DAZN will be showing both title fights with the main event pitting WBC junior bantamweight champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez defending against former champion Srisket Sor Rungvisai.
Rodriguez filled in for Rungvisai, who pulled out of the fight after contracting Covid-19, against veteran Carlos Cuadras for the vacant title and won a unanimous decision in a mild upset, not because of Rodriguez's talent, which isn't questioned but because Rodriguez was rising in weight and had never fought even a ten rounder, let alone a world title fight.
Rungvisai has two wins over Roman Gonzalez (the first a controversial decision win and the second a one-punch fourth-round knockout) and a win and a loss to Juan Francisco Estrada, which proves his quality.
Rodriguez is favored by most slightly as Rungvisai's three wins since losing to Estrada in 2019 haven't been overly impressive and at 35 could be past his best days.
However, if the peak Rungvisai shows up in San Antonio this could be a very exciting and close fight.
Julio Cesar Martinez was scheduled to face McWilliams Arroyo in a rematch for Martinez's WBC flyweight title that saw both men knocked down in two rounds in their first fight before a head clash forced a no-contest ending.
However, Martinez pulled out of the fight earlier this week (which has become a habit for Martinez in recent fights) so the fight was canceled.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev will defend his WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles against his WBA mandatory challenger Ronny Rios in another fight that has seen two postponements.
Akhmadaliev and WBC/WBO champion Stephen Fulton have each claimed to want a full unification but Akhmadaliev will have to win against Rios first for that fight to have a chance of happening.
Rios is a tough veteran but I think he is a cut below the champion so I favor Akhmadaliev to retain his titles.
Rios has been stopped in two of his three losses so Akhmadaliev could gain points with an impressive stoppage.
ESPN+'s main event is a good one from Mexicali Mexico as former WBO light flyweight champion Elwin Soto faces former WBA and IBF light flyweight kingpin Hekkie Budler in an eliminator that will see the winner become the mandatory challenger for WBC champion Ken Shiro.
Soto lost his title to Jonathan Gonzalez via split decision last October (Gonzalez successfully defended his title for the first time last night in Florida) and is making his return to the ring for the first time since the defeat.
Budler lost his WBA belt to the exciting Hiroto Kyoguchi by a tenth-round knockout in 2018 and has fought just once since, winning a unanimous decision over Jonathan Almacen in May 2021.
Soto is the bigger puncher, Budler the smoother boxer and this is also a hard fight to pick from but I slightly lean towards the younger and more active Soto.
Boxing Challenge
No comments:
Post a Comment