ATLANTA — A top teen boxing prospect will make his ESPN debut in Atlanta next month at State Farm Arena.
Xander Zayas, a 19-year-old Puerto Rican boxer who to date has won all 10 of his career fights with seven of them knockouts, will take on veteran fighter Dan Karpency (more than a decade his senior at 30 years old).
The pair's six-round junior middleweight bout will serve as a co-headlining fight with one between WBO super featherweight/junior lightweight world champion Jamel Herring and former featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson.
The "Throwdown in A-Town" event is being held Oct. 23 at the arena. Currently there are tickets available for $104 at the low end.
Zayas, whom ESPN has described as "one of the brightest prospects in boxing," is coming off one of the best wins of his career - a September victory over Jose Luis Sanchez, who to that point had not lost in more than eight years.
That fight was a unanimous decision victory for Zayas in Tucson, Ariz. Before that the Top Rank fighter achieved a TKO over Larry Fyrers in Las Vegas in June.
Herring and Stevenson will also promise big action - Stevenson has won all 16 of his career fights, half of them knockouts, while Herring hasn't lost in nearly four years, and whose most recent win came against English star Carl Frampton in Dubai.
"I am grateful to Top Rank and ESPN for this opportunity. Fighting underneath a main event like Herring-Stevenson, in front of the great Atlanta fans, is an honor. It will also be my first time fighting on ESPN as a co-feature, and I will not disappoint," Zayas said in a statement. "My goal is to win Prospect of the Year, and I’m coming to Atlanta to put on a spectacular show. Don’t miss it.”
The undercard offers intrigue, as well, with Evander Holyfield's son Evan "Yung Holy" Holyfield - an Atlanta native - fighting Charles Stanford, and Muhammad Ali's grandson Nico Ali Walsh appearing in just his second pro fight against James Westley II.
Troy Isley, who competed in Japan during the Tokyo Olympics, is also set to fight.
The "Throwdown in A-Town" event continues a recent resurgence for Atlanta as a boxing destination - in June Maryland-born star Gervonta Davis won his main event fight at State Farm Arena against Mario Barrios.