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Abraham Perez’s ring return set; BKFC coming back to Albuquerque
Published
Modified
The Hammer is back, and he’s nailing it in workouts.
Albuquerque boxer Abraham Perez is scheduled to return to the ring on April 19, some eight months after a near drowning almost cost him his life and some 13 months after he last fought.
Perez (10-0, five KOs), nicknamed “Hammer,” is scheduled to face Mexico’s Alejandro Murillo (6-0, four KOs) in the main event of a Legacy Promotions card that night at the Embassy Suites.
Aaron Perez, Abraham’s father and who with promotional partner Gabriel Carlin runs Legacy Promotions, said his son has shown no ill effects in the gym from last Aug. 2, when the younger Perez blacked out in the family swimming pool while doing breath-control exercises. He was rushed to UNM Hospital, where he spent several days recovering.
Asked if he’s seeing the same fighter he saw before the accident, Aaron Perez said, “That’s what it looks like, that it didn’t take anything away from his abilities at all. Otherwise, I wouldn’t (put him in the ring).”
Abraham Perez, 25, was training for a much-anticipated bout against fellow unbeaten Albuquerque fighter Matt Griego-Ortega on the Aug. 24 Angelo Leo-Luis Alberto Lopez card at Tingley Coliseum when the accident occurred. Griego-Ortega fought and defeated a replacement opponent that night.
Aaron Perez said he knows little about Murillo at this point, other than that he comes from a boxing family. The record shows that he hasn’t fought since April 2023 and that his six victories came against opponents with a cumulative record of 2-3 entering those bouts.
Abraham Perez was fast climbing the ladder in the flyweight (112-pound) division before being sidelined. In his last three fights, he’d won the IBA Intercontinental — defending it once, the IBA World and the WBC Youth silver titles.
Aaron Perez said a welterweight bout between Albuquerque’s Xavier Madrid (5-6, two KOs) and Ephraim Martinez (6-2, two KOs) of Lubbock, Texas, is set for the undercard. He mentioned three Albuquerque boxers, lightweight Andres Rey (3-0, no KOs), super middleweight Jordanne Garcia (5-4-3, no KOs) and heavyweight Manuel Eastman (3-9-2, one KO) as possibilities for April 19.
In the meantime, Rey is scheduled to fight in El Paso on the Stephanie Han-Hannah Terlep card on Feb. 22.
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BKFC: The bare-knuckle fight promotion is coming back to the Albuquerque area for the fifth time, this on Feb. 28 at the Kiva Auditorium at the Convention Center.
Jackson-Wink MMA fighter Bekhzod Usmonov (1-1 BKFC) is scheduled to face Keith Richardson (5-1 BKFC) of Rock Hill, S.C., in the main event.
Several other Albuquerque-area fighters, including Eric Dodson, Bryant McClain, Derek Perez, William Albrecht and Kyle McElroy, are scheduled to compete.
Tickets — $60 and up — are available at bkfc.com via Ticketmaster. Potential buyers should be aware that the Kiva Auditorium is a far smaller venue than Tingley Coliseum, which has housed three past BKFC events.
Meanwhile, Albuquerque’s Will Santiago is scheduled to face Dakota Cochran on a BKFC card Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
FIGHTWORLD: Albuquerque NMA fighters Dahlen Wilson (8-4) and James Romero (3-0) are scheduled for the main event of FightWorld 38 at Revel ABQ on March 15.
Wilson trains at Jackson-Wink and Romero at Fit-NHB, a matchup that always creates added interest.
