Promoter Ivan Rivera, president of PRBBP, announced the event today at a conference held at the Sheraton Metro Casino, located in the Convention District of Puerto Rico in Miramar, San Juan.
“We arrived at the Sheraton with this new project “Viernes de Campeones” in which we will have the only Puerto Rican world champion in five weights, Amanda Serrano, in a defense of her 122-pound world belt, as well as Olympian Jeyvier Cintron in his first bout in Puerto Rico, ans Jonathan Oquendo, one of the most fiery fighters, returning to the ring. It is an event that we present along with the Metro Casino of the Sheraton, whom we thank for the work we are doing together,” Rivera said.
In the main event, Serrano (32-1-1, 24 KOs), the first Puerto Rican and the only woman in history with world boxing championships in five different weights (118, 122, 126, 130 and 135 pounds), will defend her WBO superbantanweight belt against Argentinean Lucia Soledad Griffa (13-1, 1 KOs). Serrano comes from a victory on April 22 over Dominican Dahiana Santana, when she won the WBO bantamweight crown to become the only female monarch in five different weights in a fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn , New York, which was broadcast on Showtime Extreme.
Meanwhile, the undercard will mark the debut in Puerto Rico of Jeyvier Cintron (1-0), who is the first Puerto Rican boxer to compete in two Olympic Games (London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016). Cintron, son of former professional fighter Javer “Perrito” Cintron and trained by two-time former world champion Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon, fought for the first time as a pro in April and won a wide unanimous decision victory over Mexican Leonardo Reyes in Kissimmee, Florida. Cintron will face an opponent to be determined in 118 pounds in a four round fight.
In another interesting test, Jonathan “Polvo” Oquendo (26-5, 16 KOs) will return to the ring after 19 months without a fight facing undefeated Costa Rican Francisco Fonseca (19-0-1, 13 KOs) for a 130 pounds WBO regional title at 10 rounds. Oquendo has not fought since December, 2015, when he lost by unanimous decision against former WBA 126 pounds champion Jesús Cuéllar.
The July 21 show “Viernes de Campeones” will feature seven fights, to be announced soon, as well as the TV broadcast and other details of the event, which will return to scene with its second card on September 1 and later in November.
