This is a big fight weekend thanks to the return of pound for pound king Vasyl Lomachenko. He is moving up to lightweight to take on one of the division’s top two fighters in titleholder Jorge Linares on ESPN. That isn’t all that is happening either. There is both a ShoBox and a PBC on Bounce show on Friday night while HBO puts on a world title doubleheader of their own after the ESPN show.
Friday, May 11th
Tony Harrison (26-2, 21 KOs) v Ishe Smith (29-9, 12 KOs), junior middleweights & Andrew Tabiti (15-0, 12 KOs) v Lateef Kayode (21-2, 16 KOs), cruiserweights – Las Vegas, Nevada – PBC on Bounce, 9 PM Eastern
This is a much better use of the PBC on Bounce series than say making sure a talented young fighter like Robert Easter Jr doesn’t get bigger exposure. Both Tony Harrison and Ishe Smith need a big win here in a major way with the younger, fresher Harrison being favored in the fight. Rising cruiserweight prospect and emerging contender Andrew Tabiti finally gets to get in action again following his win over Steve Cunningham last summer against former contender Lateef Kayode in the co-main event. Both of these fights are designed to get the house fighters some positive career momentum, but neither is such a dramatic mismatch to be tragic.
Devin Haney (18-0, 12 KOs) v Mason Menard (33-2, 24 KOs), lightweights & Joshua Greer Jr (16-1-1, 8 KOs) v Glenn Dezurn (9-1-1, 6 KOs), super bantamweights & Arnold Khegai (11-0-1, 8 KOs) v Adam Lopez (16-2-2, 8 KOs), super bantamweights & Alvin Varmall Jr (15-0-1, 12 KOs) v Charles Foster (15-0, 8 KOs), light heavyweights – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – ShoBox, 11 PM Eastern
This is a really nice ShoBox card. 19 year old Devin Haney is trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr and has been considered one of the better prospects in the sport in insider circles. They have kept him low key due to his age, however, until now. Mason Menard is a huge step up too. This is one of those fights where the prospect is clearly meant to win and is the much more talented fighter, but he is also stepping up several levels in one fight so you never know. Joshua Greer and Glenn Dezurn are action friendly ShoBox veterans in the co-main event while Arnold Khegai tries to break out against ShoBox’s most aired fighter ever in Adam Lopez, a semi-busted prospect in his seventh fight on the series. The light heavyweights in the opener are unknowns. Overall against the history and mission statement of the series, this is a good one.
Saturday, May 12th
Jorge Linares (44-3, 27 KOs) v Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs), WBA lightweight title & Carlos Adames (13-0, 11 KOs) v Alejandro Barrera (29-4, 18 KOs), welterweights – New York, New York – Top Rank on ESPN, 8 PM Eastern
This is the big fight of the weekend. Jorge Linares is in my view the toughest challenge of Vasyl Lomachenko’s brilliant professional career given his size and skill. This is simply a great fight. I’ll get more into in the full preview later in the week. Carlos Adames is an extremely highly regarded Dominican prospect making his Top Rank debut here against tough veteran Alejandro Barrera. He looks to be a good one and this is a big stage for him to show that fact off. The ESPN+ prelims feature some major prospects in Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, Michael Conlan, and Teofimo Lopez and begins at 5 PM Eastern if you’re interested. Unfortunately, as excited as I am for this one, I won’t have immediate coverage as I will be attending the HBO card while this airs.
Sadam Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) v Jaime Munguia (28-0, 24 KOs), WBO junior middleweight title & Rey Vargas (31-0, 22 KOs) v Azat Hovhannisyan (14-2, 11 KOs), WBC super bantamweight title – Verona, New York – HBO World Championship Boxing, 10 PM Eastern
Briefly considered a potentially busted prospect, Sadam Ali revitalized his career in December with a shockingly dominant performance over Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto to send the aging veteran into retirement and take his belt. He was originally supposed to defend against Liam Smith, but the British contender dropped out and in steps Mexican prospect Jaime Munguia. I know Munguia well and consider this a big improvement. Even if he gets blown out (and he might), he is an action fighter through and through. It will be fun. Underrated bantamweight titleholder Rey Vargas defends his WBC belt in the co-main event against the suddenly surging Azat Hovhannisyan. Azat is coming off eight straight wins and a big upset stoppage of Ronny Rios, but he’s still probably overmatched here. All in all this is a solid if unexciting HBO world title doubleheader.
