Boxing Preview: Friday Night Fights on FOX Sports 1 and ESPN2 This Week

gassievRoc Nation Sports hits the Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut with a boxing event headlined by the Murat Gassiev (20-0) versus Felix Cora Jr (25-6-2) Cruiserweight clash for the IBF Inter-Continental title. The fight is set to air on Fox Sports 1 this Friday, and will likely be supported on the broadcast by the 10 round bout between Ray Robinson (19-2) facing Sherzodbek Alimjanov (22-2) for the WBO’s NABO welterweight title. Gassiev is making just his second appearance stateside. He captured the IBF belt that is on the line back in October of 2014 back in Russia with a 1st round TKO win over Engin Karakaplan (12-4-1). In his stateside debut, he earned a fourth round TKO stoppage over journeyman Terrance Smith (8-17-3) this past January. Cora is a solid test, as he has not been stopped since 2009. He has put together a three-fight winning streak fighting once a year the last three years. Prior to that, he had dropped three fights in a row against the type of prospects that Gassiev is considered. For Ray Robinson, he has won eight fights in a row since his July 2010 loss to Shawn Porter. That was his second loss in a row, since he also has a December of 2009 loss to Brad Solomon, who is still undefeated now at (24-0). Since the setbacks, Robinson has won several regional titles and has slowly been working his way back up the rankings. In Alimjanov, he is facing a fighter from Uzbekistan who is making his debut stateside. Meanwhile, just down the road at the Mohegan Sun Casino, DiBella Entertainment is promoting undefeated Super Welterweight Tony Harrison (20-0) as he faces Pablo Munguia (20-6) in a scheduled ten round bout. Harrison is the big story here, out of Detroit and the famous old Kronk gym, the 24 year old has put together 17 stoppage wins and is being showcased by DiBella here. Munguia is a solid veteran, but he is (1-2) in his last three fights, and in his six losses, he has been stopped three times. The bout is set to air on ESPN2. The live card features 9 fights in all, with the main event being supported by several 4, 6 and 8 round bouts. Undefeated Super Featherweight Ryan Kielczewski (22-0) takes on Danny Aquino (16-2) in one of the eight round bouts that is likely to air on the broadcast as well. Kielczewski has been boxing since he was a child, and he has a strong amateur background to go with his perfect professional record. He has won his last two fights via stoppage and this bout may be his last at the eight round distance as he is expected to step up into ten round bouts possibly for his next outing. The rest of the card features a slew of unbeaten and once beaten fighters on display as Alantez Fox (14-0-1), Lennox Allen (18-0-1), Regis Prograis (13-0) and Michael McLaughlin (10-1-1) all grace the undercard looking for another win on their record. Neither of these cards have popped up at the sport books yet, but expect the lines to appear sometime this week, as the broadcasts on ESPN2 and FOX Sports 1 assures a wide audience.

Written by Miguel

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