Welterweight up-and-comer Rashidi Ellis will fight Alberto Mosquera in a scheduled 10-round main event of the June 29 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN, Golden Boy Promotions announced Thursday.
The card will take place at the Oasis Arena in Cancun, Mexico, and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
Ellis (19-0, 13 KOs), 25, of Lynn, Massachusetts, is one of Golden Boy’s best prospects and seemed ready to break out after an impressive first-round knockout win over fellow prospect Eddie Gomez in December 2016. But Ellis was limited to just one fight in 2017. After another 11 months out of the ring, Ellis returned in March and knocked out journeyman Fidel Monterrosa Munoz in the fourth round.
Mosquera (25-3-2, 16 KOs), 31, a southpaw from Panama, knocked out Munoz in the fifth round in 2014. Mosquera has won three fights in a row.
“I’m excited to fight for the first time in Mexico on a card of international proportions and televised on ESPN,” Ellis said. “My opponent this time, Alberto Mosquera, has a lot of experience because he has fought a lot of good fighters. All of this is double motivation for me because a victory against him will be very important.”
Mosquera has faced opponents such as Erick Bone, whom he beat by 12-round split decision in 2013, and Sammy Vasquez, who knocked him out in the first round in 2014.
In the co-feature, junior featherweight Francisco Horta (17-3-1, 10 KOs), 24, of Cancun, will meet 23-year-old countryman David Reyes (17-4-1, 6 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round bout.
The televised opener will match Mexicans Eduardo Nunez (10-0, 10 KOs), 20, and Hiram Gallardo (6-2-1, 1 KO) in a six-round featherweight contest.