7/31 PBC on FOX: Michael Coffie vs Jonathan Rice / Joey Spencer vs James Martin

[patscorpio]

Michael Polite Coffie has landed one of the names on his wish list as he prepares for his biggest fight to date.

BoxingScene.com has learned that Brooklyn’s Coffie will next face former heavyweight title challenger Gerald Washington, one of three recognizable names that he called out following his third-round knockout of Darmani Rock earlier this year. The bout will be featured on the July 31 edition of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox, airing live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Also to be featured on the show is an intriguing welterweight rematch between Philadelphia’s James Martin and locally based prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. The bout comes just three months after Mielnicki (8-1, 5KOs) suffered an upset unanimous decision defeat to Martin in an April 17 Fox-televised bout from Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

Mielnicki revealed plans for the rematch in a social media post on Monday. PBC declined official comment on verifying either bout for the show given that the event has not yet been announced.

Coffie (12-0, 9KOs) has been featured on Fox platforms for each of his past three fights, none more impressive than his last outing. The 35-year-old heavyweight—who took up the sport just prior to his 30th birthday and turned pro after proudly serving in United States Marine Corps—scored two knockdowns en route to stopping the previously unbeaten Rock (17-1, 12KOs) at just 0:59 of round three in their January 30 Fox-televised bout.

The win was the latest in a current four fight knockout streak for Coffie, who has yet to go past six rounds as a pro. In the post-fight press conference following his victory, Coffie stated his desire to test himself “against guys like a Gerald Washington, a Dominic Breazeale, a Charles Martin. I’d like to test myself against those kind of opponents. That would show me if I’m ready for the next step, which would be guys for the belt.”

The first name on the list was secured for the rising heavyweight.

Washington (20-4-1, 13KOs) has not fought since a 6th round stoppage loss to Martin last February at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The setback came seven months after resurrecting his career with a come-from-behind 8th round stoppage of Robert Helenius (30-3, 19KOs) in their July 2019 slugfest.

The 39-year-old Washington—who served in the U.S. Navy and played college football for the University of Southern California (USC)—has been stopped in all four career defeats, beginning with a 5th round stoppage at the hands of then-unbeaten WBC titlist Deontay Wilder in a February 2017 title bid.

Once formally announced, the July 31 show will serve as the first on the East Coast for a PBC on Fox event since the pandemic. The series has aired exclusively from the greater Los Angeles area since last August 22, spanning nine shows on Fox prime and another seven on FS1.

The event will now mark the second straight to take place outside of L.A., with the June 27 edition airing live from The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The last PBC on Fox show to air live from the East Coast came last March 7, when Helenius scored a fourth-round knockout of Adam Kownacki (20-1, 15KOs) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Their rematch comes one week prior to the July 31 Fox show, serving as the chief support on the July 24 Fox Pay-Per-View topped by the third fight between Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs) and heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs) from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

 

[patscorpio]

other than the martin-mielnicki rematch...i have no interest in this card..coffie should get rid of washington with no problem..and spencer is facing a pure journeyman in every sense of the word and its a huge mismatch

 

[patscorpio]

Gerald Washington Withdraws Due To COVID-19; Michael Coffie To Face Jonathan Rice

BY KEITH IDEC
Published Tue Jul 27, 2021, 11:50 AM EDT


Rising heavyweight Michael Coffie has a new opponent for FOX’s main event Saturday night.

BoxingScene.com has learned that Jonathan Rice has replaced an ill Gerald Washington, who was supposed to represent a step up in class for Coffie. Washington contracted COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from their 10-round fight at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Los Angeles’ Rice (13-6-1, 9 KOs) has lost back-to-back bouts, but he went the distance with hard-hitting Nigerian contender Efe Ajagba (15-0, 12 KOs) in his last fight September 19 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Rice also has gone the six-round distance with Tony Yoka (10-0, 8 KOs), a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from France.

The 39-year-old Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs), a former USC football player from Vallejo, California, was supposed to end a 17-month layoff against Coffie. Washington hasn’t boxed since former IBF champion Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) stopped him in the sixth round on the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder undercard in February 2020 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The Brooklyn-bred Coffie (12-0, 9 KOs) produced the biggest win of his career to date in his most recent appearance. A Marine who performed a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010, the late-blooming, 35-year-old Coffie floored Philadelphia’s Darmani Rock (17-1, 12 KOs) twice on his way to a third-round knockout FOX aired January 30 from Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

The Coffie-Rice fight will headline FOX’s tripleheader, which is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT and 5 p.m. PDT.

The show also will include an eight-round rematch between Philadelphia’s James Martin (7-2, 0 KOs) and Vito Mielnicki Jr. (8-1, 5 KOs). Martin upset Mielnicki, a 19-year-old welterweight prospect from Roseland, New Jersey, by majority decision in an eight-rounder April 17 at Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.

In the opener of FOX’s telecast, 21-year-old junior middleweight prospect Joey Spencer (12-0, 9 KOs), of Linden, Michigan, is set to square off against Dan Karpency (9-3-1, 4 KOs), of Adah, Pennsylvania.

 

[patscorpio]

Interesting FS1 portion

 

[aceboon]

Thought Dirrell retired, feels like he had more than 2 losses. Also it feels like Deloach is older than 27.

 

[patscorpio]

Thought Dirrell retired, feels like he had more than 2 losses. Also it feels like Deloach is older than 27.

I mean after those 2 fights with uzcategui he might as well be retired..damn shame

Deloach I dont know what happened...when he was with punisher man looked like a real prospect...when he got the shyt beaten out of him by gallimore its been all downhill

 

[aceboon]

I mean after those 2 fights with uzcategui he might as well be retired..damn shame

Deloach I dont know what happened...when he was with punisher man looked like a real prospect...when he got the shyt beaten out of him by gallimore its been all downhill

Yea that Gallimore beating was brutal, both looked like sleepers @ 154 heading into that fight and now both are used as tests for prospects

 

[patscorpio]

 

[aceboon]

bubble boxing needs to be re-activated

 

[patscorpio]

 

[patscorpio]

yo this card is garbage!! are you serious?!!! gotdamn

 

[aceboon]

At first I thought it was sly changing the weight to 147 but the first fight @ 152 was short notice, he should have been able to make 147.

 

[patscorpio]

martin vs spencer intrigues me

 

[reservoirdogs]

yo this card is garbage!! are you serious?!!! gotdamn

What's funny to me the bookies had Mielnicki as a favorite again. How you believe the hype so much more than your own eyes? Martin beat him CLEARLY, Mielnicki didn't have anything for him, like there wasn't even a slight dispute. Everybody thought that the judge who had it a draw was on crack. And yet they make Mielnicki a favorite in the rematch just cause some ppl in the industry thought he would be this big talent?

 

[patscorpio]

small town soldier is not a good nickname for a fighter lol