Ivan Redkach to face Luis Cruz on April 19

Mar

Lightweights Ivan Redkach and Luis Cruz will square off on April 19, promoter Marshall Kauffman told RingTV Wednesday afternoon.

The 10-round bout will take place at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and will be televised live on FS1 (formerly Fox Sports 1).

Redkach (19-1, 15 knockouts) has not fought since Oct. 14, when he knocked Erick Daniel Martinez out in the third round. It was his first fight in four months, since he was stopped in the fourth round by THE RING’s No. 2-ranked lightweight Dejan Zlaticanan.

“I am really looking forward to headlining this event on April 19,” said Redkach in a release. “I know that I have a strong opponent but I know I’m determined to impress the fans and show that I am ready to challenge the elite in my division.”

The hard-hitting Ukraine-born fighter now resides in Los Angeles and is trained by Robert Garcia. The southpaw has wins over Tony Luis, Sergey Gulyakevich and Yakubu Amidu.

Cruz (22-4, 16 KOs) is 3-4 in his last seven fights after winning his first 19 bouts as a pro.

The Las Pierdas, Puerto Rico resident has lost to Juan Carlos Burgos, Jose Felix Jr. and Edner Cherry.

In his last bout on Nov. 14, Cruz won a six-round unanimous decision over veteran Roberto Acevedo.

In other televised bouts:

– Middleweight Immanuwel Aleem will fight hard-hitting Jonathan Cepeda.

– In a clash of unbeaten middleweights, Kyrone Davis squares off against Junior Castillo.

Both bouts are scheduled for eight rounds.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since Oct. of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.