Undefeated African welterweight Prince “Octopus” Dzanie, undefeated Icelandic heavyweight Kolbeinn “Ice Bear” Kristinsson and three of Michigan’s brightest and unbeaten young prospects, Joseph Hicks Jr., Joshua Pagan and Da’Velle Smith, highlight an exciting lineup of undercard bouts that has just been announced for Salita Promotions’ next Detroit Brawl, on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at the historic Garden Theater in Midtown Detroit.
The seven-fight professional boxing event will be topped by two of the hardest punchers in all of boxing, IBF #4, WBA #13, WBO #11 and RING #7 super lightweight slugger Shohjahon Ergashev and WBO #12-, IBF #11-, WBC #7-ranked light heavyweight powerhouse Ali Izmailov facing dangerously powerful opponents in “must win” showdowns.
Ergashev (22-0, 19 KOs) of Detroit via Rakhmon, Uzbekistan, will face fellow knockout artist Angel “El Furioso” Martinez Hernandez (14-1-2, 14 KOs) from Baja California, Mexico, in a 10-round shootout. Izmailov (8-0, 6 KOs), meanwhile, will put his perfect record on the line in a high-stakes 10-round battle with also undefeated puncher Eric Murguia (14-0, 12 KOs) of Mission Hills, California.
In chief support of the main-event carnage will be an eight-round super bantamweight battle between Accra, Ghana’s Dzanie (22-0, 18 KOs) and Memphis-based veteran Ira “Mr. Showtime” Terry (27-21, 16 KOs).
By having his first professional bout outside his native Ghana, the highly touted Dzanie, known as “Octopus,” will give North American fans a first look at his formidable abilities against the durable Terry. Dzanie went 87-15 as an amateur and was a three-time Ghanaian Champion and an All-Africa Bronze Medalist before representing Ghana at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing China. As a professional, he is trained by Abdul Ramany Iddrisu and managed by well-known boxing insider Vincent Scolpino of VMS Boxing. He won the WBO Africa Bantamweight Championship in 2017 with an eight-round knockout over countryman Isaac Quaye.
In another important supporting bout, undefeated Icelandic heavyweight Kolbeinn “The Ice Bear” Kristinsson will take on unpredictable Houstonian Rodney Moore (20-22-2, 9 KOs) in a six-round battle of big men.
Standing 6’ 5” and weighing 240-lbs of brute strength, Kristinsson recently signed with Salita Promotions, power manager Mark Taffet and has begun working with Detroit-based super trainer SugarHill Steward at Kronk Gym in Detroit. The Icelandic powerhouse has also worked with actor and countryman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, aka The World’s Strongest Man and Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on Game of Thrones, at his Thor’s Power Gym in Kópavogur, Iceland.
Undefeated Grand Rapids, Michigan-based former amateur champions Joseph Hicks Jr. and Joshua Pagan will also see action that night, as Hicks (2-0, 2 KOs) will face experienced Dominican scrapper Jonathan Batista (19-16, 12 KOs) in a six-round middleweight struggle, while Pagan will take on Brazilian scrapper Maycon Oller Da Silva (1-5) over four super lightweight rounds. One of Detroit’s own, undefeated middleweight Da’Velle Smith (3-0, 3 KOs), already the winner of the WBC’s Big Belt Championship Tournament, will go four rounds or less with Wenatchee, Washington’s Devontae McDonald (2-1, 1 KO).
Rounding out the action will be undefeated Houston-based light heavyweight Darius “DFG” Fulghum (2-0, 2 KOs), who will take on Delaware’s David Murray (10-3-1, 6 KOs) in a lightweight six and lastly, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada’s Spencer Wilcox (3-0, 2 KOs) will face an opponent that is still TBA in a lightweight six-rounder.
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets ordered online will be placed in will call at the box office for pick-up. A limited quantity of VIP tickets is also available by calling 313.529.7604.
“August 10th is a spectacular night of boxing top to bottom featuring international, national and local talent,” said proud event promoter Dmitriy Salita. “Fighters From Africa to Uzbekistan to Detroit… we got the best of the best fighting in significant fights to take the next step toward a world title.”
