This Friday is one of the most anticipated days on the 2024 sports calendar as Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is the site for Game 1 of this year’s World Series between the American League Champion New York Yankees and National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. While this year’s Fall Classic will be the first head-to-head meeting between in this phase of the playoffs since a strike-affected season in 1981, not everyone will be watching baseball.
While the West Coast is preoccupied with action on the diamond on Friday and Saturday nights, another hard-hitting sport takes center stage back east: Boxing. DAZN features Classic Sports and Entertainment’s CES Boxing live from Oceanside Events Center in Revere, MA, just six short miles outside of Boston.
Coverage begins at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT and will feature seven bouts in the ring. Highlighting the night’s activities is a nontitle affair at 154 lbs.
Super-Welterweights Do Battle in CES Boxing Halloween Knockout Main Event
Rashidi Ellis (24-1, 15 KOs) returns to the squared circle when he faces off against Brian Damian Chaves (14-5, 5 KOs) in the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event. As per the terms of the fight contract agreed upon, the bout is an advertised maximum of eight rounds at three minutes per round to close the show.
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CES Boxing Halloween Knockout Main Event Fighter Comparison
Heading into the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event on Friday night, Brian Damian Chaves stands as the taller man at six feet even, compared to the 5-foot-9 frame of Rashidi Ellis. The latter owns a 72-inch reach, with no such information accessible for the former at press time.
Currently, the oddsmakers have yet to release money lines for CES Boxing Halloween Knockout on Friday night. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this weekend in combat sports, please wager responsibly.
Ellis With Important “Home Game” on Friday Night
Rashidi Ellis enters the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event on Friday having posted a mark of 4-1 in his last five fights. Most recently, he saw a 24-fight winning streak to begin his professional career snapped at the hands of Roiman Villa (26-3, 24 KOs) after 12 rounds during a Premier Boxing Champions card on Showtime pay-per-view in January of last year by majority decision.
Ellis, formerly the IBF North American Welterweight Champion and the WBC International Welterweight Champion, has kept busy in the interim basis, appearing in the second season of Team Combat League for the Boston Butchers, scoring victories in 11 of his 12 contests. In so doing, he won the league’s Most Entertaining Fighter Award.
A native of Lynn, MA, he finds himself back on home turf for the first time in more than a decade, something that he talked about in a recent interview with The Item, a local newspaper in Sumpter, MA.
“People haven’t seen me fight here since I was a little kid,” Ellis told the paper. I’m a grown man now, and I’m going to work.”
This is a man who’s fought for and won championships in the past. Although no strap is at stake here in the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event, the crowd will be in full throat for Rashidi Ellis on Friday night.
Chaves Looking to Stop Skid
In the other corner, Brian Damian Chaves has posted a mark of 1-4 in his last five matches, but he’s fallen on hard times of late. Currently, he’s dropped four contests in succession.
All four of his defeats have come by way of knockout. Back in June of this year, he sustained a third-round TKO loss to Chordale Booker (23-1, 11 KOs) inside Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
To find the last time that Chaves had a sustained winning streak, you’d have to travel back to 2021, when he won three fights in succession from Jan. 21 to Sept. 12 of that year. Throughout his pro career, he’s been a streaky fighter, getting his hand raised at the end of his first 11 professional contests.
Can he return to the win column on Friday? Only time will tell.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
Expect another strength versus strength matchup in the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event on Friday. Both of these guys can dish out the pain.
Ellis Can Live Up to His Nickname
Rashidi Ellis’ nickname is “Speedy.” Numerically speaking, he’s stopped seven of his opponents before the bell to end the opening round has even tolled.
During the first round of his 2022 fight against Jose Marruffo in the Alamodome, Ellis put his speed on full display, using his movement to keep Marruffo guessing, forcing him to clinch one minute into the contest. From there, Ellis knocked Marruffo down with a single punch.
Following the restart, Ellis continued to pour it on with a barrage of shots, sending him down once more, ending the bout with another slew of punches.
The referee had no choice but to step in and wave off the contest. Look for Ellis to come out like a house on fire on Friday night.
Look for Chaves to Take Ellis to Later Rounds
In the other corner, Brian Damian Chaves’ key to victory in the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event: Go deep into the fight. With Ellis having finished 12 of his opponents in the earlier portion of the fight, extending the contest may look like a daunting task, but Chaves can do it, as he did in his 2021 fight vs. Carlos Armando Santana.
During the fifth round of a scheduled 10, Chaves pushed forward and peppered Santana with shots. His opponent had no chance to keep up with him, leading Chaves to put Santana away with a crisp shot to the body.
Even though the referee administered the 10-count to Santana, he wouldn’t answer the bell. If Chaves can extend the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout to the later rounds, he’ll be golden.
Final Thoughts
Even though there’s no title on the line, the CES Boxing Halloween Knockout main event is still going to be a fun scrap. Be sure to tune in.
Prediction: Rashidi Ellis by First-Round TKO.
