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Khiary Gray looks to turn back the clock on Saturday when he challenges Francis "Frank the Tank" Hogan for his WBC US Silver Middleweight Championship at The Premier Theater in Foxwoods. 
 
MASHANTUCKET, CT – Khiary "King TooSharp" Gray (19-7, 14 KOs) promises to turn back the clock on Saturday, February 22, when he challenges Francis "Frank the Tank" Hogan (18-0, 16 KOs) in an all Massachusetts battle for the WBC US Silver Middleweight Championship.

The bout is the main event on CES Boxing’s "Winter Brawl 2025," a stacked card taking place at The Premier Theater inside Foxwoods Resort Casino and streamed live on SwerveCombat TV.

‘Winter Brawl 2025’ tickets, priced beginning at $82, are going fast.  Purchase yours now at CES Fights or TicketMaster.  Doors open at 5pm, with the first bout scheduled for 6pm.

For Gray, the fight is more than just another matchup—it's a return to a better time in his life.

"Training camp is going well," said the 32-year-old at a recent press conference.  "I feel like I’m back to when I first started my career." 

When Gray turned pro in 2014, he built an impressive record of 13-0 with 9 KOs.  Khiary was the talk of the town until a loss to Ian Green in 2016 seemed to derail his career.

The fighter has since struggled both in and out of the ring, suffering setbacks and spending time in prison. Having endured these hardships, the Worcester native rededicated himself to boxing alongside his long-time trainer Kendrick Ball, Sr. at Camp Get Right.

"I stayed in shape while I was in jail just so that I can come out and win the green belt," says Gray of his desire to win the prestigious WBC belt.  "I’ve been in training since November, so while this training camp has been a slow burn, it was what I really needed.  I feel like I’m back to when I first started my career."
    
Whereas Waymouth's Hogan enters the ring with the confidence of an undefeated record, Gray believes his battles—both inside and outside the ring—have forged him into a different caliber of fighter.

"He’s good, no disrespect to him," admits Gray, who normally fights at 154 but moved to middleweight for the opportunity.  "He’s a southpaw with a long reach.  This is a dangerous fight, but I fought lefties and I’m undefeated against them. I’ve fought guys taller than me, and I fought at 160 before." 

When considering the keys to victory on fight night, ‘King TooSharp’ points to their difference in experience and overcoming adversity.

"I’ve been in there with the top guys," says Gray, who has shared the ring with the likes of jr. middleweight contender Charles Conwell and current IBF world champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.  I’ve been in with 'A' caliber fighters, so I know what it takes.  When you look at his record, he should have gotten his last 3 opponents out of there sooner or he shouldn’t have taken those fights.  He should have fought guys with more experience."

Aside from their differences in the ring, this fight seems a bit more personal for Gray.  The veteran has taken exception to Hogan’s metaphor that he’ll be like a tornado ripping through Gray’s trailer park on fight night.

"I feel like it was kind of disrespectful about where I’m from," confesses Gray.  "I’ve been in the slums.  I’ve been locked up in prison.  He hasn't been through what I've been through."

The comment has sparked the fire in Gray that once made him one of the most exciting and promising prospects in boxing.

"This Saturday, you can expect the old Khiary Gray from when I started my career at 13-0," says Gray. "I’m outboxing him, knocking him out, and taking that title back to Worcester."   

For more information on Winter Brawl 2025 and all other CES Boxing events, visit cesfights.com.
 
INFORMATION


About CES Boxing

CES Boxing is one of the top promotions on the East Coast.  Founded in 1992 by Jimmy Burchfield Sr., CES Boxing has promoted many world class fighters, including Jamaine Ortiz, Juiseppe Cusumano, Hank Lundy, Vinny Paz, Peter Manfredo, Mariusz Wach, Jason Estrada, Matt Godfrey, Chad Dawson and Ray Oliveira. CES Boxing has promoted such super fights as "The Thriller on Triller: Tyson v Jones Jr.", "Mayweather vs. Gotti III" and "The Contender: Manfredo v Pemberton".

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Mexico Presidents press release

We categorically reject the White House's slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory.

If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the United States armories that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups, as demonstrated by the United States Department of Justice itself in January of this year.In four months, our government has seized more than 40 tons of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl. It has also arrested more than ten thousand people linked to these groups.

If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious consumption of fentanyl in their country, they could, for example, combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they do not do, and the money laundering generated by this illegal activity that has done so much harm to their population.

They could also start a massive campaign to prevent the consumption of these drugs and take care of their young people, as we have done in Mexico. Drug consumption and distribution is in their country and that is a public health problem that they have not addressed.

In addition, the synthetic opioid epidemic in the United States has its origin in the indiscriminate prescription of drugs of this type, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as demonstrated by the lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company.Mexico does not want confrontation.

We start from collaboration between neighboring countries. Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but anywhere. Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is not negotiable.

Coordination, yes; subordination, no. To this end, I propose to President Trump that we establish a working group with our best public health and security teams.Problems are not resolved by imposing tariffs, but by talking and dialoguing, as we did in recent weeks with your State Department to address the phenomenon of migration; in our case, with respect for human rights.

The graph that President Trump has been posting on social media about the decline in migration was created by my team, which has been in constant communication with his.I instruct the Secretary of Economy to implement Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico's interests.Nothing by force; everything by reason and right."

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