Showtime held a press conference today to announce the first half of their boxing schedule with PBC. Tons of news came from it. We have both fights we knew about already with firm dates and new matchups entirely. It is going to be a busy few months for PBC and Showtime.
- Junior middleweight unification will be on the line on April 7th when WBA titleholder Erislandy Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs) meets his IBF counterpart Jarrett Hurd (21-0, 15 KOs). This is exactly what the 154 lb division needs. Hopefully the winner of this fight goes on to unify with Jermell Charlo and his WBC belt too. He is also under the PBC banner, so that would be an easy fight to make politically. The WBO belt is on Sadam Ali at Golden Boy, however, and I can’t imagine that belt getting pulled into the picture very easily.
- April 21st will bring what I see as a gate keeper trial of sorts between Adrien Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) and Omar Figueroa (27-0-1, 19 KOs). The winner of this fight will be in the picture for the major fights that PBC can provide in the welterweight division while the loser will be have to win his way back to that status. On top of that, this fight is actually being contested at junior welterweight as a WBC eliminator. The winner could just as easily pursue that title shot rather than the big fights seven pounds north. Most importantly, I do expect this fight to be quite competitive and entertaining.
- Adonis Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs) will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against Badou Jack (22-1-2, 13 KOs) on May 19th in Quebec, supposedly. Stevenson has become notorious for not having fought a world class opponent like Jack since he won his belt back in 2013, so I reserve my right to be skeptical that this match goes through as planned. If this does happen, it is a damn good fight. Many time mandatory challenger without a title shot Eleider Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs) is going to be on the undercard, but he doesn’t have an opponent as of yet. It also isn’t clear whether or not his fight will be televised.
- Also on May 19th will be the return of #1 welterweight Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. This makes that night’s show a split site broadcast. The leading candidate for a shot at Thurman in the rumor mill has been Jesse Vargas, but that has not been confirmed. Whoever it is, it will be more of a tune up than a real threat. It is entirely possible that Vargas is a higher caliber opponent than they are looking for even. This does make sense as Thurman is returning from elbow surgery and will need to test it out.
- Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) and Abner Mares (31-2-1, 15 KOs) will finally have their rematch on June 9th. I am pretty cold on this one. Leo Santa Cruz clearly won the first bout very comfortably. We are only having this rematch because of WBA multiple title stupidity, not because the first fight demanded it. This won’t be a bad fight and could even be a real good one, but it doesn’t need to be happening. Jermell Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) will defend his junior middleweight title in the co-feature against an opponent to be determined.
- Finally, we have Errol Spence Jr’s (23-0, 20 KOs) next IBF title defense date and location. The rising star will get his wish with a hometown defense on June 16th in Dallas. Unfortunately, the IBF has named Carlos Ocampo (22-0, 13 KOs) as his mandatory challenger. Accordingly, this is likely the fight we will get at no fault of PBC or Showtime. Ocampo is a quality Mexican prospect, but he is certainly not ready for Errol Spence Jr. Of course, this is just me speculating as no potential opponent has been openly discussed yet.
