Corley, Russell, Coleman Have Big Bouts in Next Three Months!

Three Beltway Boxers -- A former world champion, a boxer many consider a future world champion and a young veteran contender -- have notable bouts coming up in the next three months.

Former WBO Junior Welterweight champion and DC native DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley will take on undefeated Gabriel "Tito" Bracero of Brooklyn, NY for Bracero's NABF Junior Welterweight title on Friday, January 21 at the Roseland Ballroom in Brooklyn, NY.

Corley (37-19-1, 22 KO's) will be trying to break a six-bout losing streak including a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Ruslan Provodnikov on December 5 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. That bout was for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council Light Welterweight title. Corley's bout against Bracero will be his sixth minor title bout in his last seven contests.

Bracero (18-0, three KO's) is coming off his NABF title win -- a 10-round unanimous decision over Daniel Sostre on October 21 in Mashantucket, CT. Bracero, a native of Puerto Rico, will fight in New York City for the 17th time in his 19-fight career.

On Saturday, February 11, undefeated Capitol Heights, MD super featherweight "Mr." Gary Russell, Jr. returns to action with a 10-round matchup against veteran Dat "Be Dat" Nguyen of Vero Beach, FL that will be shown on Showtime from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Russell (19-0, 11 KO's) was scheduled to face Nguyen on November 26 on an HBO broadcast but the bout fell through. Russell instead faced Heributo Ruiz in Cincinnati, OH and scored one of the best knockouts of 2011 crushing Ruiz in the first round. Nguyen (17-2, six KO's) had a six-bout winning streak broken when he lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Luis Orlando Del Valle for the vacant NABA Featherweight title on June 11 in Brooklyn, NY.

Then on Friday, March 16, Baltimore junior welterweight and former USBA champion Tim "Pitbull" Coleman will try to bounce back from his loss to Vernon Paris when he faces former WBO Junior Welterweight titleholder Kendall "Rated R" Holt of Paterson, NJ in a 10-round contest at the Morongo Resort and Spa in Cabazon, CA. ESPN2 will televise. Coleman (19-2-1, five KO's) lost his USBA title to the undefeated Paris by seventh-round TKO in Santa Ynez, CA on August 5. Holt (27-5, 15 KO's) is also coming off a loss -- a 12-round split decision to Danny Garcia for the WBO Inter-Continental Junior Welterweight title on October 15 in Los Angeles.