A ten-round welterweight bout between rising Eimantas Stanionis and former WBA champion Luis Collazo is now the main event for the Fox PBC Fight Night and Fox Deportes show this Saturday, August 7th from The Armory in Minneapolis. Two-time Venezuelan Olympian Gabriel Maestre remains on the card, but is now in the co-feature, battling Mykal Fox for the interim WBA welterweight belt. Maestre was originally scheduled to face fellow unbeaten Cody Crowley, who was forced to withdraw after a positive coronavirus test. Kicking off the broadcast, former-two division champion Devon Alexander “The Great” will return to action for a ten-round welterweight showdown against Luke Santamaría.
Fighting out of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Fox (22-2, 5 KOs) towers at nearly six-feet-four-inches tall and has used his length and excellent boxing ability during his pro career that dates back to 2014. The 25 year-old bounced back from a 2019 loss to Shohjahon Ergashev to win his next three outings, but in his most recent fight, Fox lost a close decision to Santamaria in August 2020.
A two-time Olympian for his home country of Venezuela, Maestre had an extensive amateur run that included victories over Brian Castano, Carlos Adames, Alexander Besputin, Oscar Molina and Brian Ceballo. As a pro, the 34 year-old has stopped previously unbeaten Jeovanis Barraza before earning a TKO over veteran contender Diego Chaves. August 7th will mark Maestre’s U.S. debut professionally.
Tickets for the event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions and Warriors Boxing, are on sale now and can be purchased at the Armory at http://ArmoryMN.com/ and through Ticketmaster.
Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs) has earned a series of victories as he has climbed up the ranks from prospect to contender, most recently earning a career-best 12-round decision over Thomas Dulorme in April. The 26-year-old from Lithuania, who now lives and trains in California, looked impressive as he picked up three solid wins in 2019, beating Samuel Figueroa via unanimous decision and scoring early stoppages against Julio Cesar Sanchez and Evincii Dixon. The undefeated welterweight continued to put the division on notice with back-to-back dominating main event performances in November and December 2020, when he notched ninth-round knockouts over Justin DeLoach and Janer Gonzalez respectively.
An experienced veteran in the welterweight division, Collazo (39-8, 20 KOs) has proven a stiff test over the years for top welterweights such as Keith Thurman, Shane Mosley, Amir Khan, Andre Berto and Ricky Hatton, to name a few. The Brooklyn, New York-native was a WBA champion in 2005 and has sprung upsets on rising contenders with memorable knockouts of Victor Ortiz and Sammy Vasquez. After triumphing over Bryant Perrella in 2018, Collazo defeated Samuel Vargas in March 2019 and most recently lost a technical decision to Kudratillo Abdukakhorov in October 2019.
Alexander (27-6-1, 14 KOs) makes his return after a June 2019 defeat to Ivan Redkach stunted a previous comeback attempt that saw Alexander go 1-1-1 in fights over a 10-month stretch. Before that stretch, a period of inactivity saw him seek treatment for an addiction to painkillers and eventually prove an inspiration in returning to deliver exciting fights against Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz and Walter Castillo. The St. Louis, Missouri native had a strong run at 140 pounds and unified titles in that division before scoring victories over Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse and eventually Randall Bailey to capture a welterweight championship.
The 32-year-old Santamaría (11-2-1, 7 KOs) steps into the ring to make his FOX debut after dropping a decision to top welterweight prospect Paul Kroll last October. Santamaria had previously scored an August triumph over veteran contender Mykal Fox that saw him drop Fox in round one of their battle on FS1. The Garden Grove, California native also owns a decision over Willie Jones and a split draw against Marquis Taylor in his 2019 contests. Santamaría was unbeaten in 10 fights since his first loss before facing Kroll, with his only other defeat coming via a four-round decision in his third pro bout in 2015.
