O’Shaquie Foster will defend his 130-pound belt against Abraham Nova on Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
O’SHAQUIE FOSTER (21-2, 12 KOs)
VS. ABRAHAM NOVA (23-1, 16 KOs)
- Date: Friday, Feb. 16
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Madison Square Garden Theater, New York City
- TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
- Division: Junior lightweight (130 pounds)
- At stake: Foster’s WBC title
- Pound-for-pound: None
- Odds: Foster 8-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Significance (up to five stars): ***
- Also on the card: Andres Cortes vs. Bryan Chevalier, junior lightweights; Bruce Carrington vs. Bernard Torres, featherweights
- Background: Foster will be making the second defense of the title he won as a result of his break-through unanimous decision victory over Rey Vargas in February of last year. He barely held onto his belt in his first defense. The 30-year-old Texan, showing his gritty side, was behind on two of the three official cards when he stopped Eduardo Hernandez in the 12th and final round of a wild fight in Hernandez’s home country of Mexico. Nova will be fighting for a major title for the first time. The 30-year-old Puerto Rican boxer-puncher, who lives in Albany, New York, has won two consecutive fights since he was stopped by two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez in the fifth round in 2022. He defeated capable Adam Lopez by a unanimous decision in January of last year and stopped less-accomplished Jonathan Romero in three rounds in July. Nova is ranked No. 12 by the WBC.
