Euri Cedeno hopes to add his name to the list of top fighters from the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile, the middleweight prospect, who has sparred against some of the best in the sport, remains active in hopes of a major opportunity coming his way.
Cedeno will face Aro Schwartz tonight at the Wind Creek Events Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The eight-round bout will precede the main event between lightweights James Bernadin and Matt Conway.
Both fights will appear on a card promoted by Marshall Kauffman and will be streamed live on BXNGTV.com (7:00 p.m. ET/ 4:00 p.m. PT).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Cedeno weighed 161.3 pounds. Schwartz came in at 160.8 pounds.
Manager Trifon Petrov believes Cedeno is the real deal and has high hopes for the middleweight prospect, hoping a world title fight is just around the corner as long as Cedeno continues his winning ways.
“It’s essentially a busy fight for Euri,” Petrov told The Ring on Thursday night. “He had an incredible performance on ESPN in June and we expect nothing less against Aro Schwartz. An early win would continue to solidify Euri as the next big star in middleweight.
“Our goal for next year is to climb the ranks by 2026 and earn a world title opportunity.”
Cedeno (9-0-1, 8 KOs), who resides in La Romana, Dominican Republic, earned a first-round knockout victory over Dormedes Potes in his last bout on June 29, which was streamed live on ESPN+. In his previous fight on February 16, Cedeno dominated Antonio Todd before ending matters in the fifth round.
Both victories over Potes and Todd occurred on Top Rank cards.
The 24-year-old was very active in 2023, fighting a total of five times. Cedeno is a regular sparring partner of IBF world welterweight titleholder Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Schwartz (23-8-1, 15 KOs), who resides in Karlsruhe, Germany, was stopped in the opening round of his last fight on June 15 by undefeated prospect Daniel Blancas. In his previous fight on May 4, Schwartz knocked out a skilled Andras Toth in the fourth round.
The 30-year-old will make his United States debut against Cedeno.
Another fighter managed by Petrov will see action tonight in Bethlehem. Julian Gonzalez (14-0-1, 11 KOs) of Reading, Pennsylvania will face Mexico’s Oscar Barajas (7-9-1, 2 KOs) in an eight-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
