lbs. contest, taking on Mike Fernandez (0-1); Las Vegas’ Daquan Wyatt (3-0, 3 KOs) will look to add his fourth straight knockout win, facing off with Andres Garcia Abarca (1-2) in a welterweight match-up; and finally making his pro debut, William Hernandez-Gomez will take on Chris Wheaton (0-4) in a four round Jr. welterweight bout.
Tickets to 2Pound Sports’ ‘Fight Night 4’ are available now at https://www.tickettomato.com/event/6210. For more information visit www.2poundsports.com or the 2Pound Sports and Entertainment Facebook page.