Elijah Pierce headlines an Overtime card on June 28 taking on Jose Sanmartin

Elijah Pierce is making a case to become a legit junior featherweight contender.

Pierce, rated at No. 9 by The Ring at 122 pounds, will square off against Jose Sanmartin on June 28 in an Overtime Boxing card that was officially announced Tuesday. The 10-round bout will headline a OTX8: The Hunt Continues card that will take place at the Overtime Elite (OTE) Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and will stream live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

Pierce was originally penciled to face Lorenzo Parra, but a deal was reportedly never finalized and unfortunately fell through.

In his last bout on March 29, Pierce (19-2, 16 knockouts) overcame a knockdown early in the fight to stop former world title challenger Kevin Villanueva. In his previous fight on August 4, Pierce knocked out former contender Mike Plania in the third round.

Both victories against Villanueva and Plania took place at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, where Pierce now lives and trains.

The 27-year-old southpaw has won his last 10 fights, eight by knockout, since losing a close majority decision to fringe featherweight Sulaiman Segawa in September 2019.

Pierce is originally from Midwest City, Oklahoma and has never lost as a junior featherweight.

Sanmartin (35–8-1, 21 KOs), who resides in Barranquilla, Colombia, last fought on February 5, defeating journeyman Mauricio Martinez by unanimous decision. In his previous fight on November 11, Sanmartin lost by split decision to unbeaten Shabaz Masoud in a fight many members of the media and boxing insiders thought Sanmartin did enough to win.

The 31-year-old has suffered recent defeats at the hands of Emanuel Navarrete, Kevin Gonzalez and Mauricio Lara.

In the co-feature, hard-hitting junior lightweight Maliek Montgomery of Las Vegas, Nevada, will face Ramiro Cesena in an eight-round bout.

Montgomery (17-0, 16 KOs) has not fought since stopping Kenin Betancourt in the third round on June 3 of last year. Two months prior to the victory over Betancourt, Montgomery knocked out Luis Rosa in the second round.

Both Pierce and Montgomery are managed by Trifon Petrov.

Cesena (17-2-1, 13 KOs) defeated Erick Encinia by unanimous decision in his last fight on March 16 in his hometown of Loreto, Mexico. In his previous fight on July 26, Cesena lost by unanimous decision to Orlando Gonzalez in a close fight that could have gone either way.

The 24-year-old suffered a knockout loss to Thomas Mattice on April 8 of last year. The end of the fight came in the final round, with Cesena up on all three judges’ scorecards.

Both Sanmartin and Cesena are promoted by Shane Shapiro.

Also on the card, super middleweight Lorenzo Simpson (14-1, 8 KOs) of Baltimore, Maryland will square off against El Paso’s Raiko Santana (10-4, 6 KOs) in a six-round bout.

Unbeaten featherweight Tiara Brown (16-0, 11 KOs) of Lehigh Acres, Florida will face Uruguay’s Gabriela Bouvier (19-12, 4 KOs) in an 10-round bout.

Donta Layne (2-0, 2 KOs) of Elmont, New York will square off against Montrel James (2-10) of Saint Louis, Missouri in a four-round bout.

Casey Dixon (4-0, 4 KOs) of Atlanta will face an opponent to be determined in a four-round light heavyweight bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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