Without a big, marquee fight this weekend, let’s do smaller previews for the four main events on Saturday that are either important or on US television. Here we take a look at major Scottish prospect Josh Taylor’s next step up fight, two cards on ESPN+, and a Golden Boy on ESPN.
The UK Scene
Josh Taylor v Viktor Postol
Probably the biggest single fight this weekend is one without any US television exposure. Rising junior welterweight star Josh Taylor (12-0, 11 KOs) takes another big step up by meeting former divisional king Viktor Postol (29-1, 12 KOs) at home in Scotland midday Eastern time on Saturday. The 2012 Olympian has been a known prospect for some time, but it was his thought to be evenly matched prospect showdown with Ohara Davies that put the world on alert that he might be special. Not only did Taylor dominate and stop Davies for the British title, but he followed it up by picking up another important one sided stoppage win in his next fight against former titleholder Miguel Vasquez.
As important as those two wins are for a young fighter, neither of them are as big as Viktor Postol’s shocking 2015 upset of the then highly feared Argentian puncher Lucas Matthysse. That body shot win put Postol on a high pedestal in the sport. It didn’t last though. Next he met Terence Crawford in a unification bout. Dropped twice along the way, Postol was no match for the pound for pound elite fighter. Still, losing to Crawford is no shame. What was more problematic was the Ukrainian’s return at home fourteen months later. There he met unbeaten but unknown foe Jamshidbek Najmiddinov and really struggled. Postol was dropped hard and the decision should have been much closer than it was.
Given his inactivity and recent struggles combined with Taylor’s meteoric rise, the thought here is that Postol probably doesn’t have a lot to offer in this fight that could get him a win. I tend to agree. I expect Josh Taylor to continue rolling along in this one. Channel 5 has the show at 3:30 Eastern time, UK only.
Martin Murray v Roberto Garcia
Martin Murray was supposed to be going for Billy Joe Saunders’s world title here, but Saunders pulled out for a second time. Now he has Mexican veteran Roberto Garcia stepping up from junior middleweight as his opponent. It isn’t a compelling main event in terms of divisional relevance, but Murray was likely going to get schooled by Saunders in my view so this might be the better fight competitively. Earlier in his career Murray has had a complete handful of title opportunities, but it was two opportunities in Germany against Felix Sturm in 2011 and Arthur Abraham in 2015 that will haunt him. He could have and maybe should have gotten those decisions if he was on more fair playing fields than the notorious German scene. He also put on a quality, competitive performance against Sergio Martinez in 2013. Despite having won three straight, however, the thought is the Murray is on the downswing at age 35. He hasn’t fought a top fighter in two years and George Groves didn’t have much trouble with him that time either.
39 year old Roberto Garcia is not a step up to world class though. Murray should be fine here. Garcia’s pretty record has been built on midlevel gatekeepers or worse. The last time he lost was in 2010, true, but that was to Antonio Margarito after Shane Mosley dominated him. Margarito has barely won anything since. This show is probably more worth watching for the prospects on it. Ohara Davies, Anthony Yarde, and Daniel Dubois all have some potential. ESPN+ will have the show stateside while BT Sport covers it in the UK. 2:30 PM Eastern is the time
North America
Vergil Ortiz v Juan Carlos Salgado
Golden Boy on ESPN returns on ESPN2 with one of their top two prospects in Vergil Ortiz (9-0, 9 KOs). The somewhat struggling promotional company has a stable full of middling prospects, but the hope that 20 year old Ortiz along with Ryan Garcia represents a future star. He hasn’t stepped up at all yet though. Juan Carlos Salgado (27-8-1, 16 KOs), his opponent, does look like a step up on paper as he was a top fighter not too long ago. The Mexican has had two separate reigns as a 130 lb titleholder featuring serious wins over the likes of Argenis Mendez and even Jorge Linares. His career has entirely fallen off a cliff since though. He lost his belt by stoppage in a rematch with Argenis Mendez in 2013 and, counting that fight, is an atrocious 1-7 in his last eight fights. In a way this is pretty savvy matchmaking. Assuming Vergil Ortiz is a real top prospect, he will have no issue with a broken fighter like Salgado. Yet, this can also be marketed as a win over a two time former world titleholder in only his tenth pro fight at twenty years old. Smart Golden Boy, smart. ESPN2 has the show nice and early at 8 PM Eastern.
Miguel Berchelt v Jonathan Victor Barros
ESPN+ has also picked up top junior lightweight Miguel Berchelt’s (33-1, 29 KOs) title defense against Argentina’s Jonathan Victor Barros (41-5-1, 22 KOs) in Saturday’s nightcap, meaning the ESPN family is bringing three boxing cards on Saturday alone. That’s new. The 26 year old Mexican in the main event here is the top man in his division in my view post-Vasyl Lomachenko. He mostly snuck up on the sport in winning his title by upsetting Francisco Vargas by stoppage in the eleventh round back at the beginning of 2017. He also made a solid defense after against the always tough and exciting now retired Japanese slugger Takashi Miura. Unfortunately though this is the second disappointing defense he has taken this year following those two big wins. Argentinian challenger Jonathan Victor Barros has had a good career, don’t get me wrong. He held a piece of the featherweight title and scored good wins over Celestino Caballero and Micky Roman. It is just that those fights were way back in 2011 and he hasn’t been able to come close to winning on world level since. He was pretty well routed by a much worse fighter than Miguel Berchelt in Lee Selby last time out. Still, I am glad ESPN+ scooped this one up. Berchelt is a true top fighter who doesn’t get his due quite yet. This fight won’t help, but long term I think it is an inevitably. He’s just plain good. ESPN+ has the show at 11 PM Eastern.
