Top Rank to stage six boxing events in June
Boxing hard-heads in the United States have become increasingly edgy over not having the ability to watch live-action due to COVID-19. Well, they can now rejoice as the sport is officially back.
On May 30, Top Rank boss Bob Arum announced that his company plans to stage six events starting June 9. Each card will be aired on various ESPN platforms.
As Arum explained during an interview with ESPN, all things are a go and special procedures will be in place to abide by the guidelines of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“This is a sensible way to push ahead. Hopefully, the fights will be good. I know they will be, but you’ve got to make sure all the procedures are safe and so forth.
Hopefully, what we’re doing will serve as a template for other promoters to put on shows. Hopefully, we will have demonstrated to the authorities, based on these Nevada protocols, that they work.”
THE BREAKDOWN
The format of Arum is interesting, to say the least, with a lot of fights packed in a short period. He plans to stage two fights a week, mainly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for two weeks. Here’s a breakdown of each upcoming card:
June 9
- Shakur Stevenson (13-0, 7 KOs) vs Felix Caraballo (13-1-2, 9 KOs)
- Mikaela Mayer (12-0, 5 KOs) vs Helen Joseph (17-4-2, 10 KOs)
June 11
- Jessie Magdaleno (27-1, 18 KOs) vs Yenifel Vicente (36-4-2, 28 KOs)
- Adam Lopez (13-2, 6 KOs) vs Luis Coria (12-2, 7 KOs)
June 16
- Joshua Greer Jr. (22-1-1, 12 KOs) vs Mike Plania (23-1, 12 KOs)
- Giovanni Santillan (25-0, 15 KOs) vs Antonio DeMarco (33-8-1, 24 KOs)
June 18
- Jose Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) vs Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KOs)
- Gabe Flores Jr. (17-0, 6 KOs) vs Josec Ruiz (21-2-3, 14 KOs)
June 20
- Emanuel Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) vs Uriel Lopez (13-13-1, 6 KOs)
June 23
- Andrew Moloney (21-0, 14 KOs) vs Joshua Franco (16-1-2, 8 KOs)
- Christopher Diaz (25-2, 16 KOs) and Jason Sanchez (15-1, 8 KOs)
The Navarrete – Lopez bout on June 20 will happen on TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City. The remainder of the fights will take place at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
The series of events, of course, will feature fighters from Arum’s Top Rank stable, including the likes of WBO world Featherweight Shakur Stevenson. Stevenson will make the first defense of the title against Caraballo. Also to fight will be Joshua Greer Jr, who is currently ranked #1 by the WBO and #2 by the IBF at 118lbs and WBO world Junior Featherweight champion Navarrete, who will face Lopez in a non-title bout.
For fans of the sweet science, it will not matter much the caliber of the fights or the quality of the participants. They are just ecstatic the sport is returning soon and they finally get to scratch their boxing itch.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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