U.S. Army veteran Daniel “The Dedication” Bailey, Jr. (10-0, 5 KOs) will get his first title shot March 12th, when he takes on 18-year-old Mexican knockout artist Jonathan “Diamante Zurdo” Javier Fierro (12-0, 11 KOs) for the vacant North American Boxing Association (NABA) Featherweight Championship.
The 10-round bout will take place at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington. The winner will earn a WBA top 15 rating.
Bailey, managed by Ryan Roach’s Fighter Locker, was born in Miami and fights out of Tampa. The cousin of 2-division World champion Randall Bailey, Daniel was honorably discharged from the military after serving a 6-year stint. He was a 4-time U.S. Army champion, rated as high as No. 1 in the country as an amateur boxer. He was stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs (CO), where Daniel was enrolled in the special soldier-athlete program there, World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).
“I’m super grateful for this opportunity,” the 25-year-old Bailey spoke about his NABA title shot. “I feel like all of my hard work has paid off and this will be my opportunity to show a glance of my greatness. I won’t disappoint. I’m not thinking about where this fight is going to take me. I’m just focused on getting a win.”
“This fight is very special for Team Bailey,” Roach commented. “We started building together from the ground up. To fight for a top 15 WBA world ranking in just 11 fights shows what we can do if the fighter stays ready and I do my job as a manager.
“I truly love this match-up for us because I think he has the perfect style for Daniel to showcase his skills. We have a game plan as a team. We have brought in some great sparring for Daniel. I am very excited for this opportunity, and it makes all the travel away from family, hard work and sleepless nights worth it.”
Fierro has stopped 11 of his 12 opponents as a professional, including 23-11 Victor Ruiz in the opening round of his last fight, back on November 13th in Phoenix.
“My opponent is from Mexico and he’s strong,” Bailey added, “but he signed on to fight the wrong fighter. I’m clicking! It’s a bad deal for anyone who signs on to fight me. I’m getting better every day.”
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