Undefeated Cuban Olympian Dainier Pero will take on Michigan’s Walter Burns in a 10-round heavyweight bout at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, on December 13, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced Thursday.
Pero-Burns will join the card of Most Valuable Prospects 10, featuring a previously announced main event between bantamweight contenders Antonio Vargas, 18-1 (10 KOs), and Winston Guerrero, 22-0 (13 KOs), for an interim world title belt.
The co-main event, also previously announced, will see the return of 18-year-old Javon “Wanna” Walton, 1-0-1 (1 KO), against Erik Hanley, 1-1 (1 KO) in a four-round super featherweight contest.
Pero, 9-0 (7 KOs), is on a five-fight stoppage streak and will be making his fourth appearance on the Most Valuable Prospects series. His fight with Burns, 8-2 (6 KOs), will be for a vacant secondary heavyweight title.
Pero will not be the only Olympian on the card. Making her professional debut will be Tammara Thibeault, from Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, who fought in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympic Games and also took gold at the 2022 World Championships and Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Pan-Am Games.
Thibeault's first appearance in the paid ranks will be over six middleweight rounds against Natasha “The Nightmare” Spence, 8-6 (6 KOs).
“Most Valuable Prospects 10 rounds out an immensely impactful year from MVP, in which we’ve provided a stage to both today’s biggest stars and tomorrow’s upcoming champions,” said Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul, co-founders of MVP. “It could not be more fitting that MVP’s final event of 2024 returns to our mission to provide a platform for young and female prospects in this sport.
"We are especially excited to feature the professional debut of a standout amateur talent and two-time Olympian in Tammara Thibeault against Natasha Spence in a battle for Canadian dominance, and we are proud to welcome back Dainier Pero for another heavyweight thriller against Walter Burns. This will be a night of nonstop action featuring the long-awaited return of MVP’s Wanna Walton, an incredible interim world title fight in Vargas vs. Guerrero, and sensational local and international talent from top to bottom on this card.”