Pro Boxing
When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 6 p.m.
Where: Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque Convention Center
Who: Abraham Perez vs. Yankiel Rivera, 12 rounds for Perez’s WBA interim flyweight title; Josh Torres vs. Jose Luis Sanchez, several other bouts
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Tickets: $60-$185, 505-877.5725 or ticketmaster.com
Streaming: DAZN (subscription service)
Leroy Clark, the tall, talented southpaw who won three national amateur boxing titles while living in Albuquerque, is coming back to the Duke City to launch his pro career.
Salita Promotions of Michigan/New York and Legacy Promotions of Albuquerque made the announcement on Thursday. Clark is scheduled to face Virginian Carl Brock Walker (2-3, one knockout) in a four-round bout on the Nov. 7 Abraham Perez-Yankiel Rivera card at the Kiva Auditorium.
Clark’s fight is listed as a cruiserweight (195-pound limit) bout. In Walker’s five previous pro bouts, he has weighed no less than 214 pounds and as much as 271. Clark, 30, fought most of his amateur career in the heavyweight (201-pound maximum) division but also competed at super heavyweight (201-plus).
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Both men are left-handers.
Clark, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas, achieved his amateur success employing what could be labeled as an amateur style — using his height, reach and quickness of hand and foot to excel in three-round bouts with the combatants wearing headgear and 12-ounce gloves.
What changes he’s made in anticipation of turning pro — no headgear, 10-ounce gloves — will be an interesting feature of his debut. But Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) fought with a similar style while winning an Olympic gold medal and rising to the top of the professional ranks before gaining weight and developing more punching power.
KICKING OFF FIGHT WEEK: Perez has never been a kickboxer and never played soccer, but he nonetheless is scheduled to kick out the first ball on Sunday before New Mexico United’s USLC playoff match against Phoenix Rising FC at Isotopes Park.
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Perez’s appearance will precede the match’s scheduled 4 p.m. start.
TYSON INVITATIONAL: Las Cruces amateur boxer Christopher LaBounty defeated Philadelphia’s Khayan Flemmings Jr. at last weekend’s Mike Tyson Invitational at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. It was an impressive victory for LaBounty, coming against a fighter ranked No. 2 by USA Boxing at 165 pounds. LaBounty is ranked sixth.
Earlier this year, LaBounty won a gold medal at the USA Boxing Junior Olympics & Summer Festival in Wichita, Kansas.
The Tyson Invitational results are not listed on usaboxing.org or boxrec.com. But Las Cruces’ Louie Burke, one of LaBounty’s coaches, said the word is getting out.
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“We’ve had a lot of calls already,” Burke said in a phone interview. “… He’s starting to open a lot of eyes.”
U-19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: In Budva, Montenegro, Rio Rancho’s Ariana Chavez defeated Ukraine’s Iryna Onopriienko by split decision in a first-round 165-pound match. Chavez lost her second match by walkover (forfeit).
MMA: Two fighters who train in Albuquerque at Jackson-Wink scored big victories last weekend.
In a featherweight fight at UFC 333 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Aaron Pico defeated Belgium’s Losene Keita by TKO in just 1 minute, 14 seconds of round one.
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Pico (15-5) has won impressively in his past two UFC fights after losing his debut in the organization.
At Foxwoods, Jake Woodley defeated Zayne Havener of Evansville, Indiana by second-round TKO, claiming the previously vacant LFA middleweight title.
Woodley (9-1) has won five fights in a row.
UPCOMING: The Perez-Rivera card in Albuquerque won’t be the only boxing event to take place in our state on Nov. 7.
At the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, Albuquerque super bantamweight Yoruba Moreu II (3-0 two KOs) is scheduled for a significant step up against Denver’s Jesus Ariel Moreno (11-2-1, eight KOs) in a six-round bout.
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Las Cruces’ Ayanna Orona (8-2-1, one KO), formerly Ayanna Vasquez, is scheduled to face Colombia’s Yeni Arias (2-0-1, two KOs) in a six-round featherweight bout.
… Albuquerque’s Amber Brown (7-7) is scheduled to end a 3 1/2-year MMA hiatus when she faces Floridian Ariana Melendez (5-3) on a Nov. 21 FightWorld card at Revel ABQ.
