The April 18 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights will feature the semifinals of the Middleweight portion of Boxcino 2014. Friday’s show, from the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., will air live at 9 p.m. ET and is promoted by Banner Promotions.
Middleweight Semifinal Matchups: Eight Rounds Each
The semifinal round of the Middleweight tournament will feature:
- Vitalii Kopylenko (22-0, 12 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (16-1, 6 KOs)
- Raymond Gatica (16-5, 13 KOs) vs. Brandon Adams (13-0, 9 KOs)
Fighter Backgrounds:
N.Y.’s Monroe Jr., the son of former Middleweight contender Willie Monroe, is coming off a six-round unanimous decision win over Donatas Bondas (Bondorovas) in the quarterfinal round of the Boxcino tournament. Kopylenko, fighting out of the Ukraine and a stablemate of WBO Junior Welterweight titlist Ruslan Provodnikov, scored a second-round TKO win over Cerresso Fort in the quarterfinals.
Los Angeles’ Adams is coming off a fourth-round TKO win over Daniel Edouard in the quarterfinal round, while Texas’ Gatica is looking to advance to the finals following a fourth-round TKO win over Sena Agbeko.
Friday’s Middleweight winners will join Lightweights Petr Petrov and Fernando Cárcamo for a special night of boxing in the big finale for Boxcino 2014 on Friday, May 23, also at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y. The fights will be televised live at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
