Staff Reports
Showtime Boxing returns to Shreveport on Friday at George’s Pond at Hirsch Coliseum at 6 p.m.
Bishop Promotions, Banner Promotions, Caddo Parish Commission and the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission collaborated to bring the event back.
The popular boxing series, ShoBox: The Next Generation, returns to the area with headlining fighter Ruben Villa, a 22-year-old from Salinas, Calif.
Villa has a flawless record of 17-0 with five knockouts and is ranked No. 5 in the World Boxing Organization’s featherweight class. He will defend his WBO regional title against Alexei Collado, a Miami, Fla., fighter who is 26-2-0 with 23 knockouts.
Villa was a 2016 U.S. Olympic alternate who defeated current WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson twice in the amateurs as well as defeating current WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.
Co-featuring the event is Taras Shelestyuk, who is 17-0 with 10 knockouts, against Luis Veron, an Argentinian brawler who is 15-3-1 with eight knockouts
Shelestyuk was the 2012 Olympic bronze medal winner from Ukraine and is making his much anticipated return to ShowTime Boxing. The winner of this bout will be rated in the top 15 of the welterweight division world rankings.
Local fighters include Shreveport natives Blake Franklin (12-12-2) and Zach Albritton (1-0-0), as well as regional fighters Jamykle Wade of West Monroe (5-4-1, 2 KO’s), Kenneth Taylor of Tyler, Texas (10-1-2, 6 KO’s) and Steve Jones of Longview, Texas (0-0).
Tickets are $20-$100. VIP seating is available. Gold level tickets are $5 off with promo code: MARDIGRAS. Purchase tickets at www.bishoppromotions.com. For more information about sporting events in Shreveport-Bossier, visit www.shreveportbossiersports.com.
