PITTSBURGH (May 19, 2021) – Pittsburgh super featherweight Matt “Sweet Child” Conway will headline the June 4tth “Battle of the Fairgrounds” card, presented by Gionta Management, at Washington County Fairgrounds in Washington, Pennsylvania.
This will be the second installment of “Battle of the Fairgrounds” for Gionta Management having launched the series this past February 6th.
The 25-year-old Conway (18-2, 7 KOs) faces Colombian knockout artist Jonathan “Popeye” Perez (38-26, 30 KOs), the former Colombian Super Bantamweight Champion, in the 8-round main event for the vacant International Boxing Association (IBA) Intercontinental Super Featherweight Championship.
Conway, who has never been stopped as a professional, is coming off a win by way of a 6-round unanimous decision this past February against Vincent Jennings. Perez has become a gatekeeper for the super featherweight division having fought some of the leading prospects during the past few years.
“We are excited to bring professional boxing back to the Washington County Fairgrounds,” promoter Derek Gionta said. “This will be our second show there since February. We were under tight restriction (due to COVID-19) at our first show and everybody there were great to work with. As of May 31st, we are allowed 100-percent capacity at the venue and no social distancing measures are required. This will be great for the fights and fans.
“We are featuring Matt Conway, who has been in some tough fights recently on ESPN+ in Reno and Las Vegas on Top Rank-shows. He won a decision over Vincent Jennings in February and will take another step up in competition to prepare for another opportunity on a bigger stage. Our undercard has a number of exciting local and former amateur standouts who will be exciting to watch.”
In the 6-round co-featured event, unbeaten Pittsburgh super middleweight “Pretty” Richie Cantolina (6-0-1, 2 KOs) takes on Darryl “Dreamking” Bunting (4-9-2, 2 KOs), fighting out of Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Puerto Rican super middleweight prospect Joel De La Paz (10-1, 6 KOs), fighting out of Atlantic City, faces Bronx challenger Troy Artis (5-9-1, 3 KOs) in a 6-round bout. De La Paz has won his last three fights since suffering his only pro loss to 8-1 Naim Terbunja in 2018.
Hyped Louisville welterweight prospect Demontaze Duncan (2-0, 2 KOs), the No. 1 ranked United States amateur in the Youth middleweight division last year, meets Andres Borrego (0-1), of Colorado, in a 4-rounder. Duncan is only 18 years old.
Local boxer Deon Goodlow (1-3) and Ivan “The Hurricane” Hernandez (2-4-1, 2 KOs), of Buffalo, square off in a 4-round fight at a 152-pound catchweight, while Buffalo lightweight Gerffred Ngayot (2-0, 1 KO) squares off against Robert Bevilacqua (2-0, 2 KOs) in a 4-rounder.
Ohio super featherweight Ryizeemmion Ford (4-1) is scheduled to fight on the undercard 6-round match against an opponent to be determined.
Card subject to change.
Tickets are priced at $30.00 general admission, $50.00 reserved seating, and $100.00 table seats (limited available) and available to purchase by calling 412.759.0407.
Doors open at 6 p.m. ET with the first bout starting at 7 p.m. ET.