Super middleweight contender Erik Bazinyan will face experienced Ronald Ellis in the co-feature to the Femke Hermans-Mary Spencer rematch in what will be his fifth defense of his NABF title at Montreal Casino, Montreal, on Wednesday, October 11.

Hermans-Spencer 2 will headline the event on ESPN+ in the US and the card will also be broadcast live on punchinggrace.com.

It was recently announced heavyweight Simon Kean will also see action, as will a trio of Eye of The Tiger’s prospects such as Mehmet Unal (3-0, 3 knockouts), Wilkens Mathieu (2-0, 1 KOs) and Jhon Orobio (1-0, 1 KO).

Bazinyan (30-0, 21 knockouts), The Ring-rated No. 6 super middleweight, was an excellent amateur in Armenia before migrating to Canada and turning professional at 18. He learned his craft away from the pressures that often follow highly-regarded prospects. It’s been a slow burn but he seems to have matured into a well-rounded professional.

The 28-year-old took apart experienced club fighter Scott Sigmon (TKO 2), used a smart boxing brain to beat the much heavier Reinaldo Paniagua (TKO 9), scored a career-best win over former title challenger Marcelo Coceres (UD 10), edged past stylistically challenging Alantez Fox (MD 10) and, most recently bested Juan De Jesus Macias (UD 10).

Ellis (18-3-2, 12 KOs) has been a professional since 2011 and is the elder brother of welterweight Rashidi and female amateur Rashida. He won 16 of his first 18 fights, the two blemishes were draws against Jerry Odum (D 8) and Junior Younan (D 10).

The 33-year-old New England native tasted defeat when he narrowly lost to DeAndre Ware (MD 10) in 2019. To his credit he rebounded by beating Immanuwel Aleem (MD 10) and once promising Matt Korobov (RTD 4). Ellis has since lost subsequent fights to David Benavidez (TKO 11) and Bazinyan’s stablemate Christian Mbilli (UD 10).

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].

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