New York, NY / Fallon, NV (7/15/14) – On August 8, DiBella Entertainment and Dynasty Boxing, in association with Rumble Time Promotions, will head to Fallon, NV, to host that week’s edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights/ ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates. Headlining the card will be top-rated junior middleweight contender Willie Nelson (22-1-1, 13KO’s) taking on the hard-hitting and dangerous Mexican Luis Grajeda (17-2-2, 13KO’s) in the 10-round main event.
In the co-feature, fast-rising 18-year-old phenom Norbert Nemesapati (14-0, 13KO’s) will be looking make a splash in his US debut when he faces fellow unbeaten Lennox Allen (17-0-1, 10KO’s) in an eight-round super middleweight matchup.
Opening up the card will be the highly anticipated pro debut of China’s 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist Zhang Zhilei, in a four-round heavyweight special attraction.
ESPN will begin live coverage at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.
“From top to bottom, this is a terrific event, featuring up-and-coming local talent in exciting fights on the undercard and three intriguing televised bouts on ESPN. Willie is knocking on the door to a world title opportunity and an impressive performance against the hard-punching Grajeda moves him in that direction. The co-feature pits two undefeated boxers in the most important fight of their careers. Norbert is on the fast track to stardom and is looking to make an immediate impact on the super middleweight division in his US debut, but this is the type of opportunity that Lennox has been waiting for, to prove that he is among the best 168lb. fighters in the world. It is a true crossroads bout, with the winner clearly cementing himself as a legitimate player in the 168lb. division. Opening up the card, you have Zhilei, a silver medalist who many believe has the ability to be a future star in the heavyweight division. This is a big event for the people of Fallon and we are excited to be a part of it,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment.
“The Fallon Fights: The Rural Rumble is one of Fallon’s premier special events, drawing visitors from northern Nevada and California,” tourism director Rick Gray said.
“We’ve been working with Lou (DiBella) to get Willie Nelson back on ESPN ever since his spectacular first-round knockout of Michael Medina last season on Friday Night Fights,” said Brian Kweder, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions. “We’ve had a great track record in cultivating future world champions on Friday Night Fights and we believe Willie will be joining that list in the near future.”
“The live telecast of Fallon Fights by ESPN will show the country what a great event this is. The fights are outdoors, under the stars, and reminiscent of those fights in the early mining camps and the epic battles between Corbett and Fitzsimmons and Johnson versus Jeffries,” Gray said.
“Fallon welcomes ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. We have worked hard to put on a top-notch event that would draw the attention of the network,” Fallon tourism director Rick Gray said.
“The fights are a labor of love. All of the City’s departments worked together to support the production of the event,” Fallon Mayor, Ken Tedford, said.
“On behalf of Dynasty Boxing, we are happy to be working with DiBella Entertainment and ESPN, and extremely grateful for them giving Zhang Zhilei the opportunity to showcase his professional debut on ESPN,” said Dino Duva, President of Dynasty Boxing, promoter of Zhang.
A native of Cleveland, OH, Nelson is one of the most talented and dangerous 154-pounders in the world. Since his lone loss to once-beaten Vincent Arroyo via majority decision on ShoBox in 2011, Nelson has switched trainers, moved up in weight and has never looked better, winning six straight bouts. Having scored sensational victories on both the Showtime and ESPN networks in 2012 and 2013, Nelson scored the biggest win of his career, earning a 10-round unanimous decision in an absolute war with Luciano Cuello on HBO in June 2013. Nelson was set to take on the top-rated and three-time middleweight world title challenger Matthew Macklin on HBO last December, but was forced to pull out after suffering an injury to his elbow while in training. Nelson last fought in June on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez HBO PPV bout at Madison Square Garden, annihilating Darryl Cunningham in just one round. Nelson is on the doorstep to challenging for his first world title and is hungrier than ever to get his shot, but he must first defeat the extremely dangerous Grajeda.