Antoine Douglas to return Nov. 10 after first loss

Oct

The only loss of Antoine Douglas’ career was a devastating one.

Once a formidable middleweight prospect, Douglas was upset by little-known Avantil Khurtsidze on March 5 on Showtime, absorbing a terrible beating and spending the night in the hospital for observation after he was stopped in the tenth round.

Eight months later, Douglas (19-1-1, 13 knockouts) will get a soft touch as he tries to put back together his once-promising career. The 24-year-old Douglas is set to return on Nov. 10 against faded Ernesto Berrospe (11-9, 6 KOs) at the 26^th Annual Fight for Children Fight Night at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C, it was announced on Monday.

The 30-year-old Berrospe shouldn’t pose much of a challenge. He has lost five of his last six, all of them by stoppage and three of them in the first round. The last time he beat an opponent with a winning record was in 2010 when he won a decision against Armando Patino, who was 10-7-1.

Douglas, who is from Burke, Virginia, is understandably circumspect about his return after such a difficult loss. “I want to see crispness and preciseness in my punches,” he said in a press release. “I am also looking to show good footwork and defense. I want to see where I am after this fight. I have been working hard and I have been ready to fight yesterday.”

After the bout with Berrospe, his promoter will look to get Douglas back into title convention with more significant fights in an attempt to further distance himself from the bout with Khurtsidze. “Antoine had a well-deserved rest, and now he is ready to finish what he started, and that is to become world champion,” Vito Mielnicki, the CEO of GH3 Promotions said in the release. “One bad night will not define his career and I believe we have not yet seen the best from him. We have a plan for him to get him back knocking on the door of a world title and we look forward to moving him back in position.”

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