July 28: Puerto Rican Star Christopher Diaz to Fight Masayuki Ito for WBO 130-Pound Title

Published by Shawn C.

July 28: Puerto Rican Star Christopher Diaz to Fight Masayuki Ito for WBO
130-Pound Title at Kissimmee Civic Center

Welterweight slugger Carlos Adames to take on Artemio Reyes in 10-round
co-feature
*ESPN+ to Stream Diaz-Ito and Adames-Reyes LIVE at 9:30 p.m. ET*

*Kissimmee, Fla. (June 11, 2018) *— Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz wants to add
his name to the storied list of Puerto Rican world champions. He will get
that chance July 28 at the Kissimmee Civic Center, when he squares off
against Masayuki Ito for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior
lightweight title.

And, in the 10-round co-feature, undefeated welterweight prospect Carlos
“Caballo Bronco” Adames will face Artemio Reyes of San Bernardino, Calif.

Diaz-Ito and Adames-Reyes will stream live and exclusively in the United
States at 9:30 ET on ESPN+ — the recently-launched multi-sport,
direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney
Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with
ESPN.
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Undercard
bouts will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. ESPN+ is
available to all fans on the ESPN App and ESPN.com.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with All Star Boxing and Teiken
Promotions, tickets to this world championship event will go on sale
Tuesday, June 12 at 10 a.m. ET. Priced at $100 (red carpet ringside), $50
(lower bowl), and $30 (general admission), tickets may be purchased at the
Kissimmee Civic Center box office, online at ticketerapr.com
<TopRank.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aa1ae9f9e3c18dcf7df10dda1&id=2755b48b4f&e=ae69d13328>,
or charge by phone at (787) 305-3600.

“This fight is dedicated to all of Puerto Rico and to my family that has
always been there to support me,” Diaz said. “Now it’s my time to become a
world champion, and I promise that I will bring home the world title. I
love you, Puerto Rico. This one’s for you!”

“I am really pleased to be able to fight a great fighter like Christopher
Diaz for the WBO title. Diaz is a very good fighter with power and speed,
but on July 28, I will become the champion,” Ito said. “I will bring the
belt home back to Japan without fail. I have promised my wife and
children. I will fight as if my life depended on it.”

“I am happy and excited to return to the ring quickly because I want to
keep as active as possible. This will be my second fight with Top Rank, and
now I will return to the ring much better prepared because I have the
experience and the confidence of fighting on big stages,” Adames said. “I
will come ready to give the public what they always expect from me… a
spectacular knockout! On July 28, ‘Caballo Bronco’ will come to Kissimmee
with all the ‘Platano Power’ from the Dominican Republic.”

Diaz (23-0, 15 KOs), from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, is entering his first
world title match riding a four-bout knockout streak. The WBO’s No. 1
junior lightweight contender, Diaz won the vacant NABO junior lightweight
title last December with a third-round knockout of Bryant Cruz, knocking
Cruz down five times en route to the stoppage. In his last bout, March 17
on the Jose Ramirez-Amir Imam undercard at The Hulu Theater at Madison
Square Garden, Diaz defeated Braulio Rodriguez via fourth-round TKO to earn
the shot at the world title. For Diaz, this world title opportunity is
beacon of hope, as his home and most of his possessions were destroyed when
Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico last year.

Ito (23-1-1, 12 KOs), from Tokyo, is the WBO’s No. 2 junior lightweight
contender. He has won seven consecutive bouts since the lone defeat of his
career, a 10-round majority decision to then-undefeated Rikki Naito in
February 2015. Ito, who has fought all of his professional bouts in Japan,
has won four of his past five bouts via knockout, including a ninth-round
stoppage of Lorenzo Villanueva in April of last year. In his last bout, on
March 3 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Ito stopped Vergil Puton in the ninth
round.

Adames (14-0, 11 KOs), one of the welterweight division’s fastest rising
contenders, made his Top Rank debut as the ESPN-televised co-feature May 12
on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Jorge Linares card, rolling to a unanimous
decision win over Alejandro Barrera. The Dominican Republic native will be
fighting for the second time under renowned trainer Joel Diaz and is
training in Palm Springs, Calif. Reyes (25-2, 20 KOs) is 10-0 with eight
knockouts since his last defeat, a first-round TKO at the hands of Alan
Sanchez on April 13, 2012 in Las Vegas. In his previous bout, in August of
last year, Reyes knocked out Steve Marquez with a body shot in the fourth
round.

*About ESPN+*
ESPN+ is the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription
streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer &
International segment in conjunction with ESPN
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ESPN+ offers fans two exclusive, original boxing programs
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*The
Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael* (Tuesdays, weekly) and *In This Corner* (twice
monthly). In addition to boxing content, fans can watch thousands of
additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not
available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks. This includes hundreds
of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, PGA Tour
golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of
ESPN Films (including *30 for 30*) and more. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+
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