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Undefeated
140-Pound Prospects Malik Hawkins vs. Darwin Price &
Unbeaten Angelo Leo vs. Cesar Juarez In Live Streaming
Undercard Fights Dec. 28
SHOWTIME Sports will live stream three bouts as part of an
exciting night of undercard action on Saturday, December 28
from the award-winning State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The
special holiday presentation is headlined by two-time Super
Featherweight Champion Gervonta Davis, who is moving up in
weight to take on former unified world champion Yuriorkis
Gamboa for the vacant WBA Lightweight Title in a Premier
Boxing Champions event.
Prior to the SHOWTIME telecast, a pair of ShoBox: The New
Generation alums will fight in separate bouts. Undefeated
rising prospect Malik Hawkins will face unbeaten Darwin
Price in a 10-round super lightweight fight, and undefeated
Angelo Leo squares off against Cesar Juarez in an IBF and
WBO Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator. The streaming
portion of the night also features cruiserweight prospect
and YouTube star Viddal Riley in a four-round fight against
Cincinnati’s Muhammad Abdullah. Riley, who is 3-0 as a
professional, is widely recognized as the boxing trainer for
fellow YouTube star KSI.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Countdown begins live at 6:30
p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel
and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page leading into the SHOWTIME
CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
In addition to David vs. Gamboa, the co-main event pits WBA
Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal against two-division
champion Badou Jack. In the SHOWTIME televised opener,
former world champion Jose “Bolivita” Uzcategui will return
to battle Lionell Thompson in a 10-round super middleweight
fight.
Hawkins (17-0, 10 KOs) will face the toughest test of his
career as he looks to make a statement at 140 pounds. The
23-year-old Hawkins, a stablemate of Davis, fought on July
27 at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore scoring an eight-round
unanimous decision against Jonathan Steele. In his last
fight, Hawkins knocked out All Rivera in Las Vegas in
September. Currently trained by Calvin Ford and Kenny Ellis,
Hawkins was 93-8 in the amateurs, which included tournament
titles at the State Golden Gloves and Regional Golden
Gloves. In April of 2017, Hawkins made his nationally
televised debut on ShoBox at MGM National Harbor in Oxon
Hill, Md., as he scored a dominating second-round TKO of
previously undefeated Carlos Soto.
The 30-year-old Price (16-0, 9 KOs) lives and trains in
Houston and has scored three knockouts in 2019, including
most recently stopping Breidis Prescott in October in a
headlining appearance in his hometown. A pro since 2013,
Price did not fight in 2018 as he was forced to the
sidelines for 15 months after suffering a patellar tendon
injury in training. Prior to that, he had won eight fights
between 2015 and 2017, including impressive victories over
then unbeaten Semajay Thomas and Javontae Starks. A standout
track and field runner at Grambling State University prior
to his pro boxing career, Price can put himself closer to
world title contention by turning away the rising prospect
Hawkins.
Leo (18-0, 8 KOs) is another ShoBox alum who will be
featured on the live stream as he takes on former world
title challenger Cesar Juarez (25-7, 19 KOs) in a 12-round
IBF and WBO Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator. The
Mayweather Promotions prospect Leo went wire-to-wire in an
impressive and dominating 10-round unanimous decision
victory over Neil John Tabanao in April in the ShoBox main
event at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. The veteran Juarez is from
Mexico City and turned pro in 2010. He lost WBO world titles
fights on two occasions, first against Nonito Donaire in
2015 in Puerto Rico and then against Issac Dogboe in 2018 in
South Africa. Both Leo and Juarez are ranked in the top 10
by the IBF at 122 pounds.
Recognized widely as the trainer for YouTube star KSI,
cruiserweight prospect Riley (3-0, 2 KOs) will put his
undefeated record on the line against Abdullah (4-1-1, 2
KOs) in a four-round bout. The 22-year-old Riley represented
England at the European Junior Boxing Championships in
Russia in 2013. As an amateur, Riley won eight national
championships and had a record of 41-8 (19 KOs). He recorded
knockouts in his first two pro fights and notched a
four-round unanimous decision in his third pro bout.
The stacked lineup of non-televised attractions includes
light heavyweight contender Ahmed Elbiali (18-1, 16 KOs) in
a 10-round bout against veteran Bryan Vera (26-15, 16 KOs),
once-beaten contender Ladarius Miller (20-1, 6 KOs) in a
10-round super lightweight duel against Mexico’s Miguel
Zamudio (44-15-1, 27 KOs) and Washington D.C.’s Kareem
Martin (13-2-1, 4 KOs) taking on Russia’s Petros Ananyan
(14-1-2, 7 KOs) in an eight-round super lightweight affair.
Also entering the ring is undefeated Baltimore-native Malik
Warren (2-0, 2 KOs) in a four-round super featherweight duel
against Macon, Georgia’s Trayvion Butts (3-0, 2 KOs) and
unbeaten lightweight Jackson Martinez (18-0, 6 KOs) from the
Dominican Republic squaring off against Mexico’s Yardley
Cruz (26-14, 16 KOs) for an eight-round affair
Rounding out the lineup are Atlanta native and super
featherweight prospect DeMichael Harris taking on Amonie
Sanders in a four-round fight and the pro debut of
Baltimore’s Mia Ellis in a four-round super lightweight
battle against North Carolina’s Khadijah Sanders.
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