Brandon Adams finally has a return date after several months out of the ring.

Adams will face Ismael Villarreal this Friday, OTX announced recently. The 10-round bout will take place at the OTE (Overtime Elite) Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and will precede the main event bout between unbeaten junior welterweight Kurt Scoby and Dakota Linger.

Both fights will stream live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

The Adams-Villarreal fight will be part of the inaugural OTX Tournament. Aside from the Adams-Villarreal clash, another fight in the tournament taking place on April 19 will be Angel Ruiz (18-2, 13 knockouts) of Tijuana, Mexico squaring off against Argentina’s Francisco Veron (13-0, 10 KOs).

Other quarterfinal bouts in the tournament will take place on May 31.

Adams (23-3, 15 KOs), who resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier, has not fought since scoring a knockout win over Serhii Bohachuk in March 2021. Adams was trailing on all judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Bohachuk now owns the WBC interim world junior middleweight title (not recognized by The Ring).

The 34-year-old has not fought since, a span of over three years. No reason has been given as to why Adams stayed out of the ring, although he reportedly stayed in the gym and recently signed a management deal with John Habibi.

Adams defeated Shane Mosley, Jr. in November 2018, winning the final of The Contender series tournament. Adams’ next fight over seven months later was a world title shot against WBC world middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo, where he lost by decision.

Villarreal (13-2, 9 KOs), who resides in The Bronx, New York, last fought on November 9, losing by unanimous decision to unbeaten Callum Walsh. The 26-year-old Villarreal has split his last four bouts, with the other defeat coming at the hands of Ardreal Holmes, Jr. in February of last year.

All fights in the tournament will be scheduled for 10 rounds. Winners will meet in semi-final action later this summer, with the final tentatively scheduled towards the end of 2024. Should there be a draw after the scheduled 10 rounds, a tie-breaking round will take place to decide a winner.

The winner of the tournament, which will feature junior middleweights, will receive a cash bonus and a promotional contract with OTX.

The May 31 card will feature Andreas Katzourakis (12-0, 10 KOs) of Greece, now living in Los Angeles, squaring off against Uzbekistan’s Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (20-2, 12 KOs) and Robert Terry (11-0-1, 4 KOs) of Jersey City, New Jersey facing Mexico’s Vladimir Hernandez (14-6, 6 KOs).

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]

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