Heavyweight Dante Stone has a lot to live for, both in and out of the ring.

Stone wants to fulfill his dream of winning a world title belt, but he also wants to provide financial and emotional stability for a sibling.

The once-beaten Stone will face Alexander Flores on Thursday night at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. The eight-round bout will open a BXNGTV stream at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT.

Stone (14-1, 10 knockouts), who currently resides in Tempe, Arizona, made his pro debut in February 2018, losing by unanimous decision to Waldo Cortes Acosta. Stone has won every fight since, including the rematch (by split decision) that took place five and a half months later.

“I was out of shape when I made my pro debut,” Stone told The Ring over the phone Monday afternoon. “For starters, I had to improve my endurance. I also worked on my technique as well. I had to get a lot sharper with my punches and combinations.”

In his last fight on August 26, Stone defeated gatekeeper Joel Caudle by unanimous decision. Two months prior to the win over Caudle, Stone stopped Eric Perry after the second round.

Against Flores, the 29-year-old Stone will face a fighter who was once a top prospect, but who has struggled in his last couple of fights and has been inactive. Flores (18-3-1, 16 KOs) suffered his first loss to Charles Martin in what was a clash of unbeaten prospects back in April 2014. Flores would also lose by knockout to Joseph Parker in December 2018, and to Luis Ortiz in his last bout on November 2020.

Stone claims he is not the same fighter when he made his pro debut and wants to make a statement to the rest of the division that he is not one to be taken lightly.

“My goal is to let the heavyweight division know that I’m not someone to be ignored or to be looked down on. Don’t underestimate me. I don’t talk trash because I don’t need to. I let my hands do the talking in the ring.”

Stone has sharpened his skillset by traveling to the Los Angeles area for sparring. In recent weeks, he has sparred against the likes of unbeaten heavyweight prospects Gurgen Hovhannisyan and Tsonte Rogava, both of whom are trained by Joe Goossen.

After several rounds of sparring, Stone believes his skillset has improved, and he was also able to gague what he needed to improve on.

“I sparred Gurgen a lot over the last two to three weeks,” said Stone, who is promoted by Azat Torosyan. “I love the phrase ‘iron sharpens iron’ because I was able to get alot out of sparring and so did Gurgen. We were building off of each other. It improved me on what I need to do. It also tested where I stand in terms of where I’m at in my career.”

While Stone has looked for clarity in his standing in the heavyweight division, he has also found his calling on being an advocate for his younger brother, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age.

Stone hopes he continues to speak out on the topic of autism and to also continue being an advocate for his brother.

“I’m happy to speak at school and at events,” said Stone. “The trick is finding those events and for the right reasons. My brother is one year younger than me and he was diagnosed with autism at the age of six. His diagnosis heavily impacted my life. Growing up, I’ve helped protect my brother from those who don’t understand (what autism is) or those who don’t want to understand.”

Stone hopes to stay active this year. He fought three times in 2022 and three times in 2023.

An impressive win over Flores can go a long way, but Stone hopes to provide economic stability along with going for significant fights as well.

“My immediate goal is to win this fight. Short term, I want to stay active. I hope to fight between three to five times this year. I can continue building up my record and where I stand in the division. Long term, like any fighter, my goal is to fight for and win a world championship.

“My lifelong goal is to provide for my parents and five siblings. That will mean everything to me.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow @FSalazarBoxing