Written by Euri Cedeno hopes to add his name to the list of top fighters from the Dominican Republic.
In the meantime, the middleweight prospect, who has sparred against some of the best in the sport, is remaining active in hopes of a significant opportunity to come 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 bout between lightweights James Bernadin and Matt Conway.
Both fights will headline a card promoted by Marshall Kauffman and will stream live on BXNGTV.com (7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Cedeno weighed in at 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 will be around the corner, so long as Cedeno continues his winning ways.
“This is essentially a stay-busy fight for Euri,” Petrov told The Ring Thursday night. “He had an amazing performance on ESPN in June and we expect nothing less against Aro Schwartz. An early stoppage win will continue to solidify Euri as the next big star at middleweight.
“Our goal for next year is to climb the ranks and earn a world title opportunity by 2026.”
Cedeno (9-0-1, 8 knockouts), who resides in La Romana in the Dominican Republic, scored a first round knockout victory over Dormedes Potes in his last bout on June 29, which streamed live on ESPN+. In his previous fight on February 16, Cedeno dominated Antonio Todd before ending matters in the fifth round.
Both wins over Potes and Todd took place 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 by unbeaten prospect Daniel Blancas in the opening round of his last bout on June 15. In his previous fight on May 4, Schwartz knocked out journeyman Andras Toth in the fourth round.
The 30-year-old will be making 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 square off against 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 santio89@yahoo.com
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