A new beginning awaits Ra’eese Aleem.

The longtime junior featherweight contender will move up in weight and on a new platform. Aleem is set to face Derlyn Hernandez-Gerarldo this Friday at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Their scheduled ten-round featherweight bout will be part of an ESPN+ preliminary undercard stream, Carl Moretti, Top Rank’s Vice President of Boxing Operations, confirmed to The Ring.

“This is a showcase fight for him that will stream live on ESPN+ on the undercard of the Davis-Lemos fight,” Moretti told The Ring. “We will take a look at him and go from there.”

The main event of the Top Rank card will be a lightweight clash between Keyshawn Davis and Gustavo Lemos (ESPN+, 6:20 p.m. ET/ 3:20 p.m. PT).

The 34-year-old Aleem is eager to get back into the ring and make a name for himself.

“A win (Friday night) would mean absolutely everything to me after being off for a year and a half,” Aleem told The Ring Monday morning. “This is a must win (for me). And 126 pounds is the new division (I will be fighting in).

Aleem (20-1, 12 knockouts), who now lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada, has not fought since losing by split decision to Sam Goodman on June 18 of last year. The Goodman-Aleem fight was a clash of junior featherweights rated in the top 10 by The Ring.

In his previous fight in September 2022, Aleem defeated once-beaten contender Mike Plania by unanimous decision. Aleem also has victories over Eduardo Baez, Vic Pasillas, and Marcus Bates. All three opponents had a combined record of 47-2-3, prior to facing Aleem.

Aleem fought under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) for several months, also fighting on Showtime and FOX programming.

Friday is essentially an audition.

“I am still a promotional free agent. I’m not signed with anybody.”

Hernandez-Gerarldo (12-2-1, 10 KOs) stopped by former world title challenger Christopher Diaz in the second round of his last bout on July 13. The 31-year-old Dominican­—based in San Juan, Puerto Rico—had won his previous five bouts since a knockout loss to Miguel Vasquez in August 2021.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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