Mrdjenovich to defend title on Ring City

Press Release

08/04/2021

Mrdjenovich to defend title on Ring City

Ring City USA today added a championship fight to its Thursday, April 22nd event at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, live on NBC Sports Network (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). WBA featherweight champion Jelena Mrdjenovich (41-10-2, 19 KOs) of Edmonton, Canada will defend against Erika Cruz Hernandez (12-1-0, 3 KOs) of Mexico City. Also included on the broadcast will be a ten-round clash between undefeated junior welterweights Juan Pablo ‘El Pivi’ Romero (13-0, 9 KOs) of Mexico and Jonathan ‘Thunder’ Navarro (17-0, 9 KOs) of East Los Angeles. The previously announced main event is a heavyweight clash between Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) and Stephan Shaw (14-0, 10 KOs)
 
Mrdjenovich, 38, returns to the Ring City USA squared circle following her fifth title defense, a ten-round unanimous decision victory against Iranda Paolo Torres on December 17, 2020. The three-division champion won the WBA world title in March 2016 defeating champion Edith Matthysse. A pioneer for women’s boxing in Canada, Mrdjenovich is currently the second-ranked featherweight in the world, behind only Amanda Serrano.
 
Cruz Hernandez, 30, will be challenging for her first world title. The southpaw is currently riding an eleven-bout winning streak including victories over Vissia Trovato and Jocelyn Morales Torres. 
 
Making his United States debut, the heavy-handed Romero arrives for battle following a ten-round unanimous decision over Sergio Torres on November 28, 2020 in Mexico City. Prior to his most recent outing, Romero, 31, has faced good competition and performed well by knocking out four consecutive opponents within the first four rounds.
 
The 24 year-old Jonathan Navarro turned professional five years ago. The nephew of former perennial contenders Jose and Carlos Navarro, Jonathan is trained by Robert Garcia. Coming off a 17-month layoff, he hits the ring following a second round knockout of Lebin Morales on October 24, 2019 in Indio, CA. Among the victories on his ledger include a seventh-round knockout over then-unbeaten contender Damon Allen in August 2018.
 
Bonus undercard action will stream live around the world on Twitch. Armed Forces Network Europe and Pacific will also make the broadcast available to U.S. Forces serving overseas on AFN TV. More details on the Ring City USA event on April 22 from West Point will be announced at a later date.