Chris Colbert will have to wait one more week for his ring return.
The Ring has confirmed that the previously scheduled Oct. 9 ProBox TV show was pushed back one week due to the threat of incoming Hurricane Milton. Colbert is due to face Omar Salcido but their lightweight bout is now expected to take place on Oct. 16. The modified date requires the approval of the Florida State Boxing Commission, which is not expected to be an issue.
The show will still air live from ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida. Whatever ramifications come from this week’s anticipated hazardous storm should clear up in time for the modified date.
“Hurricane Milton is heading straight for Tampa and the west coast of Florida,” ProBox founder and CEO Garry Jonas noted in a statement provided to The Ring. “In abundance of caution, we have postponed our October 9 show.
“Pending the Florida Commission approval, we are pushing it to Wednesday, October 16.”
Colbert-Salcido was previously elevated to the Oct. 9 main event in place of the show’s original headliner. The date was originally reserved for the Nicholas Walters-Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz battle of former titlists. That fight will now take place in November, also from ProBox headquarters in Plant City.
Colbert (17-2, 6 knockouts) previously held the WBA junior lightweight title. The Brooklyn, New York native has lost two of his three past starts, however. He suffered a lopsided defeat to then-unbeaten Hector Luis Garcia in Feb. 2022 to end his title reign.
Thirteen months passed before Colbert returned to the ring. He moved up to lightweight, where he claimed a disputed 10-round unanimous decision over Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela last March 25 in Las Vegas. Valenzuela got it back in blood, as Colbert was savagely knocked out in the sixth round of their rematch last Dec. 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Valenzuela-Colbert II aired live on the last ever broadcast of Showtime Championship Boxing. Showtime bowed out of the sport soon thereafter. The night, for now, also serves as Colbert’s most recent ring appearance.
Salcido (19-1, 13 KOs) fights in the U.S. for the third straight time. The 24-year-old is originally from Mexico, which housed his first seventeen career bouts.
The U.S. debut for Salcido produced his lone career defeat. It came on a ProBox show, as he was outpointed by Jose Nuñez (17-0-2, 7 KOs) in their battle of unbeaten prospects last Oct. 4 in Plant City, Florida.
Salcido rebounded with an eight-round win over Luis Coria last Dec. 1 in Houston, Texas.
The rest of the undercard will also move with Colbert-Salcido. Unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Tsendbaatar Erdenebat (10-0, 5 KOs) faces Frency Fortunato (15-1, 9 KOs) in the co-feature. Also on the card, series regular Najee Lopez (11-0, 8 KOs) meets Anthony Hernandez (7-3-1, 5 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round light heavyweight contest.
Tbe National Hurricane Center has already upgraded Milton from a tropical storm. It is now expected to touch land as “an intense hurricane with multiple life-threatening hazards” by midweek. The greater Tampa area is expected to get hit with major damage as the region continues recover from the ramifications of Hurricane Helene.
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