Nathan And Elijah Lugo Return in Separate Bouts on October 3

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In the amateurs, Nathan and Elijah Lugo were formidable foes who collected national titles the way some collect sports cards. It seemed like in the late 2010s, if a tournament was happening, the name Lugo would be a lock to be in the finals, if not winning it outright.

Fast-forward to Saturday, when the brothers will fight in separate bouts on an Apex Promotions card, the entity started by their father and trainer, Mike Lugo, at the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, Georgia, the hometown of all three.

Nathan (7-0, 6 KOs) turned professional in 2024 and was even featured on a Santa Monica Pier card, where he stopped Ray Corona. With amateur prestige and an exciting fighting style, Nathan looked to be a hallmark of the next era of prospects. Then the next era arrived and left the prospects in the dust. While main event fighters got paid big bucks, those looking to develop were struggling to stand out. Nathan has fought once this year; that was in August, as he aims to vault into becoming a contender.

“If you look at most of my opponents, it’s not how most people start off; I am trying to get up in the ranks quicker,” Nathan told FightsATW. “We [he and his brother] are fighting tough guys who are veterans.”

The latest bout is no change. Nathan will face journeyman pro Cleotis Pendarvis, a 22-year-old veteran who has shared the ring with many names. The harsh reality of local boxing is that it is hard to get opponents for the budget of these shows. Though Pendarvis’s record might not be sexy on paper, he offers some challenge, and more importantly, he was willing to fight, which Nathan is looking for as he aims to establish himself in a title position.

“One of my potential opponents wanted an absurd amount of money,” Nathan said. “We told him he was crazy; we don’t have that type of money.

Elijah (5-0, 2 KOs), a middleweight, will face a northeastern veteran Jimmy Williams.

Elijah, though, wasn’t always a boxing prodigy or a pro hopeful. At one point, he questioned whether boxing was for him. He lost his first 13 amateur fights and is driven by a memory of that 14th fight and by whether he could win it.

“Only one of the belts on the wall really matters to me, because it was the first belt I ever won, because it was the first fight I ever won,” Elijah told FightsATW. “If I didn’t win that fight, I would’ve quit boxing. So if I didn’t win that belt, I wouldn’t have won any of the other belts.”

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Nathan echoed the sentiment about his early grind.

“When I first started, I didn’t have talent,” Nathan said. “I built myself up; I have trained so much that I have talent. I can see things other people can’t. It reminds me that hard work consistently will beat talent.”

For Mike, better known as Coach Lugo, promoting shows is nothing new. He has been running the Lugo de Mayo amateur events for years. This is just the latest step. The goal is a television-quality show that garners enthusiasm.

“For this fight, we are going in and showing off in front of our families,” Elijah said. “It has been hard getting fights recently, and we are showing that we can get our own fights.”