Bronze medalist Nico Hernandez to make debut on March 25

Nico Hernandez, who won a bronze medal for Team USA at Rio 2016, will make his professional boxing debut on March 25 in Mulvane, Kansas, at the Kansas Star Casino, and has signed with promoter Knockout Night Boxing.

CBS Sports Network will televise the fight.

Hernandez, 21, is going to fight at flyweight as a pro, which may be why he doesn’t seem to have received a lot of major promoter attention coming out of the Olympics, and has signed with a small, regional promoter instead of a power firm like Top Rank, Golden Boy, or Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions brand.

For now, Hernandez and Knockout Night say their goal is to make Kansas a boxing destination, much like Terence Crawford has done in Omaha, Nebraska:

“My plan is to do it like Terence Crawford has done in Omaha. I'm hoping it works out as well for me. I signed with Knockout Night Boxing because they're really going to work with me and I like what they want to do.”

It’s a little different, because Crawford is promoted by Top Rank, and, well, they simply have more money and status and influence than Knockout Night Boxing do, but it’s an admirable goal, and I’d love to see it work out for the parties involved.

How high do you think Hernandez can climb as a professional?