GUILDERLAND — Mike Faragon is coming home to fight.

The Guilderland High School graduate will be in his third professional fight this Friday as part of the “Armageddon at the Armory” card at the Washington Avenue Armory.

It was a homecoming he was not expecting a year ago.

“It’s always great to fight in front of my hometown,” Faragon said. “I fought some here in amateurs. Pro-wise, it’s a different game.”

Liz Mooney of Feura Bush will fight for the Women’s New York State Welterweight title against Mariam Brackache of Georgia. Chris Horne, a native of Berne, will also be on the card.

Faragon, who will turn 21 in July, will fight Khadafi Proctor of California on Friday night in a lightweight (135-pound weight class) bout.

The night of boxing is being put on by Sweeney’s Boxing in Delmar.

Two wins against tough dudes

Faragon won his first two professional fights, both by decision. His first fight was at the famed Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.

“It was a tough fight,” Faragon said. “It’s hard in the first couple of fights. You have to get the right fights. They were a couple of tough dudes. I did what I had to do to come out with wins. I have to continue to progress.”

Faragon said that he was nervous in his first two fights.

“I was pretty nervous,” he said. “That probably contributed to why I didn’t fight the way I can.”

He did not think about fighting in the hallowed Garden.

“At the end of the day, it’s a ring,” he said. “I tried not to think about it. It’s a good thing to look back on. But, in the moment, I tried not to think about it as much.”

Faragon’s second fight was just outside of Chicago where he won another decision.

“That fight, I should’ve stopped him,” Faragon said of trying to get a knockout. “I had a good start. I was hitting him and hurting him. I was looking for the knockout. Me and my dad are working on having me stay in the pocket and wearing them out.”

Golden boy

Last year, Faragon was still fighting as an amateur and had different goals.

Faragon competed in the Olympic Trial box-offs in Colorado.

“If I had won one more fight, I’m in the Olympic trials,” Faragon said. “It was one of the stepping stones I wanted to accomplish. It’s bittersweet.”

Faragon would get a big break.

He got a call from renowned boxing manager Shelly Finkel. Finkel signed Faragon and has him listed on his website as a prospect. Finkel manages heavyweight fighters Vitali and Wladamir Klitschko among others.

The deal with Finkel came with another attraction. Faragon signed with Golden Boy Promotions, the boxing promotion company run by champion boxer Oscar De La Hoya. Golden Boy promotes most of the best fighters in the world.

Faragon recently returned from California to watch De La Hoya win his latest fight.

“My dad did a lot to try and get me signed,” Faragon said. “He sent him [Finkel] a tape and booklet. He sent a DVD of me fighting and that basically sealed the deal. And signing with Shelly, he said, ‘You sign with me, your promoter is going to be Golden Boy.’”

Faragon is thankful for the opportunity, but does not get caught up in the big names.

“I try not to be star-struck,” Faragon said. “This is where I expected to be. This is what I worked for. I want to be in Oscar’s position one day.”

Faragon believes that his hard work as an amateur has prepared him for success in the pro ranks.

“I think any pro fighter that is successful today, were good amateurs,” said Faragon, who fought at 141 pounds as an amateur. “That is where it starts. It’s very important.

“I think I’m strong in that weight,” Faragon said about his new weight class. “It’s a division we can see me doing well in. I’m a strong fighter, so other fighters try and box with me.”

Looking for knockouts

Faragon admits that he does not know a lot about his upcoming opponent, but he is not worried about that.

“I don’t want too much information about him,” Faragon said.

All the recent success has just made Faragon work harder on his boxing. He has been working on his punches.

“Me and my dad have been working on throwing strong punches,” Faragon said. “We want to throw ’em with bad intentions. We have also worked a lot on combinations. We’ll continue to look for knockouts.”

After Friday’s fight, Faragon will continue to work on his game to prepare for a fight on July 25 in Saratoga.

“It’s my first six-round fight,” Faragon said. “ESPN will be there. Maybe I’ll get on TV.”

Faragon trains in his own gym in Schenectady and sometimes works out at Sweeney’s Gym in Delmar or Andrew Schott’s Boxing Gym on Central Avenue.

“I’ll go anywhere I can get in some good sparring,” Faragon said.

“My gym in Schenectady is sponsored by John Roth,” Faragon added. “I’m thankful that he gave us a gym for free and supported me. He’s supported me since I was 16. He’s part of the reason that I’m successful today.”

“Moving and growing”

Faragon’s immediate goals are continuing to improve each day in the gym and getting better in each match he fights. Moving up to longer matches will help.

“Going to more rounds as we go along goes into the rankings,” Faragon said. “I want to get my rank built up to fight for a small title. I want to be part of a main event of an ESPN fight then progress to bigger titles. I’m still moving and growing.”

His long-term goals are even more ambitious.

“I want to win multiple titles in multiple weight classes,” Faragon said. “That would be nice.”

Faragon sees the local fights coming up as doing a wonderful job of promoting the sport in the area.

“So far, I guess, local boxers have been pretty successful,” he said. “But this is not even the beginning of what I’m planning on doing. Hopefully, one day I’ll have a title fight in the Times Union Center. I want to help bring boxing back to the Capital District.”