Stevenson is in Top Rank/ESPN's main event for a WBO interim title, which in the rancid tradition of the WBA isn;t needed as the champion of the WBO (Jamel Herring) has fought more recently than Stevenson has.
Stevenson, who will either face Herring next or will be promoted to full champion status with a win faces unknown Jeremiah Nakathila of Ghana.
Who knows what Nakathila brings with no bouts against good competition and that makes him a wild card, but unknown fighters from Ghana in the past have entered matches with similar resumes' and turned out to be excellent fighters with Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, David Kotey, and recently Isaac Dogboe to name a few.
Nakathila had better be on the championship level to even have a chance against the talented Stevenson, and I'm not saying that he is of that caliber, but there is a track record of fighters from Ghana winning fights as heavy underdogs before.
The co-feature is another crossroads fight for Jose Pedraza, who seems to be fighting in one of those in every fight currently, against undefeated Julian Rodriguez, who will be making his debut against a world class opponent.
Pedraza, the former IBF junior lightweight and WBO lightweight champion lost to Jose Zepeda in September 2019, but has won his two fights since then and continues to be a test for any fighter.
Rodriguez, nicknamed "Hammer Hands", hasn't been placed in against soft competition but Pedraza is a step up for the unbeaten prospect.
This is the fight that I'm looking forward to most on the weekend.
DAZN and Matchroom will have a card from the United Kingdom with a junior welterweight title eliminator for the mandatory challenger for Josh Taylor's IBF title.
England's Lewis Ritson faces Argentina's Jeremias Ponce with the winner scheduled to face Taylor in the future, or will be installed in a fight for the vacant title should Taylor decide to move up to the welterweight.
Ritson has won four in a row, including a split decision win over former IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vasquez in his last win, since his only defeat in a split decision loss to Francisco Patera.
The problem for Ritson is that no one, even Ritson or his father, believes that he deserved the decision over the aging Vasquez, and the undefeated Ponce has been highly thought of in his native Argentina, so this could be a spot for an upset.
Ponce has the height and range to outbox Ritson, and Ritson's problem in dealing with Vasquez makes me wonder if Ponce can do the same.
In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 75-70.
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