Former world champion Heather "The Heat" Hardy will take another step to become a contender once again when she battles former Brazilian champion Taynna Cardoso on February 23 at Sony Hall, in the heart of Times Square, mid-town Manhattan.
Hardy vs. Cardoso, an eight-round super featherweight bout, is the main event of the show promoted by Boxing Insider in association with DiBella Entertainment.
"Very grateful to DiBella Entertainment and Boxing Insider for going out of their way to ensure me a slot on this show that will be honoring my late trainer, mentor, and papa, Hector Roca," said Hardy. "The day before he died, we sat in his hospital room, me on the corner of the bed. He put his hand over mine and said 'baby, they all think you past your prime, but you didn't hit it yet. This is going to be your year'. I'm training hard as always and I'll be ready and I'm excited to start 2023 off right, here in front of all my NYC fans for papa."
"We are excited to have Heather Hardy back as she looks to honor her late great trainer, Hector Roca. The Julan-Perez fight is a true 50/50 local fight, Elon de Jesus is one of the hottest prospects to come out of New York in some time and and we are excited to showcase his skills," said Boxing Insider's Larry Goldberg.
Heather Hardy (23-2, 4 KO's), Brooklyn born and raised and former World Boxing Organization Featherweight Champion, will bring "The Heat" once again after headlining Boxing Insider's promotional debut on October 13. Heather is a graduate of John Jay College in Brooklyn, began boxing in the gym at age twenty-four and made her professional debut in 2012 at the tender age of twenty-eight. In 2014 she won the vacant WBC International super bantamweight title and in 2016 won the WBC International featherweight title. On October 27, 2018, Heather became world champion, winning the WBO featherweight title with a unanimous decision win over Shelly Vincent at Madison Square Garden. Heather lost the title the following September in a unified title fight to WBC World Champion Amanda Serrano in a clash of women boxing stars. Most recently, Heather won a unanimous decision against Calista Silgado on October 22. Taynnaa Cardoso (5-1, 1KO) from Jundiai, Sao Paulo, Brazil made her pro debut in 2017 and won the Brazilian featherweight title in just her second fight.
Juan Carrillo (9-0, 7 KOs) from Barranquilla, Colombia is on a five-fight streak of those not going the distance. Juan made his pro debut on May 17, 2019 and won the World Boxing Association Fedecentro light heavyweight title on March 12, 2021 with a third-round stoppage.
Akhiem Nurse (10-0, 9 KOs), from Plainfield, NJ, boasts a streak of nine stoppages, all coming after his only fight that went the distance, his 2018 pro debut. Since then his fights have ended in rounds 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 4 and most recently round 3, on November 12, while winning the American Boxing Federation Intercontinental Americas super middleweight title. In this battle of light heavyweight bangers, someone's 0 has got to go!
Frederic "French Revolution" Julan (12-2, 10 KOs) was born in Paris and now resides in Brooklyn. He made his pro debut in 2016 and won his first ten bouts. Julan is looking to rebound from two tough decision losses, most recently at Madison Square Garden. Decarlo "3medno" Perez (19-7, 6 KOs), from Atlantic City, is a former USA New Jersey State Super Middleweight Champion and a Jersey Shore fan favorite. His last fight was a tough, majority decision loss to Nadim Salloum at Sony Hall in December.
Elon "El Leon" de Jesus (4-1, 3 KOs) from Dunkirk, NY, made his professional debut on December 18, 2020. Elon will fight in a six-round bantamweight bout against Juan Pablo Meza (6-2, 1 KO) from Conchali, Chile, made his professional debut in 2018 and will be fighting as a pro for the first time outside his home country.
Michael Hughes (3-1, 1 KO) from New York, New York, Hell's Kitchen born and raised, former NYC Golden Gloves Champion, is head trainer and trains at the famed Church Street Gym, will battle Nelson Morales (3-2). The Dominican Morales now resides in Scranton, PA.
Tsendbaatar Erdenebat (4-0, 2 KOs) from Tsetserleg, Momgolia made his pro debut in 2018 and will be fighting in the USA for the first time against Cristian Oliveres (10-0, 5 KOs) from Santiago de Chile, Chile. Oliveras has been fighting professionally since 2014 and won the Chilean lightweight title in 2019.
Streaming and additional match information will be announced shortly.
ABOUT BOXING INSIDER
Established in 1997 as a premier boxing news and information destination, Boxing Insider has recently transitioned into the promotional business. This will be Boxing Insider's third professional boxing promotion. It has promoted one amateur boxing event and two professional events, on October 13 and December 21, both at Sony Hall, Times Square, New York, NY.