DISTRITO, Mexico -- Mexico's Mario Heredia was denied a chance to prove that he is a top heavyweight contender when an injury forced him to withdraw from the 2015 Boxcino Heavyweight tournament

Heredia (11-1, 9 KOs, 1-2, 1 KO in WSB), of Merida, Mexico, will now get that opportunity when he takes on the Boxcino champion, Andrey Fedosov (28-3, 23 KO's) live on SHO EXTREME® (7 p.m. ET/PT) from The Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.  The fight precedes a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® tripleheader headlined by a 12-round junior welterweight showdown between Ruslan Provodnikov and John Molina Jr.

Heredia has been training hard in Mexico, and is now looking at this fight as his time to shine against the well regarded Fedosov.

"This is one of the biggest chances of my life," said Heredia.  "This is the time to show the world what I am made of.

"I was born ready to do this.  You will see the rise of a great Mexican Heavyweight on June 11."

Said manager, Sergio Zaragoza, "Not only will Mario win impressively, but I predict a knockout and it will be a Mexican style finish."

Provodnikov-Molina Jr. will headline a tripleheader that begins live at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on SHOWTIME®.  The event features a WBC Super Welterweight Elimination bout between Demetrius Andrade and Willie Nelson, plus a battle for the vacant WBC Lightweight World Championship that will pit No. 1 Dejan Zlaticanin against No. 2 Emiliano Marsili.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Banner Promotions, Inc., are priced at $85, $60, $45 and $35 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Turning Stone Box Office, by calling 877.833.SHOW, or online at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com.

LAS VEGAS - World Boxing Association (WBA) Interim Cruiserweight World champion Beibut Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs) makes his first title defense this Saturday night (May 21) against WBA No. 11-rated Junior "Hurricane" Wright (15-1-1, 12 KOs) at The Chelsea inside of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

"I'm happy to get the opportunity to fight this Saturday night," Shumenov said, "but I wish that I could fight more often.  I've been ready since January.  Every training session I gain new knowledge.  I am a completely different fighter than in my last fight."

Shumenov's last fight was back in July, in which he defeated B.J. Flores (31-1-1, 20 KOs) by 12-round unanimous decision in Las Vegas to capture the vacant WBA Interim title, making the former WBA light heavyweight champion Shumenov the first professional boxer from Kazakhstan to be a two-division world champion.

By becoming the WBA Interim cruiserweight champion, Shumenov also became the No. 1 ranked mandatory challenger for WBA Super cruiserweight titlist Denis Lebedev (28-2, 21 KOs), who also fights this Saturday in Russia against International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Victor Emilio "El Tyson de Abasto" Ramirez (22-2-1, 17 KOs) in a unification match.

The WBA has already mandated that the Lebedev-Ramirez must fight Shumenov within 120 days. The WBA, however, has failed to explain why it also declared a WBA "regular" cruiserweight world title fight this Friday night in France between No. 2 Yunier Dorticos and No. 5 Youri Kalenga (since upgraded to No. 3), especially after announcing that it would work this year to have only one world champion in each weight class.

Shumenov, of course, is risking his mandatory position by fighting Wright, the former 5-time Chicago Golden Gloves champion.  "I need to stay active," Shumenov explained why he's taking such a risk.  "Every fight, I gain experience and it also helps me develop my fighting skills."

The 12-round Shumenov vs. Wright title fight is on the non-televised portion of The Cosmopolitan show.

PROVIDENCE - Undefeated blue-chip featherweight prospect Toka "T-Nice" Kahn-Clary (17-0, 11 KOs) continues to show improvement in each and every fight.  Last weekend, the 23-year-old Liberia-native knocked out seasoned veteran Orlando Rizo (19-7) in the fourth round at Sportsman Lodge in Studio City, California.

 

Kahn-Clary, fighting out of Providence, may still be flying under the radar but he's getting closer to becoming a breakout star.  His most recent fight was his first scheduled 10-rounder.

"I put in a lot of hard roadwork, running seven miles a day, and (his head trainer) Peter (Manfredo, Sr.) really pushed me," Kahn-Clary talked about preparing for his last fight.  I got some good work from Javier Fortuna, sparring him a few times, and he's a good southpaw.

"I wasn't looking for a knockout but it just happened.  I stepped left and threw a left.  I didn't load up but it was accurate, hitting him right on his chin.  I was happy to get the knockout but I was looking forward to getting in some more rounds."

"Nothing Toka does really surprises me because I've known since the beginning that he's special," Manfredo commented.  "Toka continues to improve with each fight and he's hungry to get to the next level.  There's no rush, he doesn't turn 24 to next year.  He's still maturing.  The kid he knocked out was Nicolas Walters' main sparring partner.

"I just don't want to put him in with the big names just yet.  He's maturing but he's not all the way there.  He's improving all of the time, putting his combinations together better each fight.  I've also noticed that he's nice and relaxed in the ring now.  He's becoming a good boxer who always had power.  Top Rank is doing a great job moving him. Everybody's happy."

A decorated American amateur who had a 131-11 record, highlighted by a gold-medal performance at the 2010 National Golden Gloves Tournament, Kahn-Clary passed on a shot to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team to turn pro three years ago.

"I've been boxing 10 years now," Kahn-Clary added. "Knowing what I've already accomplished, I also realize that I'm still improving.  I'll be back in the gym Monday to get ready for the next call we get about my next fight.  (Top Rank's) Brad Goodman is one of the best matchmakers in boxing.  He and everybody at Top Rank are doing a great job positioning me for a big opportunity.  That may not happen this year but, hopefully, it will sometime next year.  I'm boxing so much better now than I ever did.  I used to fight like I was in a fog but, now, my eyes are wide open."

Not bad for a kid who left his mother and siblings in Liberia when he was six, only to have his father murdered a year after he arrived in the United States.  He's overcome many difficult obstacles in his young life, most of them tougher than any opponents he'll every fight, including a stretch in which he was homeless.  It's only made him tougher and an even better overall person.