LEWISTON, Maine — The venue will be familiar when New England Fights stages its 20th mixed martial arts promotion at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Nov. 21.
But the look inside the arena will be different, with an MMA cage and a boxing ring set up side by side to accommodate the most varied card in state combat sports history.
Four professional boxing matches, six professional mixed martial arts bouts and 16 amateur MMA contests currently make up NEF XX, set for a 7 p.m. opening bell.
“This card has something for everyone,” said NEF co-owner and promoter Nick DiSalvo in announcing the card recently.
The pro MMA portion of the card will feature a title defense by NEF lightweight champion Bruce “Pretty Boy” Boyington and the return to Maine of former NEF featherweight champion Ray “All Business” Wood, while Brandon “The Cannon” Berry of West Forks will fight in the boxing main event.
Boyington, who is coming off a successful World Series of Fighting debut on Oct. 17 when he earned a split-decision victory over Rodrigo Almeida, brings an 11-8 record into his five-round NEF title defense against Jimmy “Jimbo Slice” Davidson (7-1) of Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Davidson, who trains out of the Boston-based Team Sityodtong, is coming off his first loss — by third-round submission against Leon Davis — and will be returning to the cage for the first time in more than 13 months.
Wood, the Bucksport High School product who now lives in South Carolina, will take on undefeated Vovka “KGB” Clay of Amherst, New Hampshire, in a highly anticipated featherweight clash.
Wood (6-1) is coming off his first MMA bout since moving south, a three-round unanimous decision over Carlos Vivas at Charlotte, North Carolina, in August. Clay will be returning to the cage for the first time since December.
Trescott native Crowsneck Boutin (1-1), Derek Shorey of Dover-Foxcroft (3-2) and Jon Lemke (4-3) of Team Irish in Brewer also will be competing in separate pro MMA bouts, with Boutin dropping to the welterweight (170-pound) division for the first time.
The amateur MMA card will include two NEF title bouts, with Dustin Veinott (4-3) defending the promotion’s amateur flyweight title against Ryan Burgess (1-0) while Aaron “Relentless” Lacey (5-1) faces Caleb Horner (6-2) to crown the first NEF amateur featherweight champion.
Also on the amateur card is a women’s strawweight fight between Randi Beth Boyington (1-1), the wife of Bruce Boyington, and Erin Lamonte (3-0).
Berry, the Northeast junior welterweight champion, will return to the boxing ring for the second time this year.
Berry (9-1, 6 KOs) will fight his most experienced opponent in an eight-round test against 42-year-old former Mexican Pacific Coast super featherweight champion Roberto “El Viejo” Valenzuela (73-69-2, 56 KOs).
Berry is coming off a second-round technical knockout victory over another Mexican fighter, Engelberto Valenzuela, in their July 18 bout at the Skowhegan Community Center.
