By Bill Green
Carden Combat Sports presents live professional boxing on Saturday from the CHI Event Center Parking Lot D, located in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha native and former Jr Olympic champion and 5 x Golden Glove champion, Edel Gomez 4-0 with 4 knockouts, out of B&B Boxing Academy will host this year’s annual September Fest event. The 6’2 power punching light heavyweight will face Oklahoma’s Rico “The Hurricane” Cato, who is making his boxing debut, but is no stranger to the fight game as he has 7 pro MMA fights, 1-0 as a kickboxer and quite the reputation as being extremely heavy-handed. Cato stepped in for Gomez’s original opponent Yhorhighness Rezzaq 2-0, out of New Mexico, who tested positive for Covid 19 last week.
Gomez, amassed over 100 amateur bouts, and has sparred/trained alongside world champion and stablemates Terence “Bud” Crawford 37-0 (28), Steven “So Cold” Nelson 17-0 (14). Gomez turned pro in August of 2020 with a sensational 1st rd. TKO over Chicago’s Glenn Evans 0-3 and has already won an additional 3 straight bouts in 2021…all coming by TKO. Opponent Yhorhighness “Dangerous” Rezzaq turned pro in 2019 with a 1st rd. TKO, didn’t compete in 2020 during Covid and returned in 2021 with a 4-rd. decision over Michael Sanchez 2-6 in a thrilling action-packed battle New Mexico. Gomez stated “Only my 5th fight and I’m headlining, this is crazy, tickets are flying and I’m grinding in the gym, and I want to put some spectacular for this city…get ready for Fireworks.” Trainer Brian “BoMac” Mcintyre would add “Edel has the look, that the tv audience are going to fall in love with……but his ass can fight too. We are going to move him along similar to Nelson.”
The co-main event will feature the boxing debut of Sarah Liegmann, of Reinbek, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, now residing in New York. Sarah is 17 x World Champion and doing so by the mere age of 19. She is a young, good looking, extremely marketable athlete transitioning from kickboxing to boxing. She is being managed by Mark Taffet, the former HBO Sports Executive and current President of Mark Taffet Media. Liegmann will face North Carolina’s Kedra Bradley 1-2 in a scheduled 4 rd. Super Bantamweight battle. Bradley, 24 years old, was a former Division 2 NCAA College Basketball player before falling in love with the sport of boxing. She displays an all-action and no-nonsense style in the ring, which presents a nice challenge for Liegmann. Taffet stated “As good as Sarah is in the rings, she’s even a better role model for young female athletes. She’s mature beyond her years and we expect a fast rise in the US.”
The night’s featured bout will include a solid matchup between two Omaha natives when B&B’s Ali “Bomaye” Teha takes on Shentavione “The Fighting Spirit” Moore in a 4 rd. Super Bantamweight grudge match. While both fighters are making their professional debut, it is the grudge that is selling this fight at a rapid pace. Where does the grudge come from? Ali stated “Marcus used to be my old coach, I left and he started gassing this dude up that he could beat me, meanwhile I’m over here at B&B training alongside champions, so it makes no sense. He’s going to get his fighter hurt” When asked about the grudge, the soft-spoken Moore stated “it’s between them, but regardless I’m bringing my all in there.” Coach Marcus went on to add, “none of this is personal, Ali is trying to make this about some grudge or this and that…it isn’t. We have sparred him before and we know he’s tough but we also like our chances in there.”
Fight fan’s love Heavyweights and Carden Combat Sports is putting a fun one together as former North Platte and now Omaha resident, “Big” Rob Mitchell will make his professional boxing debut against Saint Joseph, Missouri’s David Becker 1-3 (1) in a 4 rd. Heavyweight slugfest. Big Rob stands 6’6 300lbs and sported a 6-4 pro MMA record before trainer/manager Grover Wiley transitioned him to boxing. Wiley, a stellar Omaha pro boxer, clearly knows what he’s doing and teaching inside the ring as he sported 32 career wins, including one over current Hall of Famer, Julio Cesar Chavez. Wiley stated “He’s actually down to around 275/280 now, the man has heavy hands, he’s a beast in there. If he connects, it’s over and quick.” Becker is a good-sized Heavyweight at 250lbs as well, and is being trained by former Missouri Heavyweight Byron “The Bear” Polley, who also had 30 career wins. Great experienced trainers and over 550 combined lbs.…grab your popcorn.
The night’s undercard action is well rounded as another Omaha and B&B Boxing Academy athlete, Jose Camacho 3-0 with 1 knockout, faces a tough test in Denver Colorado’s Anel Dudo. Camacho was a stellar amateur with over 70 wins, including winning the Silver Gloves by beating Gabriel Flores, who now boasts an undefeated record of 20-0 and is signed by Top Rank Promotions. Dudo, while making his boxing debut, is already known in the Colorado circuit as “tough sparring.” Dudo has already fought 3 Semi-Pro boxing bouts, 1 Muay Thai bout and a Kick boxing bout since turning pro. His twin brother, Alen, will also appear on the card against a TBA opponent. Camacho vs Dudo is scheduled for 4 rds. in the featherweight division. No running in this one, potential fight of the night.
Two top Lincoln fighters are making the short 50-mile trip to Omaha as Carden Combat’s Jack “Lawless” Freriks 3-0 (2) returns to the ring against Kansas’s Tre’ Dobbins in a 4 rd. Light Heavyweight bout. Freriks is down to fight anytime, anyplace and any form of combat as evident from his 1-1 Bare Knuckle record, 7-5 MMA record and 3-0 Boxing record. The other Lincoln native on the card, is former 3 x Midwest Golden Glove champion Rouj “The Hitman” Talat as he makes his much-anticipated pro debut against Arkansas’s Quincy “King” Means 0-1 in a scheduled 4 rd. boxer vs puncher Featherweight bout. Talat stated “I dedicate this fight to my former coach and mentor John Kuebler.” Kuebler passed away in 2020 and is a shoe-in for the Nebraska Hall of Fame. The 5’6 southpaw, Means, was a 4 x Golden Gloves champion and was teammates with current IBF Super Middle champion, Caleb “Sweet Hands” Plant on the 2012 Mid-South National team. What makes this fight even more intriguing is Means is being managed and trained by former fighter and Omaha native Michael Cooley of Hammer Down management. Cooley stated “I have plenty of family in Omaha and I can’t wait to show you all how I pack the house, Omaha style.”
Cooley has another fighter on the card in Kendric “Godzilla” Gallow 0-2 of Columbia, Louisiana, and he faces Omaha’s combat warrior Emeka Ifekandu 1-3 in a scheduled 4 rd. Super Welterweight evenly matched bout. The 6 ‘1 southpaw Gallow, was a 2 x Louisiana state game winner. Ifekandu has over 23 combined pro/amateur MMA bouts, and scored a big upset victory over B&B’s Kevin Nauden at the 2019 September Fest event.
With only a 10% chance of rain, and hopefully a Husker win in the morning, Carden Combat Sports, plans on keeping the party going all weekend long, with some of the best in the Midwest to lace them up at September Fest!!!
Tickets can be purchased at www.cardencombatsports.com