Elijah Pierce takes on Arthur Villanueva in the return of Overtime on March 29
Overtime announced their return to boxing after a successful maiden series last year. They kick-off event will feature Elijah Pierce facing Arthur Villanueva in an 8-round scheduled fight at the Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta, Georgia on Friday March 29.
The five-fight card will also see unbeaten pair Haven Brady Jr. (11-0, 4 knockouts) meet Waldemar Areizaga (8-0, 4 KOs) over 8-rounds at junior lightweight.
Female junior middleweight’s Oshae Jones (5-0, 1 KO) will fight Sonya Dreiling (6-4, 2 KOs) in an 8-round bout. Heavyweight Dacarree Scott (8-1, 7 KOs) and Detrailous Webster (6-2, 2 KOs) collide in a 6-round fight. Meanwhile, novices Donte Layne (1-0, 1 KO) and Deshun Mitchell (2-0, 2 KOs) open the show in a scheduled four-round super middleweight contest.
Interestingly, Overtime also said that the ring will be 18×18, smaller than the typical 20x 22 ring. The idea is to initiate more action.
There will be a knockout bonus and extra incentive called “Money Round” if any of the fighters score a first or last round knockout.
In the event of a draw there will be one more round of action to determine the winner.
Pierce (18-2, 15 KOs), rated at No. 8 by The Ring at junior featherweight, spent much of the early part of his career fighting foes considerably higher than his natural weight, and that’s how the tall southpaw suffered defeats against Giovanni Cabrera (UD 10) and Sulaiman Segawa (MD 8).
However, after a change of management he worked his way down in weight and is on a nine-fight winning streak which includes an impressive points win over Tramaine Williams (UD 10) and, most recently, a one-punch knockout over Mike Plania (KO 3).
Villanueva (35-4-1, 20 KOs) turned professional in 2008. The Filipino won the OPBF junior bantamweight title and an assortment of regional sanctioning body belts, while running his record to 27-0.
The 35-year-old suffered his first defeat against McJoe Arroyo when he was cut and lost a technical decision when the two fought for the vacant IBF 115-pound title. Since then Villanueva has lost when he’s stepped up against Zolani Tete (UD 12), Luis Nery (TKO 6) and Nordine Oubaali (RTD 6) in a WBC bantamweight title shot. Although Villanueva is on a three-fight win streak, he has done this against a lower level of opposition.
The OTX event will be broadcast on DAZN
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk.
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