Undefeated Cuban trio aim to continue surge to the top

HEAVYWEIGHT Mike “The Rebel” Perez and super middleweight Luis Garcia will face US opposition for their bid to extend their unbeaten records at the Yanjing Beer Fight Night in Neptune Stadium on Saturday June 25, when all three Cork-based Cubans will be in action.

The trio – including super bamtam weight Alexei Acosta – are all world amateur junior champions and remain unbeaten since joining the paid ranks but they face big tests on the night of “The Undefeated” when they team up with three of Ireland’s most exciting prospects, Andy Murray, Willie “Big Bang” Casey and Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan to bring a combined record to the ring of 65 wins (45 KOs) and 0 defeats.

Super middleweight Garcia will touch gloves with Demetrius Davis, while Perez has an appointment with Jason Barnett and Acosta will take on Argentina’s Jose Saez with all three bouts scheduled for eight rounds.

The experienced Davis is coming off a win over the previously undefeated Arthur Hein in Germany, so he will be relishing an opportunity to return to Europe and spoil another unbeaten record.

Garcia will be keen to maintain momentum after two wins inside the past month – a points win over former European title challenger Alexander Sipos in Limerick and an impressive short route victory over Welsh hard man, Nathan King, at The King’s Hall in Belfast last weekend.

“Davis is another good opponent for me and a good step in my career,” said the 22-year-old, whose record stands at seven straight wins, with five coming by KO.

“The guys I have been fighting recently like Sipos and King are not pushovers and they are helping me to develop as a professional.

“I don’t want any easy fights, I want to try and step up every time with opponents who will test me and Davis has a lot of experience and comes with a good reputation.”

Perez’s opponent is another experienced American in the shape of Jason Barnett. Fresh from his historic two fights in one night on the Andy Lee undercard in Limerick last month, the hard-hitting southpaw will he hoping to chalk up another KO victory over Barnett, a former opponent of current European heavyweight champion, Audley Harrison.

The 35-year-old from Florida has hit something of a purple patch of late with consecutive KO wins over John Poore and Erik Leander, snapping the latter’s undefeated record en route.

Acosta will also face an examination of his championship credentials when he meets former WBC Latino super bantamweight champ Jose Saez.

The Argentinean went the distance with current IBF world champion, Steve Molitor, just last November but Acosta has proved to be a big hitter in the professional ranks having won all 10 of his fights to date by KO.

Tickets for the Yanjing Beer Fight Night priced €25 & €50 are available from Ticketmaster, Mahers Sports outlets, Neptune Stadium [phone], The Wilton Pub [phone], Patrick Thomas 087 9393586, Gary O’Sullivan 085 1789544 and Willie Casey 086 3136925.