Angel Camacho Jr. (15-0, 5 KOs), a Providence native who currently resides in Warwick, faces off against “The Pride of Providence” Peter Manfredo Jr. (40-7, 21 KOs) at Twin River Casino on Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m. The fight is in the super middleweight division and it’s being promoted by Classic Entertainment & Sports. Both fighters are 7-0 at Twin River.

“I can’t believe this,” Camacho said. “I’m getting the opportunity to fight somebody who I’ve looked up to since I was a young buck before I started fighting in amateurs. I get to fight Peter Manfredo, the star of The Contender. My hometown hero. Thank you so much. Absolutely, I’ll fight him.”

The fight will take place at 169 pounds.

“That’s the weight I feel most comfortable at,” Camacho said. “My fastest, my strongest.”

Coincidentally, both fighters’ beat Rhode Island light heavyweight Rich Gingras with eighth-round knockouts in the last fight. Manfredo beat him two and a half years ago and when Camacho beat him in September of 2015, he gained both the then vacant UBF International Light Heavyweight title and the New England light heavyweight title.

Manfredo is coming off a two and a half year layoff. Camacho, too, suffered setbacks when he endured two separate three-year layoffs, fighting just once in a six-year stretch between 2008 and 2014. However, he has won three in a row since his return in November of 2014.

Jeremy Mitchell manages the undefeated Camacho. Other members of Camacho’s team include Mitchell’s brother, Jason, and trainers Jerry and Jamie Maccarone. Steve Maze is the trainer for Manfredo.

Camacho says that fighting is in his blood. Both his father and grandfather were fighters. Camacho isn’t sure if his grandfather had any legitimate amateur fights, but he knows that he loved to fight.  

“He was more of a tough guy, bar room brawler,” Camacho said. According to the champ, his grandfather was an alcoholic and he would drink a lot of alcohol and walk into the toughest bar in the south side of Providence and ask the patrons who wanted to fight.

“He’d get it on,” Camacho said. “That’s something that he loved to do. He loved to street fight.”

Camacho’s father was a successful amateur fighter. He came from Puerto Rico and had won international Golden Gloves in Ontario, Canada, where he also won fight of the night and fighter of the night.

President and CEO of CES Jimmy Burchfield explained that Manfredo reached out to him, telling Burchfield that he wanted to fight again. That’s when Burchfield asked Manfredo if he was willing to fight the champion, Camacho.

“I’ve fought the top of the top, the best of the best,” Manfredo said. “I’ve never ducked anybody. Why go around, I want to go right through. I feel like I can still compete on this level. I’ve competed on higher levels than this. So, May 13 will tell the tale. I feel good. He’s never fought anybody like me. So, it’s gonna be a good night on May 13, that’s for sure.”

Camacho’s camp certainly didn’t back down either.

“We were open to fight anybody,” Camacho said. “I’ve got a great trainer, I’ve got a great camp, so I’m confident in my boxing ability and the people around me who teach me what I’m supposed to be learning. The opportunity was given to us and I didn’t think twice about taking it.”

Camacho feels very confident that he can prepare himself for any opponent.

“Nothing about anybody’s style will worry me, because I know that I will get in the best condition that I possibly can be in and I will perform the best that I can possibly perform, so nobody’s style or condition will be anything that would make me nervous or a threat to me,” Camacho said.

Camacho is currently ranked 14 in the U.S. and 72 in the world.

Camacho’s first fight back after his second major layoff came against light heavyweight Paul Gonsalves from Hyannis, Massachusetts. The fight was a six-round bout in the super middleweight division. It had been Camacho’s first fight back since 2011. Camacho won in a unanimous decision.

“I had some ring rust,” Camacho said. “I had some injuries during that camp. They didn’t let me train the way I wanted to. I was with a whole other training camp and it was just weird all around. It didn’t feel like home at all.”

The reason Camacho came back after his layoff was because he got an itch while training his wife Tanya’s cousin, Joe Caparrelli.

“I was training him and I was done, retired and I was working a full-time job,” Camacho said. “I was eating whatever I wanted and obviously I wasn’t training. But then, I started helping him out, teaching him how to throw punches and stuff and I started moving around and feeling good and I still had my speed and still had power and I got hungry to come back.”

Camacho has been boxing since he was 12 years old and Manfredo has since the age of 5.

Manfredo says he has the experience to beat Camacho.

“He feels the same that he should come in here and beat me, but that’s how he’s supposed to feel,” Manfredo said. “He’s a fighter. He’s undefeated. He’s never lost yet. But, I feel that I’ve competed on a higher level. I feel that I’m better than him, and on May 13, it’ll all come out on paper and it’ll show it.”

“You can expect a great fight between two great fighters,” Camacho said. “One fighter who’s proven and one fighter who’s looking to get some recognition in the game of boxing.”

Camacho said he was happy when Manfredo hung up his gloves because they fought in the same weight division and he would rather not fight someone that he looked up to. However, he is still grateful to have this opportunity.

“It’s almost like a rite of passage if I can beat Peter Manfredo,” Camacho said. “And now it’s inevitable. Now that he’s back, I have to fight him.”

“Once that final bell rings we can go back to being friends,” Camacho added. “But once the bell rings for the beginning of the round of round No. 1, then it’s game on.”

Manfredo says that Camacho has yet to face a fighter of his level.

“I just feel that I’m a better fighter than him,” Manfredo said. “He hasn’t been in there with a guy like me… he doesn’t have the experience that I have and he hasn’t fought a guy of my kind of caliber and that alone will expose him.”

“I feel good,” Manfredo added. “I’ve had a long layoff, but I feel like I haven’t had a layoff. This is my trade. This is how I make money for the family. If we need a little extra money and daddy’s gotta fight again, then daddy’s gotta fight again. Whatever I gotta do.”

Manfredo won’t get ahead of himself, though. The former IBO middleweight champion won’t make a decision on his boxing career until this bout is over.

“I take it a fight at a time,” Manfredo said. “I take it a day at a time in life. I wake up tomorrow morning, I put two feet on the ground and say thank you God for another day. I don’t live for the future, I live for the moment. As of right now, Angel Camacho is on my plate and I gotta devour him up and then we’ll worry about the next day and the next day.”

Camacho says he doesn’t focus too much on footage from his opponent’s previous fights.

“I’m going to exploit every weakness that he shows to me that night,” Camacho said. “I know a little bit about his fighting style, but I don’t know what kind of fight he’s going to fight on May 13. I will handle that accordingly on the spot. I will improvise, I will adapt and I will overcome.”

Neither of Camacho’s belts will be on the line in this fight because he won both of them while fighting in the light heavyweight division and this fight will be in the super middleweight division.

Tickets to the event are $45, $65 and $100 and are available at CESBoxing.com or by phone at (401) 724-2253/2254.