Title fights on the menu for local boxers at casino cards in Toronto and Pickering
Published February 21, 2024 at 9:41 pm
United Promotions and its stable of top-level boxers have a big couple of months ahead, starting with a pair of international title fights March 2 at Woodbine’s Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto and culminating with an honest-to-goodness world title bout at the same venue April 27.
Another jam-packed boxing card at Pickering Casino will be squeezed in between as well.
First up is a card at Woodbine’s still not officially opened 5,000-seat arena called The Theatre that will be headlined by an IBF International Super Welterweight championship bout between undefeated Punjab star Sukhdeep ‘Chakria’ Singh (17-0, 7 KO) of Ajax and Argentina’s Gino ‘El Aspero’ Godoy (30-3, 19 KO).
Chakria is the promotion’s 2023 Fighter of the Year and the reigning IBO Asia-Pacific Super Welterweight and Canadian Middleweight Champion. Godoy is the top-ranked super welterweight in Argentina and has won 24 of his last 25 fights.
“This will be one of the most significant Ontario boxing events in recent memory,” said United president Tyler Buxton. “Our continuous goal has always been to bring world-level professional boxing to the Greater Toronto Area — and on March 2, we will do that at the largest casino in the country.”
Godoy fought United boxer Brandon ‘Bad Boy’ Cook last April, losing by split decision. Since then he beat fellow Argentine Luis Castillo, knocking him down in the first and third rounds before winning on a TKO in the fourth.
Chakria’s last fight was an electrifying 14-second demolition of German-Turkish fighter Yaser Yuksel.
Ricardo ‘Big 12’ Brown. Photo Jeff Lockhart
The co-main event will feature a title attraction of its own, as reigning IBO Americas and Canadian Champion ‘Marvellous’ Mark Smither (12-0) of Barrie will duel former British Champion Billy Allington (11-3-4) for another international championship.
Smither returns to the ring for the first time since claiming the IBO Americas title in front of a hometown crowd last July and will be backed by his legion of fans. Allington, who won the British Super Lightweight title in February of 2022 before losing it a year later, has been fighting in championship contests regularly since 2019.
Also on the card is Ricardo ‘Big 12’ Brown, a former Jamaican Olympian who puts his perfect 10-0 record up against Rafael Rojas (8-2) of Mexico. Brown, who trains at Dewith Frazer’s gym in Mississauga, has never gone beyond three rounds in his career, with half of opponents put on the canvas in the opening round.
The boxing action moves to Pickering April 13 for card headlined by rising middleweight star Melinda ‘The Whip’ Watpool of Pefferlaw (now also fighting out of Dewith Frazer’s gym) and her 5-0 record in the promotion’s debut of its United Fight Night series – designed as a showcase opportunity for rising prospects and local boxing talent.
“Our new United Fight Night series is about celebrating Durham Region, and there’s no better way to do that than with a world-ranked local product headlining her first main event,” Buxton said of Watpool, the WBO’s third-ranked fighter. “The series is an opportunity for local boxers to fight on their own turf and in front of their own fans, who in turn will get to see both their favourite fighters and the next generation of rising stars in Ontario boxing.”
Sara Haghighat-Joo will fight for a world title April 27 in Toronto. Photo Jeff Lockhart
Two weeks later the spotlight will be back at Woodbine and on Toronto’s Sara Haghighat-Joo, who has parlayed her meteoric rise in the rankings into a shot at a world title after just three professional fights.
Haghighat-Joo will take on WBA Light Flyweight champ Guaudalupe Batista (23-11-2) of Mexico in the main event.
