Ghana’s Fredrick Lawson (26-1, 21 KO’s) is one of eight world class fighters welterweights who have been chosen for the “Jose Sulaiman World Invitational,” presented by Evander Holyfield’s The Real Deal Boxing in association with the World Boxing Council.
The first round of the single elimination tournament will take place on Friday, April 27 at a location to be announced.
Other fighters in the tournament include former world title challenger Felix Diaz,(19-2-0, 9 KO’s) of Santo Domingo, D.R., Johannesburg, South African native Chris van Heerden, (25-2-1, 12 KO’s), and undefeated Russian prospect Radzhab Butaev, (8-0-0, 6 KO’s).
Also included are Brad Solomon, (27-1-0, 9 KO’s), of Douglasville, Georgia, Timo Schwarzkopf, (18-1-0, 10 KO’s), of Stuttgart, Germany, Derrieck Cuevas, (16-0-1, 13 KO’s) of Catano, Puerto Rico, and Baishanbo Nasiyiwula, (13-1-1, 6 KO’s) of Urumqi, China.
Four alternates have also agreed to participate in the case of injury to one of the participants, including Mexico’s Mauricio Pintor, (20-3-1, 13 KO’s), Paddy Gallagher, (13-3-0, 8 KO’s) of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sergiy Lubkovich, (7-0-0, 6 KO’s) of Kostroma, Russia and Francisco Santana, (26-6-1, 12 KO’s) of Santa Barbara, CA.
Boxing fans can vote to decide on the first-round matchups at The Real Deal Boxing website, www.TheRealDealBoxing.com starting NOW with the voting ending at on Monday, February 26 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
First round matchups will be announced at the tournament’s kick-off press conference on Wednesday, February 28.
“This is an excellent selection of highly talented and very hungry fighters from all over the world,” said Holyfield. “The first round is a great opportunity for fans to be involved in choosing the matchups they want to see.”
Fighting out of Chicago, IL, Lawson, also known as “General Okunka,” won the vacant WBC International Silver Welterweight Title in Accra, Ghana with a 12-round decision over Sakima Mullings on March 11, 2017. Following that up on November 18, 2017, Lawson stopped Fidel Munoz in the third round in New York City.
In his seven years as a professional, Lawson has also defeated contenders Ray Narh, Breidis Prescott and Mohammed Kayongo.