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Mark Reyes Jr. is undefeated and has knocked out 12 of his 14 foes in professional fights.
Janelson Figueroa Bocachica has watched clips from a few of Reyes’ knockout victories, but he still isn’t sold on his opponent’s power. Detroit’s Bocachica can’t wait to show Reyes just how steep of a step up in competition he’ll take Wednesday night in their 10-round welterweight fight.
Bocachica-Reyes is the main event of a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut (9 p.m. EST).
“I’ve seen him get a few pretty good knockouts, but those were cab drivers,” Bocachica told BoxingScene.com. “Anybody can do something with a guy that looks like that. You know, if you look at their records, they haven’t fought nobody and they don’t even got no Ws or nothing. When he comes and fights somebody like me, he’s not gonna be able to do the same things he was doing. I’ve seen highlights from two or three of his fights, but it’s all about him being in there with me. I’m not in there with him.”
The unbeaten Bocachica overpowered Puerto Rico’s Nicklaus Flaz almost as soon as his last bout began. The 22-year-old Bocachica (16-0, 11 KOs) floored Flaz three times in the opening round and needed just 2:43 to stop him October 7 in a scheduled eight-rounder that also was part of a “ShoBox” broadcast from Mohegan Sun Arena.
Flaz (9-2, 7 KOs) hadn’t been knocked out before Bocachica beat him by first-round TKO.
A crushing left hook by Bocachica knocked Flaz flat on his back only 29 seconds into their fight. That marked the first time in his career that Flaz went down as well.
The 24-year-old Reyes, of Tampa, Florida, defeated Argentina’s Diego Perez (13-11-1, 11 KOs) by first-round knockout in his last fight, November 21 in Tampa.
“I think he’s a great fighter,” Bocachica said of Reyes. “After this, he might have an upset win against somebody else. But here, with me, in my ring, it’s not gonna happen.”
Russian super middleweight contender Vladimir Shishkin (11-0, 7 KOs) and Ghana’s Sena Agbeko (23-1, 18 KOs) are scheduled to square off in the “ShoBox” co-feature Wednesday night, also a 10-rounder. Showtime’s telecast will open with an eight-round lightweight bout between Alejandro Guerrero (12-0, 9 KOs), of Irving, Texas, and Abraham Montoya (19-2-1, 14 KOs), of Mexicali, Mexico.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.