PICKERING — Electifying middleweight Kemahl ‘The Hitman’ Russell will aim to continue his campaign of punishment on December 2nd, when he will face the stiffest challenge of his comeback thus far in Mexico’s Rafael ‘El Iraki’ Ortiz at the Pickering Casino Resort.
Russell (15-1, 13 KO), a former NABF Junior Middleweight Champion, has stopped both opponents faced since returning to the professional ring in April; Ortiz (16-5-1, 9 KO) is the reigning Mexican Middleweight Champion.
Russell enters off a dominant fourth-round stoppage of former WBC International Middleweight Champion Juan Carlos Raygosa, while Ortiz was most recently stopped in the sixth round in Germany by reigning IBO World Middleweight Champion Etinosa Oliha.
The December contest will represent a step up for the 34-year-old Russell, who floored Raygosa twice and forced Marcos Cornejo’s corner to throw the towel back in April — with both fights ending inside the midway mark of round four.
Hailing from Culiacan, Sinaloa, the 28-year-old Ortiz is both in his prime and a reigning champion of a respected boxing nation. Most dangerously, he knows a victory in Canada would propel his career to new heights.
FIGHT NOTES
The hard-hitting Russell has won his last five contests by knockout…Ortiz knocked out Elliot Cano in Culiacan last November to claim the Mexican title…Russell’s only defeat came against three-time World Title Challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko in March 2017…Ortiz has stopped his opponent in three of his last four victories…Dec. 2 will be both men’s third career contest in Canada.
United Boxing Promotions presents Kemahl ‘The Hitman’ Russell (15-1, 13 KO) against Rafael ‘El Iraki’ Ortiz (16-5-1, 9 KO) in an eight-round middleweight contest on December 2nd at the Pickering Casino Resort. Extremely limited tickets remain at unitedpromotions.ca.
