Junior flyweight world titlist Angel "Tito" Acosta will make his Las Vegas debut when he makes his second defense. Acosta will defend his 108-pound belt against Abraham Rodriguez on Oct. 13 in the main event of a "Golden Boy Fight Night" card (Facebook Watch, 9 p.m. ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Golden Boy Promotions announced Tuesday.
Acosta (18-1, 18 KOs), 27, of Puerto Rico, traveled to Japan to challenge Kosei Tanaka for a world title in May 2017 and suffered a his first loss, a decision. But in his next fight, Acosta got a chance to fight for a world title and impressively knocked out Juan Alejo in the 10th round in December on the undercard of his mentor and co-promoter Miguel Cotto.
Acosta retained his belt in his first defense June 16 by knocking out Carlos Buitrago in the 12th round in Puerto Rico and now he's headed to Las Vegas to face Rodriguez (23-1, 11 KOs), 23, of Mexico, who will be fighting outside of his home country for the first time.
"I feel happy to be making my second defense against a Mexican fighter," Acosta said, acknowledging one of boxing's fiercest national rivalries. "I know that Mexicans always come to give a war. Abraham Rodriguez will come very well prepared, and I'm sure we will give a great fight between Puerto Rico and Mexico."
Rodriguez has yet to faced a top-level opponent and suffered his lone loss, a fifth-round knockout, to novice pro Alejandro Hernandez on March 9. Rodriguez won a six-round decision in his next fight July 28 and will get this unexpected title opportunity next in what will be his first scheduled 12-round bout.
"I'm mentally and physically motivated for this fight" Rodriguez said. "I'm going to come very well prepared to give a war, which is always what happens when you have a fight between the two countries of Mexico and Puerto Rico. I'm happy to have the chance to elevate the name of my country against someone who I know will come prepared for a battle."
Said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya: "This is an exciting time for Puerto Rican boxers. There are many world champions from Puerto Rico right now, including Alberto Machado. We're proud to work with Miguel Cotto Promotions to give a great platform to some of Puerto Rico's world champions, so it's a great pleasure to have Tito Acosta headline this Facebook Watch event."
The card is the third of a minimum of five under Golden Boy's deal with social media giant Facebook to stream its boxing cards. Golden Boy is working with promoter Main Events on the Facebook Watch series and it will have some of its boxers on the undercard, including Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev (13-0, 11 KOs), 25, who will face an opponent to be determined in the 10-round junior middleweight co-feature.
Two other Main Events fighters will have their bouts on the streaming portion of the card: middleweight Meiirim Nursultanov (8-0, 7 KOs), 25, of Kazakhstan, and welterweight Enriko Gogokhia (8-0, 3 KOs), 27, of the Republic of Georgia, who will fight scheduled eight-round bouts against opponents to be determined.
"Main Events is happy to work with the Golden Boy team to provide our three hard-hitting, undefeated fighters [who are based in] Oxnard [California] this opportunity to fight in Las Vegas and for the Facebook Watch audience," Main Events CEO Kathy Duva said. "As boxing fans get to know Bakhram, Meiirim and Enriko, they are starting to follow their careers and get excited about seeing them in the ring again."
Rashidi "Speedy" Ellis (20-0, 13 KOs), 25, of Lynn, Massachusetts, a Golden Boy fighter, will also be part of the stream in a 10-round bout against an opponent to be determined.