Tonight at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, women’s boxing takes center stage as one of the premiere females of the past decade, Kelsey Jeffries, takes on one of the sport’s rising stars, Ana Julaton, for the vacant IBA Super Bantamweight title. With their fighting styles, class and the significance of their contest, the Jeffries-Julaton clash figures to be a memorable encounter. Their ten-round fight headlines a rare Saturday edition of the long-running Fight Night at the Tank series. Fighters weighed in Friday evening at the Clarion Hotel San Jose Airport.
Jeffries (41-9-1, 4 KOs) of Gilroy, California will be making her tenth appearance at the HP Pavilion on Saturday. Her ten-year career has taken her all over the world against some of the best competition the women’s ranks have to offer. Throughout her career San Jose has been her home court because of the close proximity to her Gilroy home. Now after three years away, a span in which she went undefeated in six fights, defended one title three times and claimed another, Jeffries returns home in an attempt to add even more hardware to her trophy case. After waiting for the unusually late weigh-in time of six o’clock, Jeffries, the WBC #2 ranked featherweight and WIBA #3 ranked super bantamweight, weighed in at 119.5 pounds. Jeffries, who has campaigned mainly at featherweight in recent years, has not come in that light in three years.
Julaton (4-1-1, 1 KO) of Daly City, California will be making her HP Pavilion debut on Saturday as she vies for her first world title and takes on the toughest test of her professional career thus far. Julaton, the WBC #12/WIBA #12 ranked super bantamweight, has been training at the Kennel Boxing Gym in San Leandro, California under famed trainer Nonito Donaire Sr. and Arvin Jugarap. Julaton has been put on the fast track since starting her professional run, with only a training injury suffered late last year having slowed her career trajectory a bit. The stakes are high for Julaton, who could be a key flag bearer should women’s boxing make the move to greater prominence. Julaton, who has campaigned at super bantamweight since turning pro, weighed in at 120.2 pounds.
Six bouts featuring mostly local aspiring professionals will round out the card. The “You Be The Judge” format which has been featured in recent editions of the Fight Night at the Tank series will continue. After the completion of the six undercard bouts fans will vote for their favorite fighter. The winner of the competition will earn a $1,000 cash bonus.
Former MMA fighter Tony Johnson (2-0) of San Jose will continue to progress in his boxing career as he takes on debuting Artis Walker of Las Vegas, Nevada in a four-round cruiserweight fight. Johnson, who ran his record to (4-1, 3 KOs) in mixed martial arts, will be returning to the site of his second pro boxing victory which was a four-round decision over Henry Wells in June. Johnson weighed in at 187.7 pounds, while Walker scaled 189.5.
Another fighter who has made the move from MMA to boxing, Clint Coronel (1-0-1, 1 KO) of San Jose will make his third straight appearance at the HP Pavilion in taking on Herman Scott (2-1, 1 KO) of Las Vegas in a four-round light middleweight fight. Coronel, who is handled by legendary San Jose fight figure Frank Shamrock, ran his MMA mark to (2-5, 1 KO, 1 Submission) before making his foray into the older fight sport. Coronel weighed in at 153.5, while Scott scaled 154.2 pounds.
Former amateur standout Oscar Godoy of Watsonville, California will make his professional debut against Eduardo Herrera (0-2) of Bakersfield, California in a four-round light welterweight fight. Godoy, a former San Francisco Golden Gloves Champion, weighed in at 142 pounds. Herrera, who got off the mat twice and dropped his opponent Moris Rodriguez in the last round of an exciting fight in his last appearance at the HP Pavilion this past May, weighed in at 143 pounds.
In a rematch of their exciting four-round bout at the HP Pavilion in July, Juan Topoz (2-1) of Santa Rosa, California will again meet Jonathan Alcantara (0-1-1) of Novato, California in a four-round super bantamweight fight. In their first encounter, Topoz dropped Alcantara in the second round, took the four-round split decision and won the “You Be The Judge” contest. Had Topoz not scored the off-balance knockdown, the fight would have been a majority draw. Topoz weighed in at 121.5 pounds, while Alcantara scaled 122.
Debuting Jason Montgomery of San Leandro will take on Hedi Bouaziz (1-0) of Arina Del Rey, California in a four-round middleweight fight. Montgomery, who trains out of the same Kennel Boxing Gym as Ana Julaton under Arvin Jugarap, weighed in at 160 pounds. Bouaziz, a French transplant, weighed in at 153.2 pounds.
Another charge of Arvin Jugarap, Pedrio Rios (0-1) of Berkeley, California will take on Mike Alexander (1-3-2) of Antioch, California in a four-round middleweight fight to open the night. Rios, who is looking to rebound from a third-round stoppage defeat to Fernando Barajas at the HP Pavilion in July, weighed in at 156 pounds. Alexander, who has dropped three straight fights, scaled 160 pounds.
Tickets for the event, promoted Roy Englebrecht Events, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.
Quick Weigh-in Results:
IBA Super Bantamweight Championship, 10 Rounds Jeffries 119.5 Julaton 120.2
Cruiserweights, 4 Rounds Johnson 187.7 Walker 189.5
Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds Godoy 142 Herrera 143
Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds Alcantara 122 Topoz 121.5
Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds Coronel 153.5 Scott 154.2
Middleweights, 4 Rounds Montgomery 160 Bouaziz 153.2
Middleweights, 4 Rounds Alexander 160 Rios 156
Photo by Alredo Perez
Mario Ortega Jr. can be contacted at [email protected].
