Per an HBO press release, light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs) has just been slated to take on Felix Valera (15-1, 13 KOs) as the co-feature for Kovalev-Shabranskyy in a scheduled 10-rounder. The card will be televised by HBO on Nov. 25, starting at 10pm ET.
Should Barrera take care of business against Valera in this outing, he’ll be in line to become Dmitry Bivol’s mandatory challenger (Bivol is currently scheduled to take on Trent Broadhurst on a Nov. 4 HBO card). Barrera’s sole loss came at the hands of Andre Ward in early 2016 but has since bounced back to win three straight, including an impressive performance against Joe Smith Jr. this past July.
Barrera offered these thoughts on the fight:
“I am happy to be back in action, happy to be fighting in New York where boxing is big. Felix Valera is a tricky and tough fighter. He is just another obstacle in my way towards fighting for a world title.”
Meanwhile, Valera, who will be taking on the toughest challenge of his career, had this to say about a shot on premium network television:
“I appreciate the opportunity offered to me by my promotional company, Shuan Boxing Promotion, and Main Events,” said Valera. “But I am warning Barrera right now that I am not going to New York for a vacation! I am going to score that upset and get the win. After my win against Barrera, I am then going to call out Sergey Kovalev because I want to fight the best fighters in my weight class. I am going to put my country, the Dominican Republic, back on the map and make them proud!”
The final televised fight for this card will be junior lightweight Jason Sosa trying to bounce back from a one-sided loss to Vasyl Lomachenko in April to beat Robinson Castellanos.
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