"Dynamite" Danny Perez weighed 160 and Dewey Welliver 158 today in Phoenix. The two will fight in the Top Rank main event Friday night at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, live on Solo Boxeo de Miller. This is a big fight for Perez who returned to the ring in June 2004 after 10 months off. In September, 2003, Perez was stabbed five times on a street in San Diego, struck with a crowbar and left to die.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Perez said. "They said I was dead for a few seconds but somehow came back to life."
"I saw the light at the end of the tunnel that people see when they are dying," Perez said. "I was ready to go to the other side...."
Instead, he awoke, he recovered from the injuries, got back into fighting shape and returned to the sport he loves - boxing.
Since the incident Perez has fought twice - getting a 10-round win over 14-1-1 Jose Luis Zertuche and a 10-round split-win over 16-7-2 Marcos Primera.
Now Perez, 28 and with a ring record of 30-4 with 17 knockouts, takes on Dewey Welliver who is in top condition. Welliver has been involved in tremendously heated sparring sessions with "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather Jr. who has been training to take on Henry 'El Nitro' Bruseles in Miami on Jan. 22.
"You've got to be in great shape to just spar with Mayweather," Welliver said. "It's going to be a lot easier getting into the ring against Perez."