PROVIDENCE --- Peter Manfredo Jr. is getting another shot at a world title.
And "The Pride of Providence" will fight for it in his backyard.
Manfredo Jr., who was the runner-up of "The Contender I" reality TV show, will take on Australia's Sakio Bika, who was the winner of "The Contender III" series, for the vacant International Boxing Organization (IBO) super middleweight championship in the 12-round main event of the “Tough & Tested" show (co-promoted by the "Tournament of Contenders" and Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc.) on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. This show, which will air live on VERSUS, will feature five alumni from the three series of “The Contender” in the top three fights. In addition to Manfredo and Bika's fight, "The Contender II" series winner Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer will take on "The Contender II" fan favorite Cornelius “K9” Bundrage in an IBO light middleweight title eliminator in the co-feature, and "The Contender III" runner-up Jaidon “The Don” Codrington will duel an opponent to be determined in a 'Special Attraction' super middleweight affair.
This will be first major world title fight in Providence since Oct. 1, 1991, when at the then-called Providence Civic Center, Vinny Paz recorded a 12th-round TKO of Gilbert Dele to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight championship, one of five world titles won by the Cranston native.
It will also be one of the biggest fights in Manfredo's career, and the Manfredo's Gym product and two-time world title challenger wants to puts forth a magnificent performance in front of his home fans.
"I'm more focused on winning the fight more than anything else," said Manfredo during a small press conference at Dave & Buster's in the Providence Place Mall. "It's do or die for me. If Sakio beats me, he'll be the better man that night and that's it, but I'm going in there to beat him up and win this fight. It's a big opportunity for me, and believe me, we're not going to let this one go."
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