There have been another round of fights booked to report on. The biggest news involves Alexander Povetkin and a slot on the upcoming Anthony Joshua versus Joseph Parker heavyweight unification card, but there is more too. We also have the flyweight debut of Kosei Tanaka, a Showtime addition, and more.
- First, Friday night’s Showtime card has seen some last minute alterations. Top prospects Devin Haney and Wellington Romero are out. Haney lost his opponent without being able to secure another and Romero was injured himself. Brilliantly named Montana Love (8-0, 4 KOs) will step in to replace Wellington Romero against Samuel Teah (12-1-1, 5 KO) to preserve at least a tripleheader though. These changes have significantly downgraded what looked like a pretty great ShoBox card, but the show must go on.
- Showtimes February 17th card headlined by Danny Garcia and Brandon Rios has become a tripleheader too. Yordenis Ugas (20-3, 9 KO) and Ray Robinson (24-2, 12 KOs) will meet in a welterweight IBF title eliminator in its opener. While I won’t necessarily want to see the winner in against IBF titleholder Errol Spence Jr, this on its own is a good matchup between two surging fighters needed a big win to take that next step up in the sport. It is a good fight.
- My #1 ranked light flyweight Kosei Tanaka (10-0, 6 KOs) will make his flyweight debut on March 31st against little known Ronnie Baldonado (10-0-1, 7 KO). Still only 22, Tanaka will reportedly look for a world title in his third weight class after this tune up. Fellow countryman Sho Kimura is reportedly the target. While the Baldonado fight is nothing to get excited about, a Sho Kimura defense against Kosei Tanaka certainly would be if it comes together.
- Finally, top heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (33-1, 23 KO) is being reported by Sky Sports as having agreed to terms to meet British heavyweight David Price (22-4, 18 KOs) on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s unification mega-card against Joseph Parker on March 31st. As an actual fight the only thing really interest about Povetkin versus Price is whether or not the controversial Russian can pass a drug test in the UK, but it does signal Eddie Hearn’s intent to follow through with Joshua versus Povetkin next should both fighters prevail. The Russian is Anthony Joshua’s WBA mandatory challenger.
