Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge returns with two cards that are showcase events despite a few championships being on the line.

Fox returns with a PBC card that doesn't excite very many with the comeback from injury of WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman as the featured main event.
Thurman is facing Josesito Lopez, a tough, but generally overmatched at the top ten level.
Thurman hasn't fought for 22 months since his split decision win over Danny Garcia and deserves a fight to melt the rust off.
Lopez is the perfect foil for such a match as he'll be competitive enough to make Thurman work, but isn't going to press Thurman too hard for his victory and if he does, it just might tell you what Keith Thurman has for the future.

The undercard on Fox is nothing to excited about as far as immediate significance but might pay dividends for eventual contention and could be fun fights.
Undefeated heavyweight Adam Kownacki faces former title challenger Gerald Washington in what might be the fight of the weekend as far as action goes.
Kownacki is being groomed by PBC for an eventual challenge of WBC champion Deontay Wilder and a win over Washington might be enough to get him that as Wilder (should he win his rematch with Tyson Fury) would be ready for an optional defense.
Washington was knocked out by Wilder in the fifth after fighting well for four rounds and was defeated by Jarrell Miller in the fight following his title try.
Kownacki defeated former IBF champ Charles Martin by decision in his last fight for his biggest win and he should be able to hurt Washington should he get to him, but the taller and larger Washington could pull this off if he can get Kownacki on the outside.

The curtain-jerker is a WBC featherweight eliminator between Claudio Marrero and Tugstsogt Nyambayar.
Marrero has stopped two of his last three opponents in the first round sandwiched around a knockout loss to Jesus Rojas, who we'll talk about shortly, while Nyambayar was a decorated amateur and silver medalist in the 2012 Olympics.
Nyambayar was very impressive in his last bout with a dominant third round blasting of former title challenger Oscar Escandon and I'm willing to bet that we'll see a similar result against Marrero.

DAZN will be live from Houston with a Golden Boy card that doesn't appear to be loaded with competitive fights and the highlight of the night might be how spectacular the knockouts are.

Jaime Munguia defends his WBO junior middleweight title against Takeshi Inoue in the main event.
The big punching Munguia has a sizable height, reach and about everything else advantage over Inoue, who may share the same last name as "The Monster" Naoya Inoue, but lacks his power and not only has never faced anyone that ranked near the top fifty but has never fought outside of Japan other than one outing in Thailand.

Jesus Rojas defends his minor title against Xu Can in the co-feature.
Rojas lost his last fight by unanimous decision to Joseph Diaz but retained his minor trinket when Diaz blew the weight on the scales.
Rojas knocked out the above mentioned Claudio Marrero in his previous fight before Diaz, while Can has won 12 fights in a row entering this one.
Still, Can possesses only two knockouts, isn't likely to hurt Rojas and looks to be far overmatched.

Highly touted prospect Vergil Ortiz faces late replacement Jesus Valdez in the opening bout.
Ortiz, who has knocked out all eleven of his foes, should look spectacular as Valdez has lost all three times that he stepped up in opposition (Jesus Rojas, Matt Remillard, and Lamont Roach) and the short notice against the talented Ortiz will help his chances very little as well.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 9-8.

WBA Welterweight Title. 12 Rds
Keith Thurman vs Josesito Lopez
R.L; Thurman KO 9
TRS: Thurman KO 7

Heavyweights. 10 Rds
Adam Kownacki vs Gerald Washington
R.L: Kownacki Unanimous Decision
TRS: Kownacki KO 8

Featherweights.12 Rds
Claudio Marrero vs Tugstsogt Nyambayar
R.L: Nyambayar KO 6
TRS: Nyambayar KO 4

WBO Junior Middleweight Title. 12 Rds
Jaime Munguia vs Takeshi Inoue
R.L: Munguia KO 5
TRS: Munguia KO 2

Featherweights. 12 Rds
Jesus Rojas vs Xu Can
Both: Rojas Unanimous Decision

Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds
Vergil Ortiz vs Jesus Valdez
R.L: Ortiz KO 4
TRS; Ortiz KO 2