BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 27 – Representing four of New York City’s five boroughs, top talents from the Big Apple will descend on Brooklyn’s Barclays Center tonight to engage in exciting bouts leading up to the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast featuring Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia defending against former Two-Division World Champion Zab Judah and WBO Middleweight World Champion Peter Quillin meeting top middleweight contender Fernando Guerrero.
Fighters also in action this weekend will be Brooklyn’s Danny Jacobs, Luis Collazo, Boyd Melson and Zachary Ochoa, the Bronx’ Eddie Gomez and Staten Island’s OlympianMarcus Browne.
Remaining are on sale at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center, all Ticketmaster locations or by calling 800-745-3000. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.
Heading up this New York-centric undercard will be an eight-round middleweight bout between Danny Jacobs (24-1, 21 KO’s) and Keenan Collins (15-7-3, 10 KO’s). A former world title challenger, Jacobs defeated his biggest foe when he recently conquered cancer. Now back in the ring with two knockout wins under his belt, Jacobs will meet the stiffest test of his comeback in Collins. Born in Brooklyn but now living in York, Pennsylvania, the 36-year-old Collins is unbeaten in his last three bouts, so Jacobs needs to be ready for wily Collins.
Former world welterweight champion Luis Collazo (32-5, 16 KO’s) made his own return to the ring after a year away last October during Barclays Center inaugural fight night with an exciting win over Steve Upsher Chambers. In an eight-round bout, the 32-year-old Collazo will look to make it two straight wins when he faces fellow veteran Miguel Callist (27-8-1, 18 KO’s), a Panamanian southpaw who has won five of his last seven fights.
Twenty-year-old Eddie Gomez (13-0, 9 KO’s) didn’t stay long the last time he was in Barclays Center, needing just 77 seconds to dispatch Javier Gomez on March 9. The skilled and powerful junior middleweight will be seeking a similar result when he meets up with Ibarra, Ecuador’s Luis “Morochito” Hernandez (21-4, 14 KO’s) in an eight-round battle.
In a six-round super middleweight bout, popular local prospect Boyd Melson (9-1-1, 3 KO’s) hopes to deliver another fight to remember for New York fans when he takes on Puerto Rico’s Edgar Perez (5-3, 2 KO’s). As is always the case when he fights, Melson will be donating his entire purse to spinal cord injury research.
2012 U.S. Olympian Marcus Browne (3-0, 3 KO’s) has been dazzling in his brief pro career, and if he has it his way, he will make it four for four in his four-round light heavyweight matchup against Philadelphia’s Taneal Goyco (4-5-1, 2 KO’s).
Rising Brooklyn star Zachary Ochoa (3-0, 3 KO’s) will make his Barclays Center debut when he meets Prichard, Alabama’s Calvin Smith (2-2) in a scheduled four-round super lightweight bout.
Rounding out an outstanding undercard card will be a bantamweight battle between Philadelphia’s Miguel Cartagena (5-0, 3 KO’s) and Chicago’s Angel Carvajal (2-0) and a super middleweight matchup pitting Temple Hills, Maryland’s D’Mitrius Ballard (1-0, 1 KO) against Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s Marcus Clay (2-5). Both bouts are slated for four rounds.
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Garcia vs. Judah, a 12-round bout for Garcia’s Unified Super Lightweight World Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and supported by Golden Boy Promotions sponsors Corona and AT&T. In the co-featured attraction, WBO Middleweight World Champion Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin puts his title on the line against hard-hitting Fernando Guerrero in a 12-round fight. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP).
Doors at Barclay Center open at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday with the first fight starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Immediately following the world championship doubleheader on SHOWTIME will be a same-day-delayed telecast of former Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir “King” Khan, of Bolton, England, against former World Champion Julio “The Kidd” Diaz, of Coachella, Calif., in a 12-round 143-pound catch-weight scrap on SHOWTIME Boxing: Special Edition.
