Troy Isley Gets Added To The Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott Card on August 15 in Atlanta

Middleweight Troy Isley will renew his amateur rivalry with Joseph Hicks.

The bout was added to the August 15 women’s middleweight title fight between Claressa Shields and Kaye Scott, which will take place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Isley, 16-0 (6 KOs), knows Hicks well; he lost to him at the 2020 Olympic Trials in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Yet, due to the pandemic, Isley would get to represent the United States in the 2020 Olympics based on his 2019 ranking, as the qualifiers were unable to take place.

The story is even more complicated than that. Javier Martinez defeated Hicks in the finals to win the Olympic Trials, but Hicks was selected to the USA Boxing team. Isley would then take Hicks’s place due to the qualification standards in place.

In the pros, it has been a tale of two careers. Isley, a 27-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia, has passed multiple tests while waiting for a title fight. His biggest win to date came two years ago, when he defeated Javier Martinez as an amateur. In fact, Isley lost to Martinez at the same Olympic Trials because it was a double-elimination format.

“I made easy work of Javier Martinez, and I’m going to do the same to Joe Hicks,” Isley said via a press release. “I’m hungry, and I’m coming different. Fans are going to see a version of Troy Isley, the best version. I’m going to put this Olympic talk to bed with Joe.”

For Hicks, 12-1 (7 KOs), his entry into the pros hasn’t been as smooth. Last June, he lost a split decision to Wendy Toussaint in a junior middleweight bout. Since then, he has defeated Todd Manuel in a return to middleweight. The 32-year-old Hicks will look to garner some support from the headliner, Shields, as he is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, a short jaunt from Flint, Michigan, where she resides.

Rounding out the undercard in the co-feature, 2024 Women’s Puerto Rican Olympian junior featherweight Ashleyann Lozada will face Paulette Cuesta. Lozada, 35, enters with a 4-0 record (1 KO) and hopes to inch toward a title. Paulette Cuesta, also 35, is unbeaten in her last three fights, including a win over Karla Davila, an undefeated Puerto Rican fighter. She holds a record of 19-5-1 (4 KOs).

WBC women’s junior lightweight titleholder Caroline Veyre will make her first title defense since winning the belt in February, facing Bernice Ferreira. The 37-year-old Olympian won the vacant belt from Delfine Persoon earlier this year. Veyre enters with a record of 12-1, while Ferreira is 10-0 (4 KOs) and has fought exclusively in South Africa against unrecognizable competition. The 34-year-old Ferreira will be fighting for her first world title.

“My opponent is 10-0 and an IBO champion, and that’s exactly why I want this fight,” Veyre said via a press release. “I didn’t become a world champion to duck challenges. I want to prove I’m the champion of this division, and the only way to do that is by facing the other champions.”

Opening the card will be junior welterweight Ernesto “Tito” Mercado, who recently signed with Salita Promotions, as he faces Emmanuel Tagoe, a former Ryan Garcia opponent.

Mercado, 24, is an impressive puncher with a record of 19-0 (18 KOs). The Pomona, California, fighter Mercado split ties with Matchroom Boxing, his previous promoter, earlier this year.

Tagoe, 37, has fought only twice since his 2022 bout against Garcia. The Ghanaian Tagoe currently holds a record of 34-2 (16 KOs).

Lucas Ketelle

Lucas Ketelle is a boxing writer and podcaster who has appeared on various platforms throughout his career.

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