A heavyweight crossroads fight between Dante Stone (14-1, 10 KOs) and Alexander “The Great” Flores (18-3-1, 16 KOs) will take place this Thursday evening at the famed Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.
“Nobody knows how this fight will play out in terms of both the result and aesthetics of it. co-promoter Whit Haydon noted. “But the winner will get a good bounce off of the win and have something solid to point to on his resume. People are split across the board as to who they think will win.
“Also, this will be the first fight of the night and will open the pay-per-view telecast, effectively making this the very first fight worldwide of 2024.”
Fighting out of Chandler, Arizona, the 29-year-old Stone lost his pro debut in 2018 by way of a four-round unanimous decision, but he’s been unbeaten ever since with 14 straight wins. The 6’ 3”, 260-pound Stone is stepping up in terms of quality opposition against Flores, whose three career losses have been to world champions Luis Ortiz, Joseph Parker, and Charles Martin.
Flores, 33, stands 6’ 4” and weighs 230-pounds. He hasn’t fought in three years, although during this inactive streak the native of Rowland Heights, California, made six appearances in one-round Team Combat League (TCL) contests, in addition to one bare knuckle fight.
The card, presented by Toro Promotions and Whitfield Haydon Boxing, will be streamed live on www.bxngtv.com pay per view for $19.99, opening with Stone versus Flores in an eight-round Special Heavyweight Attraction.
The 10-round main event is headlined by undefeated Armenian prospect Gurgen “Big Gug” Hovhannisyan (4-0, 4 KOs), who is matched against dangerous Colby Madison (11-6-2, 7 KOs). The 6’ 7”, 275-pound Hovhannisyan, now living in Los Angeles, hasn’t fought in more than a year since his impressive sixth-round knockout of Michael Polite Coffie (13-2).
Another Eastern European-born heavyweight, 30-year-old Ukraine Olympian Tsotne Rogava (3-0, 3 KOs), will be showcased in the six-round co-featured event against undefeated Dante Williams (4-0, 4 KOs). The 6’ 5”, 270-pound Rogava is a former kickboxing champion, who was born in Georgia, raised in Ukraine, and resides in Los Angeles.
The Guerrero brothers, undefeated super featherweight Nilo (6-0, 5 KOs) and bantamweight Nelson (1-0, 1 KO), will both be fighting for their first in the United States, respectively in six and four-round fights, against . Chancellor Battenberg (4-3, 4 KOs) and Gilberto Duran (4-7, 4 KOs).
Undefeated South Carolina super welterweight Elijah Seawright (9-0, 7 KOs), a Tik Tok sensation from South Carolina, meets Henry Rivera (2-2, 1 KO) in a six-rounder.
Also scheduled to fight on the undercard is Seattle super welterweight Agustin Tovar (0-1) vs. pro-debuting Nathan “Superman” Stolen, and pro-debuting Auburn (WA) super lightweight Agustin Tovar vs. Oakland’s Ezra Rabin (1-4, 1 KO).