ShoBox returns Oct. 7, Conwell to face Toussaint
The series will have a special Wednesday night telecast, its first since March 13.
ShoBox: The New Generation will return with a special Wednesday night telecast on Oct. 7, featuring four fights from Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino, where Showtime has set up shop for its boxing cards since returning from lockdown.
This will be the first episode of ShoBox aired since March 13, which wound up being the last notable live boxing card in the United States until June 9, as everything began shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic that weekend.
The main event will see 154-pound prospect and former U.S. Olympian Charles Conwell (12-0, 9 KO) of Cleveland taking on Wendy Toussaint (12-0, 5 KO) in a 10-round fight.
The 22-year-old Conwell, who turned pro in 2017, and the 28-year-old Toussaint, a native of Haiti now based in New York, make for a solid ShoBox headliner. Toussaint’s the lesser prospect, or at least believed to be, and as the older man his time to start breaking through is now. At six-feet tall, Toussaint will have that as an advantage over the 5’9” Conwell.
Conwell last fought on Feb. 8 on a small show in Hammond, Ind., where he stopped veteran Ramses Agaton after four rounds. It was his first bout since his fight with Patrick Day in Oct. 2019 in Chicago. Day tragically died following a 10th round knockout. An understandably devastated Conwell contemplated quitting boxing, but decided instead to fight on and chase a world title in Day’s honor.
Toussaint was just in action on Aug. 22, winning a wide eight-round decision over Isiah Jones on a Top Rank card. Promoted by Star Boxing, Toussaint now gets another televised slot, and a bigger opportunity.
Also on the Oct. 7 card:
- Isiah Steen vs Kalvin Henderson, super middleweights, 8 rounds: The 24-year-old Steen (14-0, 11 KO) is another Cleveland fighter, last fought Feb. 8 on the same Indiana card as Conwell. The 30-year-old “Hot Sauce” Henderson (12-0-1, 8 KO) was born in Fort Worth but now lives in Fayetteville, Ark.
- Janelson Bocachica vs Nicklaus Flaz, welterweights, 8 rounds: Bocachica (15-0, 12 KO) is a 21-year-old Puerto Rican from Detroit, promoted by Marshall Kauffman and managed by David McWater. The 24-year-old Flaz (9-1, 7 KO) is a native of Puerto Rico, born in Bayamon, and has won four straight since a 2017 loss to Hurshidbek Normatov in New York.
- Brandun Lee vs Jimmy Williams, welterweights, 8 rounds: Lee (19-0, 17 KO) headlined the last ShoBox card, mowing down a grossly overmatched Camilo Prieto inside of three rounds. The 21-year-old prospect will probably settle in at 140 when things start getting even more serious. Williams (16-3-2, 5 KO) is 34 years old and is 0-2-1 in his last three fights; this isn’t really a ShoBox-style matchup, and you could be forgiven for wondering why Lee is getting ShoBox dates against journeymen in their mid-30s for two straight fights. If you’re wondering about Williams’ level compared to guys you may have seen, he was widely outpointed by Mark DeLuca in Mar. 2019, and stopped in four by Abel Ramos four months later.