Murfreesboro hasn’t been known as a hotbed of professional boxing lately, but Murfreesboro firefighter Matt Young says the market and demand is here to support some bouts.

Young, a promoter who operates Tri-Star Boxing, has presented a half-dozen Nashville events in recent years, including successful fight nights at the Nashville Fairgrounds, and most recently at Limelight.

On Saturday, Dec. 8, Tri-Star will bring a six-fight card to Murfreesboro’s Mid-TN Expo Center on Middle Tennessee Boulevard.

“This is the first time in 25 years there’s been professional boxing in Murfreesboro,” Young said in anticipation of the event.

The evening’s main event will pit the 21-1 Sena “African Assassin” Agbeko against the 36-year-old boxing veteran and former WBO North American middleweight champion Bryan Vera.

Agbeko, originally out of Ghana, is now a Nashville-based fighter.

“Sena told us adamantly that he wants to step up the competition and Bryan Vera is the kind of opponent he was looking for. We’re expecting to see the best Sena Agbeko to date but he’s still in for a tough fight,” Young said.

Murfreesboro heavyweight Rydell Mayes earned a knockout victory in his first professional match back in July at the Limelight event, and he will return to action on Dec. 8.

“This is going to be the biggest fight for a local boxer in quite some time,” Young said.

Mayes is a 2007 graduate of Riverdale High School, where he played football and ran track, and he won his July 28 debut by second-round knockout.

Young said he expects Hendersonville-based Austin Dulet to bring a crowd of supporters to the Dec. 8 Beatdown in the ’Boro event.

The lightweight has achieved an 11–1 record with eight of those victories by KO.

Eduardo Aguilar out of La Vergne fought to a draw with Illinois-based Carl Currie in July. The two will face off in a rematch on Dec. 8.

Aguilar grew up in Phoenix and got in trouble for fighting on numerous occasions—“mostly defending my friends,” he says—but after relocating to Tennessee, he connected with boxing trainer Mike Rodgers, who runs the A Team boxing program for youth in La Vergne.

“He showed me how to carry myself with respect through boxing, showing me discipline, and the reward of winning,” Aguilar said.

As an amateur, Aguilar has won state, regional and national championships, participating in more than 130 amateur fights. “Chachi” Aguilar has since posted a 4–0 record as a pro fighting under Tri-Star Boxing Promotions.

Young said he has never boxed personally, but developed an interest in the sport observing the boxing career of his former Riverdale football teammate Adam Richards.

“I traveled the world with him; that’s how I got into boxing,” Young said.

He formed Tri-Star Boxing to entertain Middle Tennessee sports fans with professional boxing, and to give opportunities to aspiring boxers in the area, and after the success of Tri-Star’s Nashville cards, Young said it is time to bring an event, show No. 7 for Tri Star, to Rutherford County.

Most of the fights on the Tri-Star card are scheduled for four rounds, and the Tennessee Athletic Commission sanctions all of the Tri-Star events. The fights must follow all regulations of the TAC and federal laws.

DJ Cliffy D will serve as DJ for the Dec. 8 event, and Tony Lehew, one of Young’s fellow members of the Murfreesboro Fire Rescue Department, will serve as ring announcer.

The event is all ages, and Young said he has been impressed with how diverse the crowds have been at his Nashville events. Tri-Star continues to create a buzz and grow organically while building a community of Middle Tennessee boxing fans.

Young wants to ultimately help a promising Tennessee fighter launch a career that will eventually take him to a world championship belt.

Find tickets to the Dec. 8 Beatdown in the ’Boro at tristarboxing.com/tickets. MidTN Expo Center is located at 1660 Middle Tennessee Blvd.

Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible spring event in Murfreesboro from Tri-Star Boxing as well.