Fox brings their best fight to date to their PBC program as Shawn Porter defends his WBC welterweight title against the mandatory challenger in Yordenis Ugas in Carson, California.
Porter barely made weight for this fight and I've thought all along that Ugas could be a "trap fight" for Porter if he was underprepared or lacked motivation for the former Olympic bronze medalist, who is on an eight-fight winning streak since moving up to the welterweight division.
Style-wise, Ugas could give Porter some problems, but the biggest issue for the Cuban is that although several of his wins of later have been against good competition, none of them have been against top ten level opponents with the arguable exception of Jamal James.
Porter's preparation will come into play, but I think he gets through some rounds and eventually grinds Ugas down, but the variables make Ugas a very interesting underdog.
The other challenge fight from PBC is a rare eight round bout as Eje Ajagba of Nigeria, who has looked so impressive in his eight wins on PBC undercards in blasting out preliminary opponents, takes a planetary leap in competition against veteran Amir Mansour.
Mansour, who is 46, yet has a record of 23-3, usually makes fun fights with his last five outings being wild and wooly.
Mansour's last five fights (in no particular order) have seen him draw with then-undefeated and future title challenger Gerald Washington, handed then-undefeated Travis Kaufman his first loss, knocked down the current mandatory contender in the WBC, Dominic Breazeale in the third round before surrendering in his corner after five rounds with a broken jaw in a fight he was winning, failed a drug test after a technical draw against undefeated (and fighting on DAZN Saturday) Sergei Kuzmin and in his last fight,looked like he basically took a ten count and walked back to his corner against touted prospect Filip Hrgovic.
I have no idea what we'll get from Mansour, but if he has anything to offer at all, Ajagba will at least have someone that can punch firing back at him.
The remaining fights move to DAZN in Verona New York with two world title fights and what could be a fight that should see plenty of punches landed by both fighters.
The main event will place the WBA light heavyweight title held by Dmitri Bivol on the line as Joe Smith will challenge Bivol for that championship.
Bivol has looked more workmanlike than dynamite in his last two title defenses over veterans Issac Chilemba and Jean Pascal and despite both wins coming via wide decisions, Bivol has not scored a knockdown in either win and looks to be a champion without a big fight with the other three champion all making their title defenses for ESPN/Top Rank.
Joe Smith looked terrific in driving Bernard Hopkins from the game in 2016 after his eighth-round knockout that saw Hopkins dazed outside the ring, but looked dazed himself in his following fight, where he lost a lopsided decision to Sullivan Barrera and broke his jaw to boot.
The straight forward moving Smith might be just the foe to make Bivol look like a power puncher again and if Bivol doesn't look strong in this one, I'm not sure where he will be able to look strong.
Maurice Hooker, who did look very good in his last fight in a pounding of undefeated Alex Saucedo, defends his WBO junior welterweight title against undefeated, but lightly regarded Mikkel LesPierre.
Hooker did take all four of his allowed visits to the scale to finally make the 140-pound weight limit and despite wanting to make a title defense in his hometown of Dallas in his next fight, may not be long for the division, so if LesPierre is talented enough, this could be interesting with the weight problems.
The final bout is placed mainly for its entertainment value as Callum Johnson battles Seanie Monaghan in what should be a brawl in a ten round light heavyweight fight between two fringe contenders.
Britain's Johnson scored a flash knockdown of IBF champion Artur Beterbiev in his last fight before being taken out in four rounds, while Monaghan was dominated by Sullivan Barrera in a decision loss last time out.
Both fighters appear to be a cut below world class, but are matched well here, so this should be a guilty pleasure to watch.
The winner will likely see more fights and perhaps a chance to move forward, the loser is likely to cement themselves in trialhorse status.
In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica leads me at 42-41
WBC Welterweight Title. 12 Rds
Shawn Porter vs Yordenis Ugas
Both: Porter Unanimous Decision
Heavyweights 8 Rds
Efe Ajagba vs Amir Mansour
R.L: Ajagba KO 5
TRS: Ajagba KO 3
WBA Light Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds
Dmitri Bivol vs Joe Smith
R.L.: Bivol KO 9
TRS: Bivol Unanimous Decision
WBO Jr.Welterweight Title. 12 Rds
Maurice Hooker vs Mikkel LesPierre
R.L: Hooker KO 11
TRS: Hooker Unanimous Decision
Lt. Heavyweights,10 Rds
Callum Johnson vs Seanie Monaghan
R.L: Johnson KO 10
TRS: Johnson KO 7
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