Thankfully this boxing weekend was so busy that I did not have time to write up a preview for tonight’s Toe to Toe Tuesday on FS1 until this morning. The main event was supposed to be a pretty bad fight in PBC prospect Mario Barrios taking on Costa Rican journeyman Nelson Lara (17-7-4, 9 KOs), but Lara missed weight and Barrios dropped out of the fight because of it. Yordenis Ugas (18-3, 8 KOs) has stepped in on a single day’s notice and the show goes on pretty much at the same quality it was before. Oscar Molina (13-1-1, 10 KOs) and Levan Ghvamichava (17-3-1, 13 KOs) will also meet.
Look, I will be blunt as always. Nelson Lara is a sad, sad fighter to put in a televised main event. He has won consecutive fights in Costa Rica scheduled for four and six rounds against two opponents with a combine record of 5-33-3. Before that he was 0-6-2 in his last eight. He is 0-6 outside of Costa Rica too. Now he has missed weight and ruined PBC’s showcase when Barrios elected not to go ahead and fight an overweight opponent, but that feels a bit like karma for booking him in this spot to begin with.
Cuban Yordenis Ugas may or may not be a better fighter than Mario Barrios. I think he might be, but he probably isn’t on one day’s notice. It shouldn’t matter though. Ugas’ last three wins against Jamal James, Bryant Perrella, and cardmate Levan Ghvamichava are real solid wins light years above anything Lara has shown to be capable of doing. I imagine Ugas has been in training on some level since he took the fight, but I’d pick him six months out of the gym against Lara at his peak. The original fight was stupid and this fight just as much. Ugas isn’t a puncher, but Lara has been stopped five times so this could still end early.
The co-feature, or I guess potential new main event if they decide to make the switch, is a much better fight.”The White Wolf” Levan Ghvamichava of the country of Georgia is becoming a staple on these PBC on FS1 cards. He has fought his last three fights on them going a more respectable than it looks 1-2. The win was a TKO over fading former contender Breidis Prescott, while his losses have been a stoppage loss to super prospect Sergey Lipinets which was competitive up until the finish and a split decision loss to the aforementioned Yordenis Ugas that could have just as easily been scored for Georgian instead. He is a good, fan friendly fighter.
Oscar Molina was a 2012 Olympian for Mexico. He definitely is part of a fighting family as his twin brother Javier and older brother Carlos are both competent pro fighters. Molina was and maybe still is a pretty good junior middleweight prospect, but he was probably given too much too soon after starting 13-0. First he fought to a very respectable draw against then also unbeaten Dominique Dolton. Next he was stopped in 10 by now junior middleweight titlist Jarret Hurd. That was almost a year ago now and Molina is just returning from it. Ghvamichava is a step down definitely from Hurd and probably from Dolton, but he is still a good fighter.
Molina/Ghvamichava is a good fight, the kind that a lower tier show like PBC on FS1 really can showcase when it is functioning properly. Ugas or Barrios versus Lara is the ugly side. Both sides come together tonight on FS1.
Also on the card, Charles Martin returns from first losing his belt to Anthony Joshua and then from being shot in a late night altercation. He is in super soft and I do not believe it will be televised, but maybe they will show it if a quick KO causes a need for something to fill time.
