Jean Pierre Valenci, pictured above, after scoring a knockout in his pro debut in June of 2024. He is scheduled to fight again on Feb. 1.
IRVINGTON — Two professional boxers from Irvington will fight on the big stage Saturday, Feb. 1 when Jean Pierre Valencia and Ghandi Romain compete in separate bouts at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Valencia (3-0, 2 knockouts) will face Dmitry Noskov (0-1) in a four-round junior middleweight bout, while Romain (6-1-1, 4 knockouts) will face Benjamin Lamptey (17-14-4, 13 knockouts) in a six-round welterweight bout.
Both fights will take place on the undercard of “Winter Warfare,” which is promoted by PrimeTime Promotions and will be headlined by the 10-round heavyweight fight between Damian Knyba and Andrzej Wawrzyk.
Valencia last fought at Prudential Center in October, scoring a first round knockout of Cody Jenkins. The 25-year-old has remained busy since turning pro last June, winning a unanimous decision over DePriest Johnson in December. He says he wants to show the improvements he has made since turning pro following a standout amateur career, where he earned a bronze medal at the 2023 National Golden Gloves.
“I don’t feel like I’m the same boxer I was six months ago. I have improved a lot since I last fought at the Prudential Center. Now I’m back to show more of myself,” said Valencia, a native of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
His opponent, 31-year-old Dmitry Noskov, is by far the most experienced of his career. Noskov, who is from Ufa, Russia but based in Brooklyn, was a national silver medalist who defeated former amateur world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Gleb Bakshi.
Romain will be making his first appearance at Prudential Center. The 27-year-old, who was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is looking to win his second straight since being held to a controversial draw against the undefeated Nimal Farmer last October in a fight many felt he won. Romain won N.J. Golden Gloves and Diamond Gloves titles in 2017 and is looking forward to taking the next big step in his career.
“I feel very grateful to be fighting at the Prudential Center. It’s the biggest stage yet so I’m just looking to put on a spectacular performance in front of my hometown fans.
I expect a good fight; I’m not sleeping on my opponent,” said Romain.
The rest of the undercard will feature talent from around the New Jersey and New York area and beyond, including former International Boxing Federation bantamweight and World Boxing Organization junior bantamweight world champion Miyo Yoshida (17-5) against Beata Dudek (5-5, 4 KOs), plus Fiodor Czerkaszyn (25-1, 15 KOs), Elise Soto (7-0, 7 KOs), Christopher Houston (1-0), Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson (14-2, 8 KOs), John Vallejo (5-0, 2 KOs), Michal Soczynski (8-0, 5 KOs), Mateusz Bereznicki (1-0, 1 KO) and more.
Tickets can be bought online at Ticketmaster or by calling Valencia’s manager at 973-723-7036. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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