D’Mitrius Ballard vs Elias Espadas set for June 20 Golden Boy Facebook show

D’Mitrius Ballard, the 26-year-old middleweight prospect from Maryland, will headline a Golden Boy Fight Night show that will stream live and free on Facebook on Thursday, June 20, taking on Elias Espadas in a 10-round main event from Atlantic City.

Ballard (20-0, 13 KO) turned pro in 2013 and started stepping up his competition a bit in 2017, but he’s sort of been at that same level since, beating guys like Alan Campa and Victor Fonseca in his most recent outings. He last fought on March 15 in Philadelphia.

Espadas (18-4, 13 KO) isn’t a real step up on paper, but the 28-year-old “Latin Kid” from Mexico has won nine of his last 10, the only loss a decision to Yamaguchi Falcao in July 2018. He last fought on April 5, beating Gabriel Lopez by second round stoppage in his hometown of Merida.

“I conditioned my mind resiliently to become a world champion,” said Ballard. “I then trained my body to catch up. Now I am ready to face anyone who dares to challenge my mind.”

“I’m very happy for this opportunity to participate in yet another Golden Boy card,” said Espadas. “I know that this will be a complicated fight against an undefeated fighter. But I was made for big fights, and I plan to take advantage of it. With all due respect to my opponent, I will do everything to win.”

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The card will also feature the return of Eddie Gomez (22-3, 12 KO), once a highly-regarded welterweight prospect from the Bronx. Gomez lost his undefeated record back in 2014 when he was upset by Francisco Santana, and also suffered defeats against Rashidi Ellis (KO-1) and Alejandro Barrera (SD-10) in 2016 and 2017. Right now, he’s won two in a row, beating Keandre Gibson and Shoki Sakai in March and October of 2018.

Still just 26, Gomez will face veteran Saul Corral (30-13, 20 KO), a 32-year-old from Mexico now based in Arizona. Corral is a scrapper who has been used in recent years as both a stepping stone for prospects (Emmanuel Medina, Alexander Besputin, and Rashidi Ellis) and a get-well opponent for veterans needing a win (Mike Alvarado, Sadam Ali, Josesito Lopez, Victor Ortiz).

Mike Reed, another 26-year-old former prospect, will also be in action. Reed (24-2, 13 KO) just fought on April 25, stopping Yardley Cruz in the second round, following back-to-back losses to Jose Ramirez and Arnold Barboza Jr in 2017-18.

Jaba Kohsitashvili (4-0, 2 KO) will face Gabriel Pham (10-1, 5 KO) in a six-round super middleweight fight, and junior welterweights George Rincon (6-0, 3 KO) and Dan Murray (4-2, 0 KO) are set for separate bouts on the show, plus featherweight Rishard Muhammad of Atlantic City will make his pro debut.