Lightweight prospect Antonio Perez will take on gatekeeper Abraham Montoya on April 3 in the main event at Archer Music Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The show will stream on DAZN, according to promoter Red Owl Boxing.

Perez, 11-0 (5 KOs), is a 24-year-old from about 90 minutes away in the state’s capital city of Harrisburg. He fought just once per year in 2024 and 2025, outpointing the 16-0-1 Antonio Williams and then spending almost exactly a year away before shutting out the 18-7 Alex Martin last June.

Montoya, 23-7-1 (14 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. He was the first person to defeat Luis Alberto Lopez – via split decision in 2018, before Lopez would go on to win a world title at featherweight. Montoya dropped a wide decision to junior lightweight prospect Muhammad Yaqubov in 2019 and has remained mostly on the losing end since.

Montoya did give the 12-0 Alejandro Guerrero his first blemish in 2021, but Montoya then proceeded to drop three straight decisions to the 20-1 Gabriel Flores Jnr, the 17-0 Andres Cortes and the 19-1 Moussa Gholam. He then bounced back with two wins against lower-tier foes before getting outpointed by the 11-0 Marc Castro in April 2024. 

Seven months later, Montoya gave former titleholder Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jnr a reality check, triumphing via split decision. But Montoya wouldn’t fight again until a year later. In that most recent appearance, he once again went to the scorecards in defeat, losing to the 13-0 Tsendbaatar Erdenebat this past November.

Other prospects slated for this show in separate bouts include bantamweight Emanuel Moreno, 12-0 (3 KOs), and junior featherweight Cornellio Phipps, 6-0 (2 KOs).

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.