The afternoon begins from the U.K. with a key heavyweight battle between former unified cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in his first test at heavyweight against veteran gatekeeper Derek Chisora.
Usyk, who is the mandatory contender in the WBO ratings, has fought once as a heavyweight, stopping journeyman Chazz Witherspoon and will be tested against Chisora, a respected gatekeeper who has fought many top heavyweights including Vitali Klitschko. Tyson Fury twice, Dillian Whyte twice, David Haye, and Kubrat Pulev.
What will be interesting in this fight is how effective the highly skilled Usyk will be against a lesser skilled,but far larger man in Chisora, who has won five of his last six with the loss coming against Dillian Whyte, who knocked Chisora out in the eleventh round with one punch in a fight that Chisora was leading.
If the fight is close, could the size of Chisora wear Usyk down for what would be a huge upset?
The co-feature is an IBF lightweight eliminator between former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby against Australia's George Kambosos with the winner earning a title shot eventually against Teofimo Lopez in a fight that few will be excited about.
Selby has won both of his fights at lightweight with one over former champion Ricky Burns since losing his title to Josh Warrington in 2018, while Kambosos defeated another former champion in Mickey Bey in his last fight last December.
In Russia, the man that Oleksandr Usyk defeated to unify all four cruiserweight titles and win the World Boxing Super Series returns for the first time as Murat Gassiev will take on Sefer Seferi.
Gassiev has been inactive for over two years due to injuries and the pandemic and will be making his heavyweight debut.
Seferi is best remembered for being the first fighter to face Tyson Fury after Fury returned to the ring following his hiatus from boxing in a fourth round loss that resembled a pro wrestling show more than a boxing match.
Seferi is best remembered for being the first fighter to face Tyson Fury after Fury returned to the ring following his hiatus from boxing in a fourth round loss that resembled a pro wrestling show more than a boxing match.
ESPN+ holds court with the top fighter of the weekend with the Las Vegas debut of "The Monster" Naoya Inoue, who will be defending his WBA and IBF bantamweight championships against Australia's Jason Moloney.
Inoue makes his return from his terrific war with Nonito Donaire in the WBSS finals last November and with his track record of spectacular early knockouts, I wouldn't venture too far away from the screen once the first bell rings.
Moloney is a talented back end of the top ten contender, but suffered his only loss in the WBSS first round when he lost a split decision for the IBF bantamweight title to then-champion Emmanuel Rodriguez, the same Rodriguez that Inoue steamed through in two rounds in the semi-finals with Inoue taking that title.
PBC is back with another pay per view card that really should be based on Showtime, but unlike the recent card with the Charlo brothers which had a solid undercard, tonight's card from San Antonio Texas is saddled with an undercard that could be best described as non-descript.
The main event is one that various minds have opinions that range from mismatch to intriguing as Gervonta Davis faces Leo Santa Cruz with the WBA's junior lightweight championship held by Santa Cruz and Davis's minor WBA belt at stake.
The odd two weight class title event was insurance against Davis not being able to make 130 pounds (Davis has been known to have weight difficulties) and a title could still at risk, but Davis surprisingly made 130 pound and all is well with the main event.
I wouldn't say that the main event is a mismatch in talent, but Davis is a much larger and stronger man having spent his career at 130/135, while Santa Cruz has usually fought at 122 and 126 pounds and looked very pedestrian in winning the vacant WBA junior lightweight title over journeyman Miguel Flores.
Santa Cruz lacked power against Flores, who isn't in the same league as Davis, and doesn't seem to have the power to force Davis to respect him, so he'll have to hope that he can land punches in bunches and try to win through accumulation.
I'm interested in the fight, but I'm not sure it's going to be competitive and I'm really sure that it's not a main event worth eighty dollars on PPV...
The undercard is pretty dreadful with nothing especially exciting and I'm trying to be kind in saying that.
Mario Barrios defends a minor title against "Cowboy" Ryan Karl in a junior welterweight battle.
Barrios won a controversial decision over Batyr Akhmedov and took a major pounding in doing so, which makes me wonder what Barrios will bring into this fight.
Fortunately, Barrios is matched very lightly with local product Karl, who has fought few fighters above the average level, and has been stopped twice.
Karl has appeared several times on PBC television over the years on undercards and the best comparison could be to old school pro wrestling when a grappler was shown to be above the usual suspects on television by giving him a few wins before feeding him to a new wrestler that would help build that person's credibility.
If this was for a "real" title, I'd be much more angry about such a mismatch, but since the title can be discarded and Barrios could use a soft touch after the Akhmedov fight, I can see why it was made- I just wouldn't be thrilled with it as the co-feature on an eighty dollar PPV.
Regis Prograis makes his PBC debut against veteran Juan Heraldez in what is a comeback fight after his first career loss to Josh Taylor.
Prograis isn't matched too tough against Heraldez, who is a cut or two below Prograis although if it was Heraldez against Ryan Karl, I'd make Heraldez a slight favorite.
Still this is a tuneup that should help Prograis after time away from the ring and hopefully he'll face better competition next time.
The opener is an IBF lightweight eliminator and might be the best fight of the night as Jessie Magdaleno is pitted against Isaac Cruz.
The veteran Magdaleno might be nearing the end of the line after a highlight reel knockout loss to Teofimo Lopez last year, but did rebound with a win over prospect Austin Dulay.
Cruz earned his biggest win in his last fight with a majority decision win over Thomas Mattice.
Cruz earned his biggest win in his last fight with a majority decision win over Thomas Mattice.
This is your typical crossroads fight, although I wouldn't want to see either against Teofimo Lopez anytime soon.
In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica continues his late season rally and has cut my lead to 140-135.
Heavyweights 12 Rds
Oleksandr Usyk vs Derek Chisora
R.L: Usyk KO 8
TRS: Usyk Unanimous Decision
Lightweights. 12 Rds
Lee Selby vs George Kambosos
Both: Selby Unanimous Decision
Heavyweights 12 Rds
Murat Gassiev vs Sefer Seferi
R.L: Gassiev Unanimous Decision
TRS: Gassiev KO 7
WBA/IBF Bantamweight Titles. 12 Rds
Naoya Inoue vs Jason Moloney
R.L: Inoue KO 5
TRS: Inoue KO 2
WBA Jr.Lightweight Title. 12 Rds
Leo Santa Cruz vs Gervonta Davis
R.L: Davis Unanimous Decision
TRS: Davis KO 9
Junior Welterweights. 12 Rds
Mario Barrios vs Ryan Karl
R.L: Barrios KO 8
TRS: Barrios KO 7
Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds
Regis Prograis vs Juan Heraldez
R.L: Prograis KO 4
TRS: Prograis KO 6
Lightweights. 12 Rds
Diego Magdaleno vs Isaac Cruz
R.L: Magdaleno Unanimous Decision
TRS: Cruz Unanimous Decision
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