Ashton “H2O” Sylve faces former champion Joseph “JoJo” Diaz on Friday, June 19 at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. The contest headlines the MF Pro debut in the United States. The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds at super lightweight.
Sylve (13-1, 10 KOs) aims for his third win in a row since being knocked out by Lucas Bahdi in mid-2024. In his previous outing on the Wilder vs Chisora undercard in April, the 22-year-old Long Beach native scored a unanimous decision over Raul Hernandez.
“This is a special moment for me because Long Beach raised me and these people have supported me from the beginning,” Sylve said. “There’s nothing like coming home and putting on a great performance for my city. I want everyone who comes out to feel proud and leave knowing they watched something special. I plan on putting on a dominant performance and giving my hometown fans a fight they’ll remember.”
“I’m still young, I’m still growing, and my goals haven’t changed. I want to climb back up those rankings and put myself right back in position for world title opportunities. Every great journey has challenges, and this fight is another chance for me to prove I’m built for this.”
Diaz (34-9-1, 15 KOs) of South El Monte, California is coming off two straight defeats. The 33-year-old southpaw dropped a unanimous decision to Alexis Rocha in March on the undercard of Barboza vs Sims Jr, and similarly fell short against Regis Prograis last August.
“Southern California has always shown me incredible support throughout my career, and I’m excited to go out there and perform in front of my fans again,” Diaz said. “I’ve been on the biggest stages and fought world champions, and people know what I bring into the ring.”
“Ashton may be coming home looking for a big moment, but my job is to ruin that homecoming story. That’s the reality of boxing. I respect him as a fighter, but I still have goals I want to accomplish and bigger fights I want to land. To get there, I need to make a statement and remind everyone that JoJo Diaz still belongs in major fights.”
Sylve vs Diaz undercard
J’Hon Ingram (9-0) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina takes on Devin Cushing (18-0) of Pensacola, Florida in a lightweight bout.
A welterweight bout pits David Lopez (8-0) of Oakland, California against Las Vegas native Joey Borrero (12-2).
Also set to make their ring appearances are middleweight Amir Anderson (7-0, 7 KOs) of Syracuse, New York, and former amateur Kayla Gomez of El Paso, Texas in her pro debut, among others.
The full lineup is expected to be announced shortly.