Some of New Jersey’s most popular attractions will begin their year on Boxing Insider Promotions’ next show, on March 7 at The Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
John Leonardo, a junior featherweight from Manalapan Township, will face Millville’s Edgar Joe Cortes in an eight-round fight, while Josh Popper and Lia Lewandowski will also be part of the show. A popular fighter from Atlantic City, junior middleweight prospect Justin Figueroa, is also possible for the bill.
The date will mark the first fight for Leonardo, 12-1-1 (6 KOs), since November 2024, when he stopped Jose Saant in four rounds. Now, the 25-year-old Leonardo will attempt to make up for lost time against Cortes, 9-8-1 (1 KO), a 31-year-old who is aiming to snap a three-fight winless streak.
“2025 was a tough year for me,” Leonardo told BoxingScene. “I did three training camps for three different opponents, I fell out with injuries and other issues. It was God’s way of telling me to slow down and follow his lead.
“My 2026 goals start with catching this win against a tough opponent like Cortez and then seeing my options. After that, I’d like to talk with [Boxing Insider Promotions President Larry Goldberg] and see what his next dates are so I can possibly stay active in Atlantic City and keep the competition high.”
Lewandowski, 3-0 (1 KO), of Berlin, New Jersey, will face her most experienced opponent to date in a six-round junior featherweight fight against Dallas' Indeya Rodriguez, 6-8-3 (1 KO). The 27-year-old Lewandowski, a Drexel University graduate, is coming off a majority decision win over Chanall Sumrall in November in her previous fight.
Popper, 5-0 (5 KOs), was also on that November card, scoring a third-round stoppage of Trevor Kotara. The 32-year-old Popper, who lives in New York City but hails from nearby Somers Point, New Jersey, had played football for Rowan University, an NCAA Division III school, while earning invites to three National Football League teams’ pro days.
Popper will face an opponent still to be named.
Also slated for the card are a couple of New York-based boxers: super middleweights Jahanzeb Rizwan, 1-0 (1 KO), and Jacob Riley Solis, 7-0-1 (6 KOs).
Solis, 34, is back for the first time since last May after a rabbit-punch knockout of pro Marquis Taylor in a sparring session that was broadcast live this past summer led to his being removed from a card and placed on medical suspension. Solis will face Jeremy Ramos, 14-16 (4 KOs), of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in a six-rounder.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
