An old year ends Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre with prospects thinking about next year and a heavyweight champion hoping to restore lost promise on a UniMas-televised card staged jointly by Top Rank and Iron Boy Promotions.
Andy Ruiz Jr. (23-0, 17 KOs) looks to extend his unbeaten record and nine-knockout streak against Sergei Liakhovich with a victory a performance that might propel him into the ranks of heavyweight contenders next year.
Liakhovich (26-6, 16 KOs), a Scottsdale heavyweight and a onetime holder of the WBO title, is looking for a second straight victory after three successive losses, including a scary knockout at the hands of Deontay Wilder. Five of Liakhovich’s losses have been by stoppage.
The card (6 p.m. MST) also includes featherweight prospect Oscar Valdez, unbeaten light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby and the American debut of David Benavidez, the young brother of Phoenix junior-welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr., who won the WBA’s interim title last Saturday over Mauricio Herrera in Las Vegas.
Valdez (14-0, 12 KOs), a former Mexican Olympian who went to school in Tucson, faces Jean Sotelo (19-13-2, 10 KOs).
Valdez manager Frank Espinoza, who is known for his work with some of the biggest names in the featherweight division, foresees 2015 as a year in which Valdez gets more media exposure as he moves into position for a shot at a title in 2016.
McCumby (17-0, 13 KOs), of Phoenix, faces Milton Nunez (28-11-1, 25 KOs), also of Colombia.
Meanwhile, David Benavidez fights in the U.S. for the first time. He wasn’t eligible for a license until his birthday Wednesday when he turned 18. He has been fighting professionally in Mexico for the last couple of years. His official record is 6-0, all by KO.
He’s bigger than his brother. He’ll be fighting as a light-heavyweight Saturday against Azamat Umarzoda (1-6-2) of Las Vegas.
“Me and my brother, we kind of have different styles,’’ said David Benavidez, who says he often spars with his brother. “Everytime we spar, I try to knock him out. In sparring, I’m about 180 pounds and he’s 150. He takes my punches real well. I’ll hit him with clean shots and he walks right through.
“He’s more of a boxer-puncher. I can be a puncher-brawler. But I can box, too. Depends on who I’m fighting.’’
