Promoters Arthur Pelullo/Banner Promotions and Rodney Berman/Golden Gloves will present a sensational championship fight card on Friday, June 19, 2009, at the Laredo Entertainment Center, located at 6700 Arena Boulevard in Laredo, Texas. The main event, co-feature, and other selected fights will be televised live on ESPN2, ESPN Desportes, their Spanish-Language Network, and ESPN 360.com.

In the main event scheduled for 12 rounds, Fernando Beltran Jr., 32-3-1 with 18 knockouts, of Culiacan, Mexico, the International Boxing Federation’s number four ranked featherweight contender, will make his first defense of the IBF Latino featherweight title against Monty Meza-Clay, 28-2 with 19 knockouts, of Rankin, Pennsylvania, the IBF’s number six ranked contender.

Beltran, a 27 year-old lefthander, won the vacant title with a 12 round split decision against Miguel Roman of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, at the Laredo Entertainment Center in his last fight on March 20.

Doug Fischer reported on The Ring blog [excerpts]: Two-time title challenger Fernando Beltran Jr. kept his hopes for a third title shot alive with a hard-fought split-decision over Miguel Roman, who put forth a spirited effort in the main event of the ESPN2-televised main event….

Beltran, who won by two scores of 115-113, mixed his offense from a distance and in close, alternating boxing with two-to-toe exchanges. However, it was Roman, who took the fight by a lopsided 117-111 tally on one scorecard, who won over the crowd with his non-stop aggression and relentless body attack. [End Fischer item]

Meza-Clay, now 28 years old, is coming off a loss in his last fight in January but had previously won eight fights in a row, six by knockout, which included his career-best win in February, 2008 - a seventh-round TKO against former IBF featherweight world champion Eric Aiken.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com [excerpts]: Don’t you just love Meza-Clay? He’s just 5-foot-2, but what he lacks in size he more than makes up for with his non-stop punching and his ability to get inside and work the body. From the outset of the “Friday Night Fights” main event, Meza-Clay took it to Aiken, who won a featherweight belt in May 2006…. Although Meza-Clay was in control from the start, this was an entertaining scrap as both men threw and landed a lot of punches. By the seventh round, Aiken had almost nothing left and Meza-Clay bullied him into the ropes and was teeing off with a flurry of 25-plus unanswered shots when the referee properly intervened. [End Rafael item]

Monty said, “I have the same approach for every fight. I just impose my will on him, let him try to figure me out. I’m going to do me – I’m going to stick to my gameplan. There’s nothing different other than - ring the bell, let’s fight!”

The co-featured bout is to be announced.