Dearborn boxer Brian “The Lion” Mihtar is preparing for what could be the toughest fight of his career as the Yemeni American will fight Ronald “The Chosen One” Hearns, son of Detroit boxing legend Thomas Hearns, on October 9 at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor Casino in Canada.

Dearborn boxer Brian “The Lion” Mihtar

The event, dubbed “Chaos at The Colosseum,” will pit two promising up-and-coming middleweight fighters with just two losses combined against each other. The 31-year-old Hearns is 25-1 with 19 knockouts while the 30-year-old Mihtar is 13-1 with 10 knockouts. The 10-round fight will be at a catch-weight of 157 pounds according to Mihtar, who is excited to face his first big-name opponent.

“I hope my fans and the Arab American and Yemeni communities will come out and support me as I start this new chapter in my boxing career,” Mihtar said. “From now there will be no more no-name fights, it’ll be all big names.”

 Mihtar, who has sparred with world champions in the past and currently holds the North American Boxing Council Middleweight Title, said he has sparred with the Southfield native Hearns before and has respect for him, but once the opening bell sounds, it will be all about business in the ring.

“His father was a long-time idol of mine and Ronald is a good person but it motivates me even more (to beat him) now that I have the opportunity to fight him,” he said.

Mihtar has 12 less fights under his belt but believes that he has had more worthwhile experiences in the ring based on competition and doesn’t believe it will be much of a factor. He’s worked hard on transitioning from a pure power puncher to more of a technical boxer and believes he has the versatility  to take out Hearns in one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year in Michigan.

Training camp has begun immediately for Mihtar and he has already changed his schedule around while fasting during Ramadan, training primarily at night.

Recently at one of his first training camp sessions in preparation for Hearns at a gym in Waterford, Mihtar was training late when the lights went off, as the other fighters had gone home.

Mihtar said he remained focused on the task at hand and kept training in the dark.

“We just kept going straight through, that’s our mindset, that nothing is going to hold us back,” Mihtar said.

Mihtar and his brother Ray, Brian’s former trainer, both hope to see plenty of Mihtar’s fans in October for the fight.

“The Arab American community needs to come out and represent and be felt,” Ray Mihtar said. “This is about pride and honor and this is one of Dearborn’s own.”

The fight will be held on October 9 with the undercard action beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. The Colosseum is located at 377 Riverside Drive East in Windsor, Canada across the Detroit River from the city of Detroit. For ticket information, call 1.800.991.7777.