Former world title challengers Maricela Cornejo and Natasha Spence both came in comfortably within the middleweight limit for their fight on Friday, August 8 at Legend Casino Hotel in Toppenish, Washington.
Cornejo checked in at 157.9lbs while Spence stepped on the scale at 157.1lbs.
Their six-round bout headlines a show promoted by Roy Jones Jnr., which will also feature multiple musical performances by the Hall of Fame fighter. A stream is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET (3 a.m. BST) on the RJJBoxing YouTube page.
Cornejo, 19-7 (7 KOs), was last in the ring almost exactly a year ago, coming in as a late replacement and losing a unanimous decision to former undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus. That fight, a junior middleweight bout, was on the undercard of Vergil Ortiz Jnr-Serhii Bohachuk in Las Vegas.
The loss to Braekhus ended a three-fight winning streak Cornejo had put together following a shutout defeat to undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields in June 2023. Cornejo also lost title fights earlier in her career against Kali Reis at middleweight and twice against Franchon Crews-Dezurn at super middleweight.
The 38-year-old Cornejo lives in Los Angeles these days but grew up about half an hour from Friday’s fight venue, allowing her to box for her hometown crowd for the first time in her professional career.
Spence, a 40-year-old from the Canadian province of Ontario, is 8-8-2 (6 KOs). She has gone 0-6-1 in her last seven fights but has shown as sturdy chin against name opponents while fighting between junior middleweight and super middleweight, dropping decisions to the likes of Hanna Gabriels in a title fight at 154lbs, Melinda Watpool (twice), Shadasia Green, Tamm Thibeault and Elia Carranza.
The other fights scheduled for this show are:
Andrew Murphy vs. Jeremiah Sierra, eight rounds, super middleweights
- Murphy, 10-0 (7 KOs), 167.2lbs
- Sierra, 4-2 (1 KO), 168lbs
Joshua Juarez vs. Oscar Cortes, six rounds, heavyweights
- Juarez, 12-0 (7 KOs), 257lbs
- Cortes, 27-7 (14 KOs), 194.7lbs
Chris Young vs. Derrick Funkhouser, six rounds, lightweights
- Young, 3-0 (2 KOs), 134lbs
- Funkhouser, 0-1 (0 KOs), 135lbs
Jovanis Rodriguez Pallares vs. Alvin Welch, four rounds, junior middleweights
- Pallares, 1-0 (1 KO), 152lbs
- Welch, 0-1 (0 KOs), 152lbs
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.
