Claudio Marrero vs Jesus Rojas Sept 15th Canelo vs GGG Undercard

Published by Shawn C.

*LOS ANGELES* (Sept. 1, 2017) – On Friday, Sept. 15, one day before the
highly anticipated battle for middleweight supremacy between* Canelo
Alvarez* and *Gennady “GGG” Golovkin,* WBA Interim Featherweight
Champion *Claudio
Marrero* (22-1, 16 KOs) will make the first defense of his title against* Jesus
Rojas* (25-1-2, 18 KOs) in the 12-round main event of *Golden Boy Boxing on
ESPN* at the *MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom* in Las Vegas. The ESPN3
livestream of the undercard bouts begins at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT,
followed by the main event at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN Deportes
and streaming live on ESPN3 and on ESPN2 at 1:15 a.m. ET/10:15 p.m. PT.

Marrero, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, captured the Interim WBA
Featherweight Title with a devastating first-round knockout of *Carlos
Zambrano* in April 2017*.* Though suffering his only defeat against Jesus*
Cuellar* in 2013, Marrero has scored six victories since then, five of them
by knockout.

Rojas will return after an impressive eighth-round technical knockout
victory against the previously undefeated *Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez. * The
native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, has taken on the likes of former world
champion *Jorge “El Travieso” Arce* and *Jorge “El Pilón” Lara of Mexico* (who
will take on Joseph “JoJo” Diaz in the co-main event of Canelo-Golovkin).
Rojas will look to take yet another step towards the top of the 126-pound
division with a victory over Marrero.

In the co-main event, Boston’s *Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis* (18-0, 12 KOs) will
make the second defense of his IBF North American title against *Juan
Carlos “Merengue” Abreu* (19-3-1, 18 KOs). Ellis earned his crown with an
impressive first-round knockout victory over *Eddie “E-Boy” Gomez* in
December 2016. In his first defense, Ellis fought in a toe-to-toe battle
against *John Karl Sosa* en route to a majority decision victory in April
2017. Ellis faces a tough challenge in Abreu, a veteran of the Dominican
Republic with tough fights against *Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano*
and *Humberto
“La Zorrita” Soto* on his resume.

*Ryan “Kingry” Garcia* (10-0, 9 KOs) will open up the ESPN Deportes
transmission in an eight-round fight for the Junior NABF Super
Featherweight title against *Miguel Carrizoza *(10-2, 2 KOs) of Nogales,
Mexico. Garcia, a young prospect of Victorville, Calif., is coming off a
spectacular first-round knockout of Mario Antonio Macia and will look to
earn his seventh knockout victory in a row on Sept. 15.

*Horacio “Violento” Garcia* (32-3-1, 22 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico will
take on fellow
countryman *Diuhl Olguin* (11-7-2, 9 KOs) in an eight-round super
bantamweight rematch. In their first encounter, Garcia lost via an upset
unanimous decision in July of this year. In the night’s swing bout, *Alexis
“Laberinto” Salazar *(11-3, 3 KOs) of Tlaquepagque, Mexico will take on *Evan
Torres* (6-4, 5 KOs) of El Paso, Texas in a scheduled six-round
middleweight fight. The bout will be a rematch of their May 2017 fight,
which Salazar won via close split decision.

Opponents for former IBF champion *Jose “El Tecuala” Argumendo* (20-3-1, 11
KOs), who will participate in an eight-round minimumweight bout, and
Philadelphia’s *Damon “No Smilin'” Allen, Jr. *(12-0-1, 5 KOs), who will
return in an eight-round lightweight fight, will be announced shortly.

*Marrero vs. Rojas *is a 10-round featherweight fight presented by Golden
Boy Promotions in association with TGB Promotions. The event is sponsored
by Tecate, *BORN BOLD; *Hennessy, Never Stop, Never Settle; and Interjet. The
event will beheld at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas on Friday,
Sept. 15. Doors open at 3:00 p.m. PT, and the first fight begins at 3:30
p.m. PT. The ESPN3 livestream of the undercard bouts begins at 7:30
p.m. ET/4:30
p.m., followed by the main event at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. on ESPN Deportes and
streaming live on ESPN3 and on ESPN2 at 1:15 a.m. ET / 10:15 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $10, $25, $50 and $75 for Marrero vs. Rojas will go on
sale Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 10:00 a.m. PST. *Receive VIP seating to the
Canelo vs. Golovkin Weigh-in with the purchase of a $75, $50 or $25 ticket,
subject to availability. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call
the TicketMaster Contact Center at (800) 745-3000 or MGM Resorts Contact
Center at (866) 740-7711. Tickets will also be available for purchase
online at www.ticketmaster.com

or www.mgmgrand.com

and
various MGM Resorts Box Offices. All ticket prices do not include service
fees or applicable service charges.