Arguably the best and most important fight of the weekend takes us to Tokyo for a rematch for the WBA junior bantamweight title between champion Joshua Franco and former WBO champion Kazuto Ioka.
The two fought on New Years Eve to a majority draw in what would have unified the WBA and WBO titles in a pairing that most think Franco deserved the edge.
Both fighters wanted this rematch but the WBO demanded that their mandatory challenger, Junto Nakatani, fight Ioka next and Ioka decided to vacate the belt rather than face Nakatani for a smaller check.
The questions here are these- Was the first fight a sign of decline for Ioka at thirty-four?
Or was it simply an off-night?
Can Franco repeat his strong outing or did he catch Ioka at the perfect time?
Entering this one, there is more uncertainty than solid reasoning which makes it very interesting-IF you can see it live as of this writing, no American outlet has picked up the card for programming.
Editor's Note: Franco has missed weight and has been stripped of the title.
If Ioka wins, he will be the WBA champion, If Franco wins or the fight ends in a draw, the title will become vacant.
Matchroom/DAZN will be in New York for their super middleweight main event with one-time phenom Edgar Berlanga making his Hearnville debut against Jason Quigley.
You may remember Berlanga from his days with Top Rank and his much-hyped streak of sixteen first-round knockouts to begin his career.
Since the streak ended, Berlanga has gone the distance in each of his four fights and was floored by Marcelo Coceres and was fortunate to receive the decision.
In his last fight against veteran Roamer Angulo, Berlanga tried to bite Angulo on the shoulder and then offered a tasteless joke during the post-fight interview that would lead to a six-month suspension and his release from Top Rank.
Berlanga shopped himself to the other promoters, selecting Matchroom, and is rumored to be in consideration for a challenge of Canelo Alvarez, provided he looks impressive, and Canelo is unable to face a bigger-name opponent.
Jason Quigley appears to be the perfect foil to make Berlanga look good with a 29-2 record, a win over Shane Mosley Jr, knockout losses in both of his two fights against world-class opponents against Demetrius Andrade and Tureano Johnson and is a natural middleweight.
If Berlanga cannot look good against Quigley, I'm not sure that he'll shine in the future.
Showtime and PBC complete the challenge with a three-fight slate from Minneapolis with a pivotal fight in the very soft middleweight division as the main event.
With WBC champion Jermall Charlo inactive for two years (no, really), and possibly either facing Canelo Alvarez and vacating or being stripped for inactivity, Carlos Adames, who holds the WBC minor title, is in position to become the full champion soon with a win over former WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Julian Williams.
I've always rooted for "J-Rock" Williams and he has always shown talent but has been knocked out twice by solid punchers in Jermell Charlo and Jeison Rosario, and really doesn't deserve this shot, losing a split decision to 12-4 Vladimir Hernandez after the Rosario loss before a decision win in an eight-rounder against unknown Rolando Mansilla last November.
Still, Williams has the skill set to win this, if his chin holds out, and while Adames has looked good in his last two fights with a majority decision win over Sergey Dereyvanchenko before a three-round crunching of Juan Montiel, one fight after Montiel lasted the full twelve rounds against Jermall Charlo, I still remember his decision loss to Patrick Teixeira for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title as a big favorite and I have a feeling that Adames could be looking past Williams.
The co-feature is in the junior middleweight division as hard-punching Erickson Lubin battles Luis Arias in a crossroads bout.
Lubin returns to the ring for the first time since his ninth-round knockout loss to Sebastian Fundora in an action-filled war in April 2022 and could use a win to re-establish himself in the division.
Arias is most remembered for his timid performance in a loss to Daniel Jacobs but won and lost split decisions in 2021 over faded veterans with a win over former junior middleweight champion Jarret Hurd and losing to Vaughn Alexander.
Arias has fought once since winning a decision over journeyman Jimmy Williams in May 2022.
The opener is a defense of the IBF junior bantamweight title as undefeated champion Fernando Martinez defends against unbeaten challenger Jade Bornea.
Martinez won the title last year from long-time champion Jerwin Ancajas and repeated the win in the rematch last October.
I know very little about Bornea, so I'm not sure what he will bring to Martinez
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