Fan-favorite Chatman returns to Rhode Island to take on Contender alum Brewer

Jersey City, N.J., light middleweight Chris Chatman, right, will face The Contender Season 2 champion Grady Brewer in the main event Friday, March 28th, 2014 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. Chatman is 2-1 in his career at Twin River, including a win over fan-favorite Thomas Falowo in July. (CES photo by Kelly MacDonald)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (March 18th, 2014) -- As far as out-of-town fighters are concerned, Chris Chatman has had so much success at Twin River the casino might want to consider adding his name to the deed. The hard-hitting fan-favorite from Jersey City will return to his second home Friday, March 28th, 2014 when he faces The Contender alum Grady Brewer in the eight-round middleweight main event of Classic Entertainment & Sports' upcoming professional boxing card at the Event Center.

The event also features the return of Cape Cod, Mass., heavyweight Jesse Barboza (7-1-1, 5 KOs); unbeaten Providence middleweight KJ Harrison-Lombardi (5-0-1); welterweight Nick DeLomba (2-0) of Cranston, R.I., and undefeated Springfield, Mass., welterweight Zack Rasmey (6-0, 3 KOs).

Originally from San Diego, Chatman (11-3-1, 5 KOs) first won over the Rhode Island crowd in 2009 when he fought tooth and nail against former Olympian and Providence native Demetrius Andrade, at the time the toughest fight of Andrade's young career. He returned two years later with a knockout win over Rahman Yusubov and made his third appearance at Twin River in July of 2013 by beating hometown favorite Thomas Falowo by unanimous decision.

The muscular, 5-foot-8 southpaw has become an unlikely fan-favorite in Rhode Island with both his colorful interviews at press conferences and no-nonsense approach in the ring. Now, with the crowd firmly in his corner, he'll face the veteran Brewer (30-18, 16 KOs), who fought alongside Rhode Island's Gary "Tiger" Balletto on Season 2 of The Contender and won the $500,000 cash prize by beating former world-title challenger Steve Forbes by split decision in the finals.

Like Chatman, Brewer is no stranger to New England; the Lawton, Okla., native fought in 2008 on the undercard of the CES and the Tournament of Contenders' co-promotion at The Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, beating Season 2 teammate and former light middleweight world champion Cornelius Brundage by split decision. In 2009, he stopped unbeaten Nigerian prospect Albert Onolunose in the second round of their scheduled 12-round bout and two years later handed world-title challenger Fernando Guerrero -- 21-0 at the time -- the first loss his career via fourth-round knockout. Brewer has also faced World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight champion Erislandy Lara, current World Boxing Organization (WBO) champ Andrade and unbeaten Russian prospect Matt Korobov in his 15-year career. 

With Chatman-Brewer at the top, the undercard is stacked with the region's top talent, including rising stars DeLomba and Harrison-Lombardi, who've quickly become household names in Rhode Island. A protégé of Balletto, DeLomba will fight a four-round bout in his first appearance since September while Harrison-Lombardi will aim to keep his perfect record intact in a four-round bout against Jason Bakanowski (0-1) of Worcester, Mass., following his win over Antonio Fernandes in February.

Coming off a knockout win over veteran Arthur Saribekian in November, Barboza will look to stay on track against East Stroudsburg, Pa., heavyweight Glenn Thomas in a four-round bout while Ramsey takes on veteran Shakha Moore (11-19-3, 2 KOs) of Norwalk, Conn., in a six-rounder.

Louisiana cruiserweight Alvin Varmall Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs), who made his Twin River debut in February with a knockout win over Andre Ward, will return to face Devon Mosley (0-0-1) of Capitol Heights, Md., in a four-round bout and Chattanooga, Tenn., lightweight prospect Ryan Martin (3-0, 2 KOs) will face Justin Robbins (2-5, 1 KO) of Springfield, Ill., in a four-round bout.

---

More WBOB Sports

• EASY STREET: Deal With The Bruins Good Fortune
  
• Fixing A Giant Problem
  
• Bye Bye Champ
  MLB Notebook
  

• Soden's Look At NFL Free Agency 

Tickets for the event are priced at $41, $76 and $126 (VIP) and can be purchased by calling 401-724-2253/2254, online at www.cesboxing.com or www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Players Club at Twin River. All fights and fighters are subject to change.