Chris Colbert and Omar Salcido ready to clash in their postponed crossroads bout
Not only is tonight’s ProBox TV main event a crossroads bout, but it could also make for a compelling and action fight.
Chris Colbert and Omar Salcido square off in a 10-round lightweight bout at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Event Center in Plant City, Florida. The 10-round bout will headline a three-fight card that will stream live on the ProBox TV application and YouTube page (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
The fight was originally scheduled to take place on October 9, but was pushed back as Hurricane Milton hit Florida early last week.
Despite Colbert being the favorite going in, ProBox TV’s Chris Glover believes the Colbert-Salcido will deliver because so much is on the line and the winner will move on to bigger fights in 2025.
“I really like this fight,” Glover told The Ring Monday night. “It’s a great crossroads fight. Thanks to Luis DeCubas, Sampson (Lewkowicz), and Paco Damian for making this fight.
“These are two exciting fighters. This is what we do at ProBox TV as far as matching fights with action. Salcido isn’t expected to win, but he has nothing to lose and everything to win. He is trained by Jose Benavidez, Sr., who also trained (current WBA world junior welterweight titleholder) Jose Valenzuela. As far as I’m concerned, Valenzuela has two wins over Colbert. If Colbert loses, he’s done.”
In his last fight on December 16, Colbert (17-2, 6 knockouts) was brutally knocked out by Valenzuela in round six. The loss to Valenzuela was a rematch of their clash almost nine months prior, when Colbert won a controversial unanimous decision that several boxing insiders and media thought Valenzuela did enough to win.
The 28-year-old, who resides in Brooklyn, New York, won his first meaningful fight at 130 pounds in September 2019, knocking out former world title challenger Miguel Beltran in the opening round.
Colbert followed the win over Beltran by defeating Jezzrel Corrales, Jaime Arboleda, and Tugstsogt Nyambayar before losing by decision to Hector Luis Garcia in February 2022. Colbert held an interim world title belt at 130 pounds.
Salcido (19-1, 13 KOs), who is originally from Hermosillo, Mexico and now resides in Lakeside, California, defeated Luis Coria by unanimous decision in his last bout on December 1.
The win over Coria took place less than two months after Salcido lost to Jose Nuñez in a clash of unbeaten prospects. The 24-year-old made his United States debut in the loss to Nuñez.
In the co-feature, unbeaten junior lightweight Tsendbaatar Erdenebat will square off against Frency Fortunato of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round bout.
Erdenebat (10-0, 5 KOs), who is originally from Mongolia and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Paramount, stopped gatekeeper Alberto Mercado in the third round of his last bout on May 8. In his previous fight on February 28, Erdenebat defeated Mohamed Soumaoro by decision over eight one-sided rounds.
Fortunato (15-1, 11 KOs) has not fought since February 10 of last year, knocking out Keine Montenegro in the third round. In his previous fight in September 2022, which took place on a ShoBox telecast, Fortunato defeated Bernard Torres by split decision. He has won his last five fights since a decision defeat to Alberto Melian in March 2021 that saw a total of seven knockdowns between the two fighters.
A compelling clash will also take place on the card between featherweight prospects David Navarro (6-1, 3 KOs) of Hemet, California and Cincinnati’s Mykell Gamble (7-0, 4 KOs) over eight rounds.
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 santio89@yahoo.com
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