Exciting light heavyweight contender Najee Lopez is set for his ring return when he faces Mexican veteran Manuel Gallegos in Florida on Friday, March 13.
They will fight at the Osceloa Heritage Park in Kissimmee in a ProBox TV main event with the promising Lopez staking his immaculate 15-0 (12 KOs) record against the 22-3-1 (19 KOs) boxer from Los Mochis, Sinaloa.
Lopez is ranked No. 7 by the WBA, No. 13 by the IBF and he’s at 15 by the WBC and has been built from the ground up on ProBox TV since his debut.
He started boxing at the age of six, training with his dad, Tito Lopez, and had 140 amateur bouts.
Lopez turned over in 2021 and, now 26, while Gallegos has been an 11-year pro and seen as one of the division’s gatekeepers, having boxed the likes of Diego Pacheco, Khalil Coe, and Richard Vansiclen.
“Najee is a special talent, a very athletic light heavyweight,” said ProBoxTV founder and CEO, Garry Jonas. “With his speed and power, we think he’s the future of the division. With him facing Gallegos, this is a rare Puerto Rico vs. Mexico matchup in the higher weight divisions. Najee’s whole family is from the Island and he’s very proud of his Puerto Rican heritage. This will be a super fun, high-energy fight for the fans. Najee is an entertaining action fighter rounding into championship form and this excellent test will continue his development.”
There are more stellar prospects on the undercard, with tests for 12-0 (7 KOs) junior lightweight Dominic Valle and 13-0-1 (9 KOs) light heavyweight Dante Benjamin.
Floridian Valle gets his first 10-rounder, against the tough 29-5-3 (14 KOs) Eduardo “Zurdito” Ramirez, who is 29-5-3 (14 KOs).
That represents the co-feature.
“It’s nice to see Dominic Valle stepping up to 10 rounds,” continued Jonas. “He’s no longer a prospect; he’s stepping up to being an early-stage contender and continuing to develop into what we think will be a force in the division. He’s freakishly large and has a great motor. I’m excited he’s stepping up and it won’t be long before he’s at the top of the rankings.”
Cleveland’s Benjamin meets Angel Lozano, who is 8-0 (6 KOs) and from Pomona, California.
The Florida bill also includes several fighters from the ProBox TV Future Stars series, including junior middleweight Jeovanny Estela, 14-2 (5 KOs), defending his home turf against Asuncion, Paraguay-based Jorge Rodrigo Sosa, 8-14 (8 KOs), and homegrown junior featherweight prospect Kenyan Valle, 2-0 (1 KO) facing Anel Dudo, 4-6-1 (1 KO) of Aurora, Colorado via Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina. Meanwhile bantamweight puncher Christian Chessa, 6-0 (6 KOs), and Florida-based prospect Miguel Paredes will also appear in separate fights.
