The most accomplished boxer of the weekend is of course former three-division kingpin Vasyl Lomachenko in his first fight in a year since his home nation of Ukraine was invaded by Russia.
Lomachenko was supposed to be the person in the ring opposite George Kambosos in Australia after Kambosos upset Teofimo Lopez, who had upended Lomachenko in 2020 but due to fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war, Lomachenko removed himself from challenging Kambosos and Devin Haney stepped into his place to win the titles and defend them in the contractually obligated rematch.
Should Lomachenko defeat Jamaine Ortiz as is expected Saturday, Lomachenko should receive the opportunity to regain the title in a fight next year against Haney.
The undefeated Ortiz notched his biggest win as a pro in his last fight when he dominated former WBO junior lightweight champion, Jamel Herring, winning a decision that resulted in Herring's retirement following the fight.
Ortiz is the bigger fighter and is rugged enough to mix it up with Lomachenko but if Lomachenko is close to his past form, his advanced skill should be more than enough to win against Ortiz.
DAZN will feature two cards on the day with Matchroom's card from London early in the day and Golden Boy countering with an evening event from San Diego.
While ladies' champion Katie Taylor is in the main event, the boxing challenge's pairing is the co-main event with featherweight Jordan Gill facing former junior featherweight and featherweight champion Kiko Martinez in a defense of Gill's European title as well as an IBF eliminator in the division.
Gill won his biggest career fight in his last outing with a ninth-round knockout of Karim Guerfi and a win here would be even larger with Martinez's record as a former two-division champion and his recent knockout of Kid Galahad shows that perhaps the Spaniard isn't quite finished.
Martinez was thought to have dropped to journeyman status before his upset win and he was battered in losing the title to Josh Warrington in March, so this fight has even more on the line than a European title and an eliminator for the aging former champion.
The evening main event from San Diego is easily the most competitive at the world-class level as two top-ten lightweights prepare to slug it out in a bout that could loom large in 2023 with the winner having an excellent chance of picking up a chance of fighting for any potential vacant titles, should Devin Haney (or Vasyl Lomachenko) move up after their possible fight next year.
Former IBF junior lightweight champion Joseph Diaz takes on undefeated William Zepeda in a fight that not only ranks as important in the ratings but with styles that should result in a strong action battle as well.
Both enter the fight with questions that may or may not be answered by the end of the evening.
Diaz has always been a fighter of top ten caliber that comes up short against his division's best with losses against Gary Russell and Devin Haney but defeats those that aren't elite as wins over Tevin Farmer, Javier Fortuna, and Rene Alvarado show.
Zepeda looked like a future star when he ripped through fellow unbeaten Hector Tanajara last summer forcing Tanajara's corner to stop the fight after the sixth round. but even though he has won his three fights since, including a decision win over Rene Alvarado in his last outing, Zepeda has looked a little more ordinary.
A win over Diaz would stamp Zepeda as a potential star while a Diaz victory would confirm that Diaz still is a potential player in the division.
Keep an eye on Diaz's skin as in recent fights, he has shown a tendency to bleed and often badly, so Zepeda could have a chance to score a TKO win under those circumstances.
Boxing Challenge
V.S: Martinez KO 10
No comments:
Post a Comment