Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) returns to Spike TV tonight and we get title fight as the main event. Rances Barhelemy (24-0, 13 KOs) will put his IBF World Lightweight Title on the line against Mickey Bey (22-1-1, 10 KOs) in Hollywood, Fla.
The primary undercard Emmanuel Rodriguez (14-0, 10 KOs) puts his undefeated record on the line against Albert Guevara (24-2, 9 KOs).
Scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from PBC.
In his last fight, Rances Barthelemy became a two-time world champion by picking up a vacant 135-pound title. Now the crown’s previous owner wants his hardware back.
Barthelemy (24-0, 13 KOs) will return to the ring for the first time since winning his second title late last year when he faces Mickey Bey (22-1-1, 10 KOs) on June 3 in a classic matchup of boxer-punchers at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida (Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET/PT).
Leading into the Barthelemy-Bey main event will be a 10-round bout between Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez (14-0, 10 KOs) and Mexican Victor Proa (28-1-2, 21 KOs), a pair of hard-hitting 118-pound prospects.
A native of Cuba now based in Las Vegas, Rances Barthelemy last year relinquished the 130-pound championship he won in July 2014 to move up a weight class. After two easy 135-pound wins over Angino Perez (second-round TKO, March 2015) and Antonio DeMarco (shutout 10-round unanimous decision, June 2015), Barthelemy got his second shot at a world title when he fought Denis Shafikov on December 18 in Las Vegas.
Although it took some time for him to figure out the super-aggressive Shafikov, Barthelemy eventually used his long reach advantage and stinging left hand to seize control of the fight and cruise to a unanimous decision victory. The last man to possess Barthelemy’s shiny new belt was Bey, who won it with a 12-round unanimous decision over onetime champion Miguel Vazquez in September 2014.
However, a hand injury forced Bey to the sidelines for 15 months, and as a result, he had to give up his crown.
Bey actually ended his layoff the same night and in the same venue where his old hardware got redistributed, having defeated Naim Nelson by a lopsided unanimous decision on the undercard of the Barthelemy-Shafikov clash.
The victory over Nelson was Bey’s fourth in a row since suffering his only professional defeat: a 10-round TKO loss to John Molina Jr. in July 2013. In that fight, Bey was leading by a wide margin on all three scorecards when he got stopped with a minute to go in the bout.
Now, Bey will get the opportunity to ruin Barthelemy’s perfect record. It doesn’t figure to be easy, though, as the 29-year-old Barthelemy has won all 24 of his fights by either stoppage or unanimous decision.
Also, as was the case against Shafikov, the 5-foot-11 Barthelemy will enter the ring against the 5-foot-9½ Bey with advantages in height and reach (73 inches vs. 69 inches).
The show is on Spike TV at 9 p.m. Watch it with me.
