Live! Casino to host title fights Aug. 18

The debut of championship boxing is set for Aug. 18 in the Event Center at Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, featuring Laurel-born fighter Demond Nicholson in the main event match, Live! Casino & Hotel announced Tuesday. Nicholson, whose last recorded win came by dispatching Josue Obando nearly a year ago, will take on Brazilian Isaac Rodrigues to try to claim the WBCUSNBC super middleweight title. In addition to the headliners, Live! Casino & Hotel’s bartender Dante “Red Comet” Cox (Elkridge), who kicked off his wrestling career in 2017, will meet Roanoke, Va., resident Latorie Woodberry in the ring. For the co-main welterweight event, Mykal “Mike” Fox (Forestville) will tangle with veteran DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (Washington, D.C.). Alongside them, the cast of Old Line State characters continues for the undercard: with the East Coast tussle between middleweight Francisco Bustos (Rockville) and Juvuan John (New York); the inter-state matchup of Donald “Dangerous” Wallace (Baltimore) versus Ashton Sykes (Columbia); the cross-border battle between Zarifbek “The Uzbek Warrior” Nishanbaev (Arlington, Va.) and Kevin “The Scarecrow” Womack (Baltimore); and the Beltway brawl between Charles Johnson (Washington, D.C.) and Chester Stewart (Bowie), who is making his pro debut. Tickets begin at $80 and are available at livecasinohotel.com. The undercard is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., and the undercard and main event will be broadcast on CBS Sports at 9 p.m.