Not one or two but three prominent cards will be competing for your attention come Saturday night. Top Rank on ESPN brings a great title fight in the best main event of the weekend, but the biggest name belongs to Danny Jacobs and HBO. PBC is also airing the return of Josesito Lopez live on FOX as well.
Saturday, April 28th
Jessie Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs) v Isaac Dogboe (18-0, 12 KOs), WBO super bantamweight title & Bryant Jennings (22-2, 13 KOs) v Joey Dawejko (19-4-4, 11 KOs), heavyweights & Jesse Hart (23-1, 19 KOs) v Demond Nicholson (19-2-1, 17 KOs), super middleweights – Pennsylvania – ESPN, 7 PM Eastern
First, Jessie Magdaleno versus Isaac Dogboe is straight up a really great world title fight. These are both really talented and fan friendly young fighters. The other two fights are showcase mismatches in favor of Top Rank fighters Bryant Jennings and Jesse Hart, but it doesn’t really matter with a main event as good as this one. Even better is the early, 7 PM start time. This card will definitely over before HBO begins, though it will conflict with FOX. If you want to watch the whole card, the WatchESPN broadcast begins at 4 PM and will feature Shakur Stevenson. I can’t stress how much I am looking forward to this main event.
Josesito Lopez (35-7, 19 KOs) v Miguel Cruz (17-0, 11 KOs), welterweights & Anthony Dirrell (31-1-1, 24 KOs) v Abraham Han (26-3-1, 16 KOs), super middleweights & Jorge Lara (29-0-2, 21 KOs) v Claudio Marrero (22-2, 16 KOs), featherweights – Texas – FOX, 8:30 PM Eastern
This isn’t a terrible card. Josesito Lopez and Miguel Cruz are both action fighters and represent a serious crossroads fight against one another. Anthony Dirrell pretty much only fights in mismatches at this point, but they could have done worse than Abraham Han. He can fight a bit at least. Finally, Jorge Lara is taking a nice step up against a solid veteran in the opener much like Miguel Cruz in the main event. My issue isn’t with this as a boxing card in a vacuum, but as a FOX card. I do not understand why this the type of show PBC likes to trot out for their biggest potential audience while saving their big names for Showtime. Rights fees are the answer, I’m sure, but it is disappointing as a fan of the sport. Unfortunately, this card will likely conflict in its first half with the ESPN show and then the HBO later show before it is over.
Daniel Jacobs (33-2, 29 KOs) v Maciej Sulecki (26-0, 10 KOs), middleweights & Jarrell Miller (20-0-1, 18 KOs) v Johann Duhaupas (37-4, 24 KOs), heavyweights – New York – 10 PM Eastern
Danny Jacobs might be so big and talented that it doesn’t matter, but people should be aware that Maciej Sulecki is a really good fighter out of Poland. He is probably best at junior middleweight, however. Against such a huge 160 lb fighter like Danny Jacobs, that will likely be his undoing. Would be heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller also sees action on the undercard against European trial horse Johann Duhaupus. The Frenchman is a game fighter on his good days, but he is also someone a potential top contender should dismiss with ease. In this way Johann Duhaupas is an excellent barometer for how good Jarrell Miller really is in the ring.
