A night of action awaits boxing fans of the Coachella Valley, as top welterweight contender Eddie “E-Boy” Gomez (18-1, 11 KOs) and the pride of the Bronx, N.Y., gets one step closer to seizing a shot at a world title in 2016 when he takes on Puerto Rican welterweight standout John Karl Sosa (13-1, 6 KOs) on Friday, May 20. The 10-round welterweight fight will be broadcast live nationally on Boxeo Estelar on Estrella TV and streamed live on Ring TV from Golden Boy Promotions’ home in the desert at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. “We have a great night of fights set for Fantasy Springs Resort Casino on May 20,” said Oscar De La Hoya, chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “2016 should be a big year for Eddie’s career and this fight is one that will give him another opportunity to demonstrate he is a force to be reckoned with in the hot welterweight division. Similarly, John Karl Sosa is taking his career to the next level with this challenging fight and moving up in weight. Sosa is tough and is going to make Eddie fight with all he’s made of on May 20.” Joining this thrilling night of fights will be skilled southpaw fighter Fidel “The Atrisco Kid” Maldonado Jr. (21-3, 18 KOs) of Albuquerque, N.M. as he hopes to defeat Glendale, Calif.’s Art “Lionheart” Hovhannisyan (17-2-2, 9 KOs) in the 10-round lightweight televised co-main event. Hoping to make TV time, Chinese heavyweight sensation Taishan Dong (6-0, 3 KOs) of Beijing, China will return to the ring to participate in a four to six-round heavyweight swing bout against an opponent to be named shortly. Rounding out the non-televised undercard, which will stream live on Ring TV, East Los Angeles native, Roy “Pitbull” Tapia (11-1-2, 6 KOs) will face Jose “The Flash” Bustos (11-6-3, 7 KOs) hailing from Ciudad, Juarez, Mexico in an exciting eight-round super bantamweight battle. Also featured as part of the Ring TV live stream, D’Mitirus Ballard (12-0, 8 KOs) of Washington, D.C. will put his undefeated record on the line in a scheduled eight-round super middleweight fight, Riverside, Calif.’s Joseph “Diamante” Aguirre (12-0, 8 KOs) will participate in a six-round lightweight bout and kicking off the fight night activities, Livan “Machine Gun Kid” Navarro (2-0) of Miami is scheduled to face off in a six-round super lightweight fight. Opponents will be named shortly. Tickets for the event are on sale Friday, April 15 and are priced at $45, $35, $25 and can be purchased at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com<http://www.fantasyspringsresort.com>.
- Miguel Maravilla