Artur Beterbiev, who holds three of the four championships (WBC, IBF, WBO) in the light heavyweight division, will face former WBA and World Boxing Super Series super middleweight champion Callum Smith in a mandated defense by the WBC.
This fight was scheduled for last July but was postponed when Beterbiev needed to undergo surgery on his jaw after a bone infection.
Beterbiev last fought last January, when he stopped the WBO's top-ranked contender, Anthony Yarde, in the eighth round with Beterbiev slightly behind on the scorecards.
Beterbiev has stopped every opponent that he has faced but Smith is sturdy, going the distance in his only loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2020.
Smith has fought only twice since the Alvarez loss stopping Lenin Griffin and Matheiu Bauderlique in one-sided drubbings that proved nothing about Smith's abilities at 175 pounds.
The winner is expected to face WBA champion Dmitry Bivol later this year in a full unification of the division.
Super middleweight contender Christian Mbilli is the co-main event featured player as he takes on Australian Rohan Murdock in a ten-rounder.
The talented Mbilli is the type of fighter that no champion will want to face until they are forced to and as a result, everything we think about Mbilli is a projection not a certainty since he's yet to face an elite fighter.
Murdock has suffered only two losses but one was via eleventh-round knockout to the best fighter that he has faced, Zack Parker.
Jason Moloney defends his WBO bantamweight title for the first time against Saul Sanchez.
Moloney won the title vacated by Naoya Inoue last May, winning a majority decision over Vincent Astrolabio.
Both of Sanchez's losses were split decision defeats but the former product of the now-defunct Thompson Boxing program is taking a dip into world-class opposition for the first time.
Boxing Challenge
TRS: Mbilli KO 7
V.S: Sanchez KO 10
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