Super Bantamweight Champion Jessie Magdaleno to Clash with No. 1 Contender Isaac Dogboe on April 28 Inbox x

*Philadelphia Native Jesse Hart Fights in Front of Home Fans*
*PHILADEPHIA (March 22, 2018)* — There will be no Brotherly Love when *JESSIE
MAGDALENO *defends his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight
title against No. 1 contender *ISAAC DOGBOE *on Saturday, *April 28*, at
The Liacouras Center.
The Magdaleno-Dogboe fight will headline a card with plenty of local
flavor, as Philadelphia heavyweights *BRYANT “BY-BY” JENNINGS* and JOEY
DAWEJKO rekindle an old rivalry, and Philadelphia native *JESSE “Hollywood”
HART* continues his drive back to a world title challenge when he faces *DEMOND
NICHOLSON* in a super middleweight bout.
Appearing on the undercard will be 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist *Shakur
Stevenson*(5-0, 2 KOs) of Newark, N.J., in an eight-round featherweight
bout against Roxberg Riley (12-0, 6 KOs) of Dallas, Ga.
Magdaleno-Dogboe, Jennings-Dawejkoand Hart-Nicholson will be televised LIVE
on *ESPN*and stream in English and Spanish on the ESPN App at 7 p.m. ET.
Undercard bouts will stream on the ESPN App beginning at 4 p.m. ET. ESPN
Deportes will air the fight at 10 p.m. ET.
Promoted by *Top Rank*, in association with* Peltz Boxing*, tickets, priced
at $100 (ringside), $65 and $35, are ON SALE NOW and can be purchased at
The Liacouras Center Box Office and *www.liacourascenter.com*
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, or by calling Peltz Boxing at 215-765-0922 <(215)%20765-0922>.
Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs), a southpaw from Las Vegas, won the world title
with a unanimous decision over four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire on
Nov. 5, 2016. Last April, he made quick work of Adeilson Dos Santos,
stopping the Brazilian contender in the second round. He was scheduled to
fight on Nov. 11, but an injury kept him out of action. Magdaleno rested
and recovered, looks forward to defending his title.
Magdaleno and Dogboe, however, are not strangers. The two sparred years ago
in Las Vegas, with each man claiming to have gotten the better of the
sessions.
“I feel like this going to be a very exciting fight. I’m excited to be
defending my title for the second time,” Magdaleno said. “All the fans are
going to see a great fight from Jessie Magdaleno. I’m going to do things
the fans have never seen from me. I have a great undefeated opponent in
front of me. Someone’s ‘0’ has got to go, but mine isn’t going anywhere.”
Dogboe (18-0, 12 KOs), a 2012 Olympian from Accra, Ghana, won the interim
WBO junior featherweight title on Jan. 6 in Accra, thrilling the hometown
fans with a fifth-round TKO of former world title challenger Cesar Juarez.
A sweeping left hook knocked Juarez down, and referee Tony Weeks stopped
the fight. Dogboe has won four of his last five fights by knockout.
Jennings and Dawejko will battle it out in classic neighborhood battle, the
likes of which hasn’t been seen in Philadelphia in decades.
“In my opinion, Dawejko vs. Jennings is the biggest Philly vs. Philly fight
in 36 years,” said Hall of Fame promoter J Russell Peltz, president of
Peltz Boxing. “I have to go all the way back to 1982 when Jeff Chandler
defended his WBA world bantamweight title against former high school
classmate Johnny Carter in a nationally televised fight from Pennsylvania
Hall at the Civic Center. There have been other outstanding all-Philly
fights since then, but they pale in comparison to Dawejko vs. Jennings.
Plus, Dawejko beat Jennings in the amateurs, and that’s just one of several
subplots in this matchup.”
“I’m very excited for this all-Philly battle, to get the opportunity to put
on for my city,” Jennings said. “Hopefully, when this is a success, we’ll
be able to bring boxing to the city on an even bigger scale. After I beat
Joey Dawejko, I hope to one day fight for, and defend, the heavyweight
title in Philadelphia.”
The rivals have come a long way since their amateur days when Dawejko
defeated Jennings in Jennings’ third amateur fight.
“The judges said he won, but I really won,” Jennings said.
As for Dawejko, he remembers things differently.
“It was the last fight of my amateur career, and I know he felt he won,”
Dawejko said. “I already knew I was turning pro. I didn’t care about the
fight, and it was an easy win. If he feels he got hosed in our amateur
fight, I’m gonna down that motherfu**er in our pro fight.”
Jennings (22-2, 13 KOs), born in North Philadelphia, didn’t start boxing
until December 2008, when he was 24 years old. His amateur career spanned
only 17 fights, but he found success rather quickly as a pro. He won his
first 19 bouts before challenging heavyweight world champion Wladimir
Klitschko on April 25, 2015, at Madison Square Garden. Jennings gave
Klitschko one of the toughest tests of his championship reign, ultimately
dropping a unanimous decision. Following a seventh-round TKO loss to Luis
Ortiz on Dec. 19, 2015, Jennings took a 20-month sabbatical from the ring.
He signed with Top Rank and has won two fights in a row. In his last bout,
on Feb. 16 in Reno, Nev., Jennings knocked down Akhror Muralimov five times
en route to a third-round stoppage.
Dawejko (19-4-4, 11 KOs) is riding a seven-fight unbeaten streak dating
back to May 8, 2015, when he lost a unanimous decision to Amir Mansour. He
is no stranger to Philadelphia crowds, having fought there 10 times as a
pro. In his last bout, on Dec. 1, he beat the previously undefeated Kelvin
Nunez via eight-round decision to win the vacant WBC FECARBOX belt.
Hart (23-1, 19 KOs) is a former amateur standout, winning the 2011 National
Golden Gloves and U.S. National championships at 165 pounds. A 2012 U.S.
Olympic alternate, Hart turned pro in 2012 and won his first 22 bouts prior
to challenging Gilberto Ramirez for the WBO super middleweight title on
Sept. 22, 2017. He fought valiantly that night, ultimately dropping a close
unanimous decision. Hart last fought on the Ramirez-Habib Ahmed undercard on
Feb. 3, knocking out Thomas Awimbono in the opening round. Against
Nicholson (18-2, 17 KOs), he is facing one of the division’s most fearsome
punchers.
Hart is trained by his father, Philadelphia boxing legend Eugene ‘Cyclone’
Hart.
“I’m very excited to fight in front of my hometown people,” Hart said. “My
dad will definitely be there, and even more exciting is my daughter, Halo,
will be there. She hasn’t been to a fight since 2014, so this night will be
extra special.”
Nicholson, a native of Laurel, Md., turned pro in 2013 after going 110-15
in the amateur ranks. Two fights ago, on June 9, 2017, he dropped a hotly
contested eight-round split decision to the undefeated Steve Rolls but
rebounded with a second-round stoppage of Josue Obando on Aug. 25.
Nicholson has 10 first-round knockouts on his ledger and hopes to bring
that power to the ring against Hart, the WBO’s top contender.
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