Former amateur standout Ronny Alvarez added to MVP 16 show in Texas
Ronny Alvarez is set to present his talents to a wider audience.
Boxing Scene has confirmed that the former world youth amateur champion will open the “Most Valuable Prospect 16” DAZN show on October 18 from South Padre Island Convention Center in South Padre Island, Texas. Cuba’s Alvarez, 4-0 (3 KOs), will face Bruno Pola, 10-3-1 (9 KOs), in a six-round super middleweight contest.
Their bout will accompany a pair of previously announced title fights, anchored by the Lourdes Juarez-Jessica Nery Plata WBC 108lbs championship clash.
Alvarez-Pola is also joined by Australia’s Desley Robinson, 10-3 (3 KOs), who risks her unified IBF and WBO 160lbs titles versus Logan Holler, 11-3-1 (4 KOs), and Brownsville-bred boxing good guy Omar Juarez, 19-2 (7 KOs), in a 10-round clash with Puerto Rico’s Omar Rosario, 14-2 (4 KOs).
MVP also confirmed the balance of the preliminary undercard, which is loaded with regional talent.
Sebastian Juarez, 9-0 (7 KOs) – Omar’s younger brother and also from Brownsville - will take on Fort Worth’s Demarcus Layton, 10-7-1 (7 KOs), in a six-round bout in the super welterweight division. Reggie Ray Martinez, 6-0-1 (1 KO), and Edgar Rosales, 5-0 (2 KOs), meet in a six-round featherweight bout between 18-year-old Texans.
Also included on the preliminary portion of the evening is 20-year-old prospect Jonathan Garcia, 4-0 (3 KOs), from Mission, Texas.
All three preliminary bouts come in supporting capacity to Dallas’ former bantamweight titlist Shurretta Metcalf, 14-5 (2 KOs), who faces fast-rising, Amanda Serrano-managed prospect Krystal Rosado, 7-0 (2 KOs), in a bantamweight crossroads bout to be contested over eight, three-minute rounds.
The action will then transition to the four-fight main card, which opens with one of the most promising young talents in the sport.
Alvarez will fight for the third time in the U.S., all which have come in just a three-month span. The 21-year-old Cuban southpaw is signed with Boxlab Promotions, a longtime partner of MVP as the two have collaborated on several DAZN shows from Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Alvarez’s most recent bout took place at that venue, where he scored a six-round shutout victory over Ryan Adams on September 19. His next fight now takes place just 29 days later.
Alvarez claimed top honors during the 2022 World Youth Amateur championships, to go with a pair of gold medals from the Pan American Games.
The clash with San Antonio’s Pola represents Alvarez’s tallest order to date – literally. Pola is a 6ft 3ins southpaw armed with a three-fight win streak after pushing unbeaten Daniel Blancas to the brink in their April 2024 battle in Laredo, Texas.
Sebastian Juarez makes his third straight appearance on an MVP show. Separately, the event will mark the second time this year that he and older brother Omar appear on the same card, and third overall, all within their past five fights.
