OLIVEIRA’S ABF TITLE ON THE LINE AGAINST SANDS THIS FRIDAY

Professional boxing returns to the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN this Friday night with an 8 round main event showdown scheduled between former Minnesota cruiserweight champion Al Sands and Wisconsin’s Marcus Oliveira. The two will meet for Oliveira’s ABF USA cruiserweight title.

The reigning champion Marcus Oliveira (28-6-1, 22 KO’s) defeated Dennis Morris (14-2) to win the belt in September of 2021. Sands himself held the NABA cruiserweight belt and each fighter is confident that they will continue winning in Hinckley this Friday.

“It feels really great to get busy again after a two year layoff” said Sands. “I am looking forward to this challenge. I want to thank the Grand Casino Hinckley and the fans for all the support”.

– Al Sands

“A lot of Minnesota boxing fans have seen Al fight and know he’s somewhat of a counter puncher” said Oliveira. “I’m a slick, come forward, aggressive fighter that applies a lot of pressure. I’m not easy to hit and the fans should get fireworks with this fight.”

– Marcus Oliveira

Both Sands and Oliveira have big wins at the Grand Casino with arguably the biggest for each coming against Minneapolis’ Phil “The Drill” Williams. Oliveira, who resides in Kansas and was born in Wisconsin battled Williams back in 2008 in one of the more memorable slug-fest type fights in recent Minnesota memory. Oliveira visited the canvas twice while dropping Williams a number of times as well. The difference in that fight was conditioning as Oliveira outlasted Williams, winning by TKO in round 7 of 8. Oliveira also holds notable wins over Cornelius White (22-4) and Otis Griffin (19-5-2) in Hinckley, MN. The big puncher has fought a total of 5 times in Minnesota throughout his career.

Sands got revenge over Williams back in January of 2020 as he boxed a near perfect 8 rounds and mostly avoided the power shots from his hard-hitting opponent. Sands had previously lost the title to Williams by KO in 2015 so the victory was very meaningful to the Duluth native. Sands originally won the state title by defeating Lucas St. Clair in 2013 with a follow up defense against Harley Kilfian two years later.

Expect fireworks in Friday nights cruiserweight main event!