Top Rank and ESPN has a very intriguing bout for the WBO junior welterweight title as hometown hero Alex Saucedo challenges for the title of Maurice Hooker of Dallas.
Hooker upset Terry Flanagan in England to win the title vacated by Terence Crawford and will be attempting to make his initial defense a successful one.
Saucedo is coming off an absolute battle against Lenny Zappavigna winning on cuts in round seven on ESPN to secure his spot as the mandatory contender.
Top Rank (Saucedo's promoter) won a tight purse bid to hold the fight in Oklahoma City and place it on ESPN over Hooker's promoter (Eddie Hearn and Matchroom), who had they won the bid would have placed it on DAZN to broadcast and would have placed the bout in Dallas
Hooker was an underdog against Flanagan and he'll be the underdog against a hostile crowd in Oklahoma City, but he's a very live underdog with boxing skills that could carry the day against the aggressive and heavy hitting Saucedo.
A win by Hooker will set him up to perhaps face the eventual winner of the 140 pound World Boxing Super Series, which has two of the current champions in it in WBA's Kiryl Relikh and IBF's Ivan Baranchyk as well as the tournament favorite in Regis Prograis.
A win by Saucedo could see him right back in the spring as Top Rank has announced that they are likely to match Saucedo against WBC champion Jose Ramirez (also promoted by Top Rank) in what not only would unify two titles but would match two exciting to watch and undefeated champions, so there is plenty on the line when the clock strikes midnight (or 11 PM locally) in Oklahoma City Frida night!
I've heard that ESPN is only televising Hooker-Saucedo with the undercard on ESPN+ and the main fight on the supporting card is not only part of the challenge, but an important fight in its own right as two undefeated welterweights face off for the right to be fed (err become the mandatory) to WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford with Egid Kavaliauskas battling Roberto Arriaza.
Egid Kavaliauskas is from the Egis Klimas stable that manages Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk and has a sizable amateur resume, while I don't know very much about Arriaza at all, so this will be interesting to see which fighter will be next to challenge Terence Crawford.
DAZN has the other challenge fights on Saturday night from the boxing hotbed of Mulvane, Kansas as Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller will fight Bogdan Dinu for a minor title that was stripped from Manuel Charr for failing a drug test.
The title means little to most, but Miller is trying to stay busy and one can never take issue with that, especially with a fighter that tends to balloon quickly in weight when he is out of the ring.
I've never seen Dinu, but as respected as source as Showtime's Al Bernstein was quoted as saying that if Miller comes into this fight out of shape or underprepared, Dinu could pull a major upset.
I'll often think of such things as hyperbole from someone announcing the fight, but Bernstein has nothing to do with the contest and that lends major credibility to the chances of Dinu.
The main reason this card is in Kansas is the continuing comeback of perennial Zabbie contender Brandon Rios, who was last seen being dispatched by the naturally larger Danny Garcia.
Rios is being matched well this time against the journeyman younger brother of Canelo Alvarez-Ramon Alvarez.
If Rios cannot win this one, I think Rios should consider leaving the game because if he cannot beat fighters of Alvarez's level, it is time to go.
The final fight has the always entertaining and always bleeding Gabe Rosado meeting Luis Arias in a middleweight battle.
Arias was last seen in a timid effort (after a large amount of pre-fight bluster) against Daniel Jacobs on HBO, but he has the boxing skills to win a decision over the often crude Rosado.
The questions are these- Does Arias have the heart to hang for the entire fight against the constant marching forward and brave Rosado and win on the cards?
Can Rosado manage to keep his skin together long enough not to have the fight stopped just as he begins to make his traditional late-round charge?
This one could be on either end of the spectrum from entertaining to tedious.
WBO Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds
Maurice Hooker vs Alex Saucedo
Both: Saucedo Unanimous Decision
Welterweights. 12 Rds
Egid Kavaliauskas vs Roberto Arriaza
R.L: Kavaliauskas Unanimous Decision
TRS: Kavaliauskas KO 9
Heavyweights, 12 Rds
Jarrell Miller vs Bogdan Dinu
R.L: Miller KO 4
TRS: Miller Unanimous Decision
Junior Middleweights 10 Rds
Brandon Rios vs Ramon Alvarez
Both: Rios Unanimous Decision
Middleweights. 10 Rds
Gabriel Rosado vs Luis Arias
R.L: Arias Unanimous Decision
TRS: Arias KO 8 (I don't see Arias knocking out Rosado, but he'll cut him up)
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