Irish welterweight prospect Paddy “Pat-man” Gallagher (13-3-0, 8 KOs) of Belfast, Northern Ireland will now battle Brad Solomon (27-1-0, 9 KOs), of Douglasville, GA in the first round of ‘The Jose Sulaiman World Invitational Tournament’ set for Friday, April 27, 2018 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY.

Gallagher replaces the injured Radzhab Butaev, who suffered a right shoulder injury this past week.

“Radzhab Butaev was very much looking forward to competing in the ‘Jose Sulaiman World Invitational Tournament’ but unfortunately he suffered a shoulder injury in training that will require treatment and possibly surgery,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment, promoter of Butaev. “He’ll be out of the ring for some period and hopes to be back as quickly as possible.”

“It’s unfortunate that Butaev injured his shoulder in training however Paddy Gallagher was training to fight Francisco Santana as alternates on April 27 and he’s very excited now to be fighting in the first round of the tournament against Brad Solomon,” said Evander Holyfield.

The updated schedule of first round fights for the tournament representing eight countries are;

#1 ranked Felix Diaz (19-2-0, 9 KOs) of Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic will clash with #8 ranked Francisco Santana (26-6-1, 12 KOs), of Santa Barbara, CA, representing Mexico.

#2 ranked Chris Van Heerden (25-2-1, 12 KOs) of Johannesburg, South Africa, faces #7 ranked Timo Schwarzkopf (18-1-0, 10 KOs) of Stuttgart, Germany.

#3 ranked Fredrick Lawson (26-1-0, 21 KOs), of Accra, Ghana, battles #6 ranked Baishanbo Nasiywula (13-1-1, 6 KOs), of Urumqi, China.

#4 ranked Paddy Gallagher (13-3-0, 8 KOs), of Belfast, Northern Ireland, faces #5 ranked Brad Solomon (27-1-0, 9 KOs), of Douglasville, Georgia.

All bouts are scheduled for ten rounds. A new alternate will be announced shortly.