Wilmington, DE (January 26, 2017)–World ranked junior middleweight Kanat Islam will battle tough Brazilian Robson Assis in the scheduled 10-round co-feature bout on Friday night, February 17th at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The bout will support the previously announced 12-round WBF Cruiserweight title bout featuring legendary Roy Jones Jr. battling Bobby Gunn. The show will be show live on Pay-Per-View.
Islam of Kazakhstan, who now calls Pahokee, Florida home has a record of 22-0 with 18 knockouts and is currently ranked number-4 by the WBA, number-5 by the WBO and number-15 by the IBF.
The 32 year-old Islam is a 5 year-professional who holds victories over Humberto Toledo (41-8-2), former world title challenger Francisco Cordero (29-2), Juan De Angel (18-3-1) and his last bout when he went home to Kazakhstan and pounded out a 12 round unanimous decision over Patrick Allottey (34-2) on October 29th.
Islam is a former WBA Fedecaribe and current WBA Fedelatin and WBO Inter-Continental Super Welterweight champion.
Assis of Sao Paulo, Brazil has a record of 16-3 with 9 knockouts. Assis is a former Brazilian Welterweight champion and former interim WBO Latino champion.
He won the Interim WBO Latino title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Christian Romero (13-3) and retained with a 12-round unanimous decision over Hector Santana (21-4).
Assis’ only 3 losses have come to world class fighters Jeff Horn (8-0-1), Samuel Vargas (22-2-1), and his last bout when he was stopped by Steven Butler (16-0-1) on July 7th in Montreal.
In a 10-round battle for the WBF Junior Lightweight International championship, Frank De Alba will take on Ivan Najera.
DeAlba, 29 years-old of Reading, PA has a record of 20-2-2 with 9 knockouts.
The 6-year pro has wins over Andrew Bentley (1-0), Benjamin Burgos (1-0), Benjamin Gomez Uribe (16-3), and is last bout when he stopped Kiun Evans (12-2-1) in 2 rounds on September 9th in Reading, PA.
De Alba is also a former UBF All-Americas Super Featherweight champion.
Najera, 24 years-old of San Antonio, Texas has a record of 16-3 with 8 knockouts.
Najera is a 6-year professional, and has quality victories over Pedro Martinez (2-0), Jerry Fuentes(2-0), Angel Hernandez (8-1) & Stan Martyniouk (13-1). Najera has stepped up the competition but has fallen short to Felix Verdejo (17-0), Saul Rodriguez (18-0-1) and his last bout when he was stopped in 2 rounds by former world title challenger Raymundo Beltran on May 21st in Laredo, Texas.
WBC Asian Council Welterweight champion Neeraj Goyat (8-2-2, 2 KO’s) of Chandigarh, India will make his American debut against an opponent to be named in bout scheduled for 8-rounds Also seeing action will be local favorite Joey Tiberi, Jr. (13-2, 6 KO’s) of Newark, Delaware takes on Bryan Timmons (5-8, 5 KO’s) lightweight bout scheduled for 6-rounds.
Samuel Teah (9-1-1, 3 KO’s) of Philadelphia will battle Jesus Lule (9-20-1, 1 KO) of Fort Myers, Florida in a 6-round super lightweight bout.
In 4-round bouts:
Henry Stewart (2-0, 1 KO) of Orillia Ontario, Canada will take on an opponent to be named.
In a Cruiserweight battle for Delaware bragging rights, Dan Biddle (9-5, 5 KO’s) of Wilmington will take on Lamont Singletary (7-4, 4 KO’s) of Dover.
Undefeated middleweight Eddie Ortiz (2-0-1, 2 KO’s) of San Antonio, Texas will take on an opponent to be named.
Scheduled to be in attendance are former Heavyweight champions Larry Holmes, Tim Witherspoon, Michael Spinks and Tyson Fury
SKILL VS WILL will be distributed live throughout North America via cable and satellite in High Definition by New York-based MultiVision Media, Inc. The broadcast will premiere on Friday, February 17th at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT and will be carried throughout the month on video-on-demand. Please consult your local guide for channels and encores in your area. The suggested retail price is $29.99. The event will also be available worldwide on home computers, laptops, Smart TVs, iPhones, iPads, AppleTV, and Android devices on FITE-TV, Flipps, and other OTT (over-the-top) streaming services.
Tickets are on sale now ranging from $75 – $300 and can be purchased by calling (484) 935-3378 & firststatefights.com
Roy Jones, Jr. vs Bobby Gunn, promoted by David Feldman Promotions and the Casino at Delaware Park.