South Korean slugger Ji Hoon Kim (22-7, 18 KO) is out of his scheduled co-feature bout on this week's Friday Night Fights due to a detached retina, according to a report at Fightnews.com.
Kim was to face Marvin Quintero (21-3, 17 KO) in what promised to be a solid battle at lightweight. Quintero is the better boxer, but chinny, which would have allowed Kim to take advantage of his only real strength, a big right hand. Quintero will now face Gabriel Tolmajyan (10-1, 3 KO), an Armenian based in Glendale, California. Tolmajyan is a 25-year-old southpaw taking a big step up in class with this fight.
The main event features all-action Russian junior welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov (18-1, 12 KO) against 29-year-old Mexican Ivan Popoca (15-0-1, 10 KO). Provodnikov is the favorite, but showed more of his vulnerabilities than ever before when he lost on the program in January to Mauricio Herrera. He got back in the ring on February 20 in Russia with a "get well" win in his home country.