Barnett Battles Veteran Rivera May 31 In DC!

The Saturday, May 31 Top Flight Promotions card at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center is starting to come together.

Top Flight Promotions's head man -- DC lightweight Ty Barnett -- will take on former world title contender Cosme "Chino" Rivera of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico in the 10-round main event.

Barnett (22-3-1, 14 KO's) comes off a 10-round unanimous decision win over Carlos Winston Velasquez on October 26 at the Convention Center.  Rivera (36-18-3, 24 KO's) broke a four-bout losing streak with an eight-round unanimous decision win over Ricardo Martinez on February 28 in Queretaro, Mexico.

Rivera's career started in 1993 and he challenged Zab Judah for the WBC and IBF Junior Welterweight titles in 2005, losing by third-round TKO.  Rivera has also fought the likes of Felix Flores, Joel Julio, Andre Berto and Alfredo Angulo during his career.

In other bouts on the card, undefeated Landover, MD junior middleweight "The Cuban Assassin" Larry Recio will take on Coy Lanbert of Summerville, SC in a four-round encounter.  Recio (5-0, four KO's) will go for his fifth straight knockout victory.  Recio stopped Jose Felix in the first round on April 12 in Baltimore, MD.  Lanbert (2-11, one KO) will try to break a four-bout losing streak and makes his third trip to the Beltway region.  In previous bouts, Lanbert was stopped by Jarrett Hurd and DeAndre Davis.

Manassas, VA junior middleweight Robert Sweeney faces off with DC's Issa Coulibaly in a four-round bout.  Sweeney (2-0), originally from Sicklerville, NJ, fights in the Beltway area for the first time while Coulibaly (1-5) will try to bounce back from a third-round knockout loss to Hurd on August 10 at the Convention Center.

Also returning to action will be DC heavyweight Scott "Duke" Buchanan as he faces Dennis Benson of Norfolk, VA in a four-round contest.  The undefeated Buchanan (4-0, three KO's) has not fought since November of 2007 when he won a majority decision over Mike Miller in Glen Burnie, MD.  Benson (1-6, one KO, one NC) was in a no contest with Dwayne McRae on May 11 of 2013 in Millersville, MD.

Brooklyn, NY junior middleweight Renan Ruiz (3-1, two KO's) will be in a four-round bout against Anthony Royal (0-1-1) of Hampton, VA.  Also slated to be on the card will be locals Antonio "Teflon" Magruder (3-0, two KO's),  Chris "The Dentist" Alexander (4-1, four KO's) and "The Lion of Sri Lanka" Nuwan Jayakody (2-4-1, two KO's).