By Ian S Palmer
Former Canadian college basketball player and No. 2 ranked “Dangerous” Denton Daley (12-0, 6 KOs) challenges Interim World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight champion Youri “El Toro” Kalenga (20-1, 13 KOs) Saturday night at Hersey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Kalenga-Daley headlines “World Championship Boxing,” promoted by United Boxing Promotions (UBP), the first world title fight ever held in Mississauga, as well the first in the province of Ontario in 4 1/2 years, since Mississauga-native Steve “The Canadian Kid” Molitor defeated Takalani Ndlovu in Rama by 12-round decision for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight championship.
The Kalenga-Daley winner will become the mandatory challenger for WBA World “regular” cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (26-2, 19 KOs).
“We’re proud to make history by presenting the first world title fight ever in Mississauga,” UBP promoter Don MacDonald commented. “The 6,000 fight fans at Hersey Centre this Saturday night will witness a war between two great fighters. Denton is ready for his first world title shot and Kalenga deserves credit for putting his title on the line in his opponent’s backyard. A lot is at stake for both fighters.”
With a victory the 32-year-old Daley, who has lost only one round in his 12 professional fights to date, will become the only Canadian-born world champion today in boxing. A former college basketball player in Canada, as well as a college graduate with a degree in business, Daley didn’t start boxing until 2010. He is trained by two-time world title challenger Syd Vanderpool.
The late-blooming Daley pitched a complete shutout against former world champion Richard Hall (30-11) in 2013, winning all 10 rounds on each of the three judges’ scorecards, followed by June 1, 2013 with his North American Boxing Association (NABA) cruiserweight title winning performance against Faisal Ibnel Arrami (15-4), who was unable to continue after four rounds due to a shoulder injury. In two NABA title defenses, Daley won 10 and 12-round unanimous decisions, respectively, over Jean Marc Monrose (26-6) and Andres Taylor (21-5-2).
“It is an honor to be given the opportunity to showcase my talent in front of the people who have supported me,” Daley said. “My opponent will give me a tough fight which my people have been waiting to see for a long time. I expect a dog fight and may the better man win.”
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 26-year-old Kalenga fights out of France, where 16 of his 20 professional fights have been held. His initial title defense against Daley will mark the African’s first pro fight outside of Europe.
Kalenga captured the Interim WBA crown in his last fight this past June 21 in Monte Carlo, winning a 12-round split decision (116-112, 115-113, 113-115) over Mateusz Masternak (32-1).
