Coming down from the high of Roach Vs. McCrory, ProBox Promotions return to their natural habitat of Plant City, Florida to host a fairly low-key but promising affair, headlined by the return of prospect Katsuma Akitsugi (10-0) after a long layoff.
Having been on a hot-streak after his debut, Akitsugi found himself featuring on the undercard of Golden Boy fight nights, before taking a leave of absence after 2022. Making his return to the ring, he has joined the ranks of ProBox, a growing promotion who are constantly broadcasting 50/50 fights live on Youtube.
Akitsugi will be looking to resume his career in style, taking to the bantamweight division to face Jesus Ramirez Rubio (22-3-3), a threatening Mexican who has wilted under the pressure of Nick ‘The Wrecking’ Ball (20-0-1). Also having lost to Ramon Cardenas (25-1), another ProBox staple, Ramirez has certainly proved his worth to the promotion.
The undercard also features some promising North American fighters, with American-Puerto Rican light-heavyweight Najee Lopez (10-0) looking to remain undefeated moving into his bout against USA Massachusetts State Light-Heavyweight title-holder Steven Sumpter (9-0-1).
The exciting youngster, based in Georgia, has an 80% knockout ratio and certainly promises to deliver much the same to the hardened challenger.
Even beyond America, ProBox are playing host to some exciting fighters, with Filipino fighter Weljon Mindono (11-0-1) making his American debut; a huge platform for the ‘Triggerman’ super-welterweight. Having brought world-title challenger Takeshi Inoue (20-2-3) to a draw for the WBO Asia Pacific Super-Welterweight title, Mindono has proved within 12 bouts that he is more than capable of hanging with the best.
After all, Inoue held his own against Jaime Munguia (43-1). Mindono’s opponent comes in the form of Britain’s Tyler Goodjohn (13-5), a ‘Tornado’ who has struggled at the BBBofC English level. Perhaps making yet another change to his weight might assist the down-on-his-luck Englishman.
With these bouts, as well as a competitive undercard, ProBox Promotions are going small to aim high, with an eclectic collection of intriguing bouts; available to fight fans for free, on July 10th.
