By Ricardo Ibarra
In as close to a hometown fight as he’s had in a while, Tacoma’s Marquice “Tree” Weston (14-1-1, 8 KOs) will step back into the ring this Saturday at the Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington, taking on Joey Montoya (9-5-3, 3 KOs), of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Fighting in an eight round match-up, Weston and Montoya will head-up a stacked eight bout line-up promoted by Pacific Northwest Professional Boxing Promotions.
The once beaten Weston is looking to keep his recent stretch of success going, having claimed seven straight wins since his lone pro defeat against Montez Brown—a close majority decision loss in 2016. Over the past year he’s claimed two impressive stoppage wins, his most recent of which was a fourth round TKO of Wilfrido Leal on May 11th in Mexico. The 6’7” boxer has been gradually improving and showing some real potential as he tries to climb the boxing ladder.
“I think Weston is the top cruiserweight prospect out of the Northwest at this time,” said promoter Keith Weir. “I see him going far in this sport. He’s a talented guy and has the opportunity to take it far.”
Montoya, a tough banger out of Colorado, started his pro career in 2009, stacking a record of 4-0-3 in his first seven fights and going three years before suffering his first defeat. After spending the last two years away from the sport, he’s looking to break a stretch of bad luck which left him with three straight decision losses, albeit every one of those losses came against undefeated fighters. In his last fight, he lost an eight round unanimous decision to Donald Cobb in September of 2016.
“We’ve got a really good main event,” said Weir of the match-up. “Montoya is coming to fight. And I think it’s a good fight for Weston. I think it’s a bit of a step up for him. Montoya’s tough and he’s fought some good fighters. This should be a good fight.”
Weston and Montoya will clash in an eight round bout scheduled to take place in the cruiserweight division. Seven additional bouts will make up the rest of the card.
In what has the potential to be an explosive match-up, Seattle’s Rob Diezel (12-7, 4 KOs) will face-off with Kenny Guzman (4-2, 1 KO), of Kalispell, Montana in a six round featherweight fight. Diezel, a crafty boxer who has the propensity to bang when pushed, has been on an undefeated run in his last three fights—although he has not fought since June of 2017 when he defeated tough Ugandan Phillip Adyaka by unanimous decision. Guzman, once a highly touted Montana amateur, faced his greatest challenge as a pro last year when she stepped up to take on former Olympian Michael Conlan, losing in the second round. He’s looking to get back in the win column, having lost two of his last three fights. In his most recent bout this past February, he was stopped in the third by Ricardo Lucio Galvan.
Tacoma’s Nicholas Jefferson (6-0, 4 KOs) will square off with California’s Jose Leon (7-3-1, 6 KOs) in a six round Jr. middleweight clash. Jefferson has maintained a busy schedule since turning pro in June of last year, going unbeaten in six fights and scoring all but two inside the distance. His last fight took place this past March in Mexico where he claimed a four round unanimous decision win over Santiago Arreola Pacheco. Leon, meanwhile, scored a third round TKO over Juan Manuel Rodriguez Chavez in his last fight, breaking a two-fight losing streak.
In a four round lightweight contest, promising nineteen-year-old Cris Reyes (4-0, 3 KOs), of Renton, Washington, will battle William Parra-Smith, of Alaska. Reyes has been on a tear in 2018, scoring three straight knockout victories. In his most recent outing, he rolled through Keith Wolf in the second round. Parra-Smith is making his pro debut.
Rounding out the remainder of the card will be John Peak (2-0, 1 KO) taking on Chaz Jordan—an MMA pro who is making his professional boxing debut—in a four round light heavyweight contest; Gregory Cruz (1-0) facing off with Justin Hubbard (0-1) over four rounds at 130 lbs.; welterweight Chris Johnson (1-0, 1 KO) battling Andres Garcia-Abarca (1-0) in a four round welterweight tilt; and finally Taylor Shirley and Alejandro Alvarez both making their pro debuts against each other in a cruiserweight clash. A fight between Steven Villalobos and Randy Fuentes, and a proposed match featuring former amateur standout Britney Simms were both cancelled.
“We’ve got a great line-up scheduled,” said Weir. “Two years into our promotion we’ve had six cards and we’ve put on a lot of great fights. When we first started, we set out to give the young fighters in our area more opportunities and I feel happy about being able to do that. We match guys tough and give them another venue where they can fight. I think we’ve done a good job. We put on fights that give fans their money’s worth…This one may one of the best we’ve done so far…It’s a stacked card.”
Doors to the Green River Community College open at 5 p.m. with the first fight set to kick off the event at 6 p.m. Tickets to the show, billed ‘Fight Night Fright Night 6,’ are available online at FightNightFrightNightBrawl6.eventbrite.com or at the door on fight night. For more information visit the PNW Professional Boxing Promotions Facebook page.