Golden Boy announced that a ten-round middleweight battle between D'Mitrius "Big Meech" Ballard (20-0, 13 KOs) and Elias "Latin Kid" Espadas (18-4, 13 KOs) will kick off the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend on Thursday, June 20th at Ocean Casino Resort/Ovation Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. In the co-feature, Eddie "Eboy" Gomez (22-3, 12 KOs) of the Bronx, N.Y. will return in a ten-round welterweight fight against Saul "Navajo" Corral (29-13, 19 KOs), who is originally from Mexico but fights out of Arizona. The event will be streamed live on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night Page. Golden Boy partner Bernard Hopkins will be inducted into the 2019 Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame that weekend. Although from nearby Philadelphia, Hopkins fought in Atlantic City nineteen times, and he will be in appearance for the entire weekend as the city honors his historic trajectory.

 

"I'm grateful for the honor of being inducted in the Hall of Fame in a city where I had my first professional fight," said Bernard Hopkins. "I fought against a guy named Clinton Mitchell, who was an outstanding Golden Gloves prospect at the time. I lost by decision, but I learned a lesson that night. I learned something. If you look at my record, you'll see that I left the sport for almost two years. Most people would not have come back from that. Most people don't want to fail, so they don't try. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't have a choice. I told myself, 'Either I make it in this boxing business, or I'm going to die.' That night at Atlantic City, where I later fought many more times, changed everything. I am profoundly grateful to be in this position, to be inducted in the Hall of Fame of a city where this journey started."

 

The Hall of Fame weekend will feature events on Friday and Saturday, culminating with the induction ceremony on Sunday. The list of inductees also includes legendary pugilists such as Roberto "Mano de Piedra" Duran, Tim "Terrible" Witherspoon, Iran "The Blade" Barkley, Virgil "Quicksilver" Hill, John "Eastern Beast" Brown, and "Irish" Micky Ward.

 

"Every year the Induction Weekend Celebration gets more exciting," said Ray McCline, President and Founder of the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame. "Again, we have an excellent class of inductees who have made major contributions in making Atlantic City a top boxing destination around the world."

 

"The City of Atlantic City has a long and rich history with the sport of boxing," said Frank Gilliam Mayor of Atlantic City. "The 3rd annual Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame will begin on June 20 with a Golden Boy Fight Night at Ocean Casino Resort and culminate with the induction of Bernard Hopkins into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame. The City of Atlantic City is looking forward to an epic weekend of boxing and entertainment. I want to personally thank Ray McCline for his vision and for bringing boxing back to Atlantic City."

 

The undercard of the June 20th show will feature  Jaba Khositashvili (4-0, 2 KOs) of Akhalkalaki, Georgia will take on Gabriel Pham (10-1, 5 KOs) of Atlantic City, N.J. in a six-round super middleweight bout...

 

In junior welterweight fights, Dan Murray (4-2) of Lanoka Harbor, N.J. will fight in a four-round clash against Leonardo Kenon (3-5, 1 KOs) of Quincy, Florida...

 

Rishard Muhammad of Atlantic City, N.J. will make his professional debut in a four-round featherweight battle.