Junior middleweight Yoelvis Gomez celebrates his knockout over Clay Collard (Photograph by Kate Frese/The Prudential Middle).
The undercard of the Jaron Ennis-Roiman Villa card was officially announced by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) Friday afternoon.
Unbeaten Yoelvis Gomez will face fringe contender Marquis Taylor in a 10-round middleweight bout. Also in a 10-round bout, once-beaten lightweight Edwin De Los Santos will square off against Joseph Adorno.
The card will take place at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and will air live on Showtime (9:30 p.m. ET/ 6:30 p.m. PT).
Gomez (6-0, 5 knockouts), who is originally from Havana, Cuba and now lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been moved quickly since making his pro debut in August 2019. Gomez faced MMA fighter Clay Collard in December 2021, knocking him out in the opening round. In his last bout on May 21 of last year, Gomez defeated former junior middleweight contender Jorge Cota by decision over 10 one-sided rounds.
The 25-year-old believes he is the future at 154 and 160 pounds and is eager to make a statement at the expense of Taylor.
“The wait is over and I’m excited to return to the ring,” said Gomez, who is managed by Shane Shapiro. “I’m very thankful to my whole team for bringing me back on the big stage. I had a great camp in Los Angeles with my trainer Joe Goossen, who has polished my style. I feel like a hungry lion and I’m ready to eat. My plan is to get the knockout and prove why I am the new boogeyman in the division. Taylor is going down and fans are going to see me at my best.”
Taylor won by disqualification over Oscar Chacin in his last bout on February 3. The 29-year-old appeared on a ShoBox card on October 21, defeating Marlon Harrington by decision over eight one-sided rounds.
Having not lost since his fourth pro fight against Ladarius Miller in April 2015, Taylor (14-1-2, 1 KO), who resides in the Houston suburb of Galena Park, has faced and defeated three unbeaten fighters, including Jimmy Williams, Sanjarbek Rakhmanov and Harrington. He also fought to draws against Luke Santamaria and Paul Kroll.
Taylor believes he has faced the better opposition and that will be the tipping point in his favor on July 8.
“This is a great matchup and I’m excited about the opportunity,” said Taylor. “We’re two really good fighters and it will be a great matchup for the fans. Yoelvis Gomez is a young, strong fighter and he’s aggressive with a lot of power. A win should put me in a position to compete for a world title. Everyone is gonna see that I’m a big contender when I win on July 8.”
De Los Santos (15-1, 14 KOs), who resides in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, scored the biggest win of his young career, overcoming a knockdown to knock out previously-undefeated Jose Valenzuela in the third round on September 4. The 23-year-old has won his last two bouts since losing a close split-decision to William Foster III on January 7 of last year.
Adorno (17-2-2, 14 KOs) lost a close unanimous decision to Elvis Rodriguez in his last bout on February 25. The loss snapped a three-bout winning streak, including a win over previously-unbeaten Hugo Roldan on September 9.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
