“Battle at the Boat” – the nation’s longest running tribal boxing series – will hold its 122nd installment on July 12th at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington as the SHOWTIME ShoBox series returns with a lineup featuring undefeated heavyweight prospects Jermaine Franklin and Otto Wallin plus local fan favorite jr lightweight Giovanni Cabrera Mioletti.
“We are very excited to have SHOWTIME boxing back in the Pacific Northwest,” said Brian Halquist, who is co-promoting the event with Dmitriy Salita of Salita Promotions. Halquist has promoted numerous SHOWTIME Championship Boxing and ShoBox events as well as ESPN, FOX Sports and HBO cards at the Emerald Queen Casino over the past 30 years.
In the main event, Franklin (18-0-0, 13 KOs) will face Jerry Forrest (25-2-0, 19 KOs) in a ten-round heavyweight bout. Franklin, the 2014 National Golden Gloves Champion, is coming off a one-sided unanimous decision win over veteran Rydell Booker (April 13th).
The co-event showcases Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs) of Sweden as he faces trial horse B.J. Flores (34-4-1, 21 KOs) in a ten-round heavyweight contest. Wallin’s U.S. debut back in April was stopped before the end of the first round after the fighter and his opponent suffered cuts due to an accidental headbutt. Wallin’s opponent indicated that he could not see out of his right eye and the bout was declared a No Contest.
“This is an exciting time for the heavyweight division and on July 12th boxing fans will have an opportunity to witness two of the division’s best new faces in significant tests,” said Salita.
In the opening bout of the ShoBox event, undefeated jr lightweight Cabrera Mioletti (16-0, 7 KOs), a native of Seattle, who now fights out of Chicago, will go up against an undefeated fighter for the seventh time in his young career when he fights Luis Porozo (14-0, 7 KOs) in a ten-round affair. The 24-year-old Mioletti has handed six boxers their first career defeat.
“I’ve been in the boxing game for over 30 years and I’ve never seen a better prospect than Gio,” Halquist said. “Many boxers can go their entire careers without facing an undefeated fighter. Gio has already fought, and defeated, six of them.”
Several more bouts featuring top local talent will soon be announced.
Doors will open at 5:30p and the ShoBox broadcast starts at 7p. Tickets are $200, $80 plus $60, and are on sale at Ticketmaster or the EQC box office.