Much is being made of a potential megafight between former world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather and Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title holder Conor McGregor.
But as negotiations continue for that possible battle battle between superstars from different combat sports disciplines, a matchup of top Maine performers with similar backgrounds is set for June 17 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
Mixed martial arts standout Bruce Boyington will take on boxing veteran Russell Lamour Jr. in a six-round middleweight boxing encounter.
The bout will highlight a show featuring both boxing and MMA matches hosted by the New England Fights promotion.
“With all the talk of McGregor versus Mayweather, it’s an interesting match, one of the best middleweights in New England in boxing versus one of the best lightweights in New England in MMA,” said Bobby Russo, Lamour’s coach and head of the Portland Boxing Club.
“We had been offered a few different opponents that we agreed to and I guess they had second thoughts. Then we got the call that this challenge was on the table. This is something that will create a real buzz among boxing and MMA fans.”
Boyington, a former NEF lightweight champion, is 14-10 and recently has been competing on the national MMA scene with the World Series of Fighting.
But with the WSOF rebranding itself as the Professional Fighters League under new ownership, Boyington has found a different challenge in moving from the MMA cage to the boxing ring for just the second time in his professional career.
“Boxing is his game, but I’ve had 25 professional fights and over 100 taekwondo fights in my time,” said Boyington, who trains at Young’s MMA in Bangor. “I’m excited and honored to share the ring with the best boxing has to offer. The only thing I’m ever after is a challenge, and I have one in Russell.”
Lamour (15-2, seven knockouts) won more than 100 amateur boxing bouts and was an eight-time regional Golden Gloves champion, a five-time New England regional champion and a bronze medalist at the 2009 USA Boxing championships before turning professional.
He went on to win the New England middleweight title in 2014 and also has competed as part of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights boxing series.
“I will fight anyone that ends up in front of me,” said Lamour. “I respect the MMA fighters, they are all tough guys, but to challenge me in the boxing ring is a major mistake. I’ll be in great shape and ready. He better be, too!”
Boetsch, Powell share UFC card
UFC Fight Night 112, set for June 25 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, will have a definite Pine Tree State flavor.
Not only will veteran middleweight Tim Boetsch, a Lincolnville native, take on Johny Hendricks in a main-card bout, but Devin Powell of Wells will make his second appearance in the octagon when he faces Darrell Horcher (12-2) in a lightweight battle.
Powell, a former New England Fights lightweight champion, was offered a UFC contract after his victory over Jon Lemke during the “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight” show at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor last Aug. 5.
He lost his UFC debut by unanimous decision to Drakkar Klose at UFC Fight Night 103 on Jan. 15 in Phoenix.
Powell recently spent a month training with his friend, UFC veteran Charles Rosa, and the highly regarded American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. Last weekend he was among the more than 300 fighters who attended the UFC Athletes Retreat 2017 in Las Vegas.
Horcher, a product of Shermans Dale, Pennsylvania, fights for the first time in more than a year since losing in April 2016 by second-round technical knockout to undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on Fox 19 in Tampa, Florida.
Nurmagomedov (24-0) is ranked the No. 1 contender for the UFC lightweight belt held by Conor McGregor.
Horcher took that fight on nine days notice, then was injured in a subsequent motorcycle accident that sidelined him for several months.
Boetsch (20-11) recently dropped out of the UFC’s middleweight rankings but likely would regain a spot among the top 15 with a victory over Hendricks, a former UFC welterweight champion.
Boetsch won two straight fights before being stopped via submission in the first round by No. 5 contender Jacare Souza at UFC 208 on Feb. 11. That victory earned Souza a performance-of-the-night bonus.
Hendricks (18-6) lost a controversial, five-round split decision to Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight championship at UFC 167 in November 2013, then five months later defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision for St. Pierre’s vacated title.
Hendricks lost the title by split decision to Lawler in their rematch in December 2014, and more recently he had been having difficulty making the 170-pound welterweight limit. That led him to move up to the 185-pound middleweight class for his most recent fight, a unanimous-decision victory over Hector Lombard on Feb. 19.
Boetsch also owns a victory over Lombard, by split decision at UFC 149 in July 2012.
