Raymond Ford moves up to 130 pounds, faces Orlando Gonzalez on Ennis-Chukhadzian card
Raymond Ford will try to win another world title, but at a different weight.
Ford will face Orlando Gonzalez on November 9, promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Friday. The 10-round fight will take place at the Wells Fargo Arena and will precede the main event between IBF World Welterweight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Karen Chukhadzhian.
On the Matchroom Boxing card, Jesse Rodriguez will defend his Ring Magazine junior bantamweight title and WBC world title against Pedro Guevara.
All three fights will be broadcast live on DAZN.
“Featherweight world champion @raysavage856 moves to 130 lbs in Philly!” Eddie Hearn said this in a post on social media. “‘Brutal’ and Two Kings …. at monster show in Philadelphia, Nov 9.”
Ford (15-1, 8 knockouts) will fight in front of a partisan crowd as he resides in Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.
The 25-year-old southpaw won the WBA featherweight world title on March 2, coming from a deficit to stop Otabek Kholmatov in the final round. Going into the final round, Ford was down 106-103 on two scorecards.
Ford became the first American-born fighter to sign at ateurs to win a world title under the Matchroom Boxing banner. Ford and super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco were the first two home-grown American Matchroom Boxing players from the amateur ranks.
In his first attempt to defend the WBA featherweight title, which took place on June 1, Ford lost a split decision to Nick Ball.
The move to 130 pounds should come as no surprise, as Ford has been considering moving up to the featherweight division recently even after Kholmatov’s victory.
Gonzalez (23-2, 13 KOs), who lives in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, last fought on June 28 in a busy fight, stopping goalkeeper Jose Santos Gonzalez after the third round. In his last fight on November 29, South African Gonzalez won by split decision over Jorge Castaneda.
The 29-year-old has fought his last three fights under the ProBox TV banner. He is the older cousin of Henry Lebron’s undefeated junior lightweight and has won his last five fights since losing to Misael Lopez in September 2022.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
