Just a stones throw from Canastota, N.Y., where the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend is already underway, Showtime’s “Shobox: The New Generation” returns with a live telecast from the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, promoted by Miguel Cotto Promotions and H2 Entertainment.
Leading off the televised portion of the card will a battle of undefeated super bantamweights as Jonathan Vidal (17-0, 9 KO’s) meets Mario Munoz (13-0-1, 10 KO’s) in a scheduled eight round contest.
Vidal, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is making his first trip to the United States. He’s been a regular on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate program, and in his last outing he earned the WBC FECARBOX bantamweight title when he stopped Josean Figueroa in the three rounds. Boxing is in Vidal’s blood: his cousin Julian Solis is a former WBA bantamweight champion and cousin Rafael Solis was a world ranked super featherweight.
For Mario Munoz, this will be his first fight outside Mexico. A former three-time National amateur champion, he’s coming off a fifth round knockout of Cecilio Santos in January. He has yet to hold a title belt, though his one opportunity ended in a no contest after four rounds; in a battle of home town fighters, Munoz and undefeated Moises Flores met for the vacant IBF Youth super bantamweight title only to have the bout stopped after an accidental head clash caused a deep gash over the left eye of Munoz. The decision was unpopular with the fans; the crowd rioted when the fight was called off.
A common opponent between the two is Cecilo Santos. As stated above, Munoz stopped Santos in five while Vidal defeated him by eight round decision two years ago.
In the main event of the broadcast, hard hitting Jorge Melendez (26-2-1, 25 KO’s) meets Albany fighter Nick Brinson (14-1-2, 6 KO’s) for the vacant WBC International Silver light middleweight title scheduled for 10 rounds.
Melendez, an aggressive fighter out of Manati, Puerto Rico, has been fighting since his pre-teen years, and entered the pro ranks in 2007. After suffering a draw in his professional debut, he stopped his next nine opponents before being stopped himself by 13-22-54 Clarence Taylor. He rebounded with four more knockout wins, but was stopped again by another sub .500 fighter, 12-15-1 Doel Carrasquillo. That was in 2010, and since then he has racked up 13 straight victories, 12 by stoppage and has only went past the sixth round once. He has also held the WBA Fedecaribe light middleweight title and the interim WBO Latino light middleweight title.
Nick Brinson comes in as the second replacement opponent for Melendez, and on one weeks notice after Luis Grajeda and Lanardo Tyner withdrew. Brinson, who holds the New York State middleweight title since 2011, has only lost on once occasion: a seventh round TKO at the hands of undefeated Lennox Allen in a bid for the New York State super middleweight title. He’s notched seven wins since then, one stoppage, and scored an eight round draw against undefeated Jason Escalera. His last bout was a comfortable 10 round decision over Jose Medina in April.
Showtime’s Shobox: The New Generation will air Friday, June 7th, live at 10pm EST (an hour earlier than it’s normal start time), delayed on the west coast, it will air at 10pm PST.
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