Tonight's boxing card at Boardwalk Hall's Adrian Phillips Ballroom really packs a punch.
The Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara junior-middleweight fight is among an astounding nine scheduled bouts, thus producing one of the biggest and best shows seen in the boardwalk in years in terms of quantity and quality.
The show also features two world championship fights. WBA super-bantamweight king Akifumi Shimoda (23-2-1, 10 KOs) defends his belt agianst top-rated Rico Ramos (19-0, 10 KOs). WBC featherweight champ Jhonny Gonzalez (48-7, 42 KOs) will meet Tomas Villa (23-7-4, 14 KOs).
The card also features slimmer heavyweight contender Chris Arreoloa (32-2, 28 KOs), who will take on Friday Ahunanya (24-7-3, 13 KOs).
Local fight fans will be rooting for Millville junior-middleweight Thomas LaManna (3-0, 2 KOs) in his four-round bout against Reggie Jenkins, who is making his pro debut.
The main event should be terrific. Williams (39-2, 27 KOs) is seeking to climb back into the title picture at 154 pounds after suffering a second-round KO to middleweight champ Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City. Lara (15-0, 10 KOs), a former amateur star for Cuba, is taking a step up.
This is one of those shows where fans are almost guaranteed to get their money's worth, whether they spent $50 or $300 for their seats.
Predictions: Williams by decision, Ramos by decision, Gonzalez by 5th-round KO, Arreola by 9th-round KO, LaManna by 1st-round KO.
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