These bouts are not mismatches. Let’s take a look one by one.
Sure, the big names are on FOX as expected. None of them were matched particularly tough though. The likes of Leo Santa Cruz, Keith Thurman, and Errol Spence Jr are going to be massive favorites while Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia will be big ones too. Lost in the major name mismatch festival, however, was the release of four pretty solid PBC on FS1 main events to start the year. I prefer them to the FOX schedule too given their more competitive natures. Let’s take a look.
January 13th – Jose Uzcategui (28-2, 23 KOs) v Caleb Plant (17-0, 10 KOs), IBF super middleweight title
This Sunday show in Los Angeles features a main event I really love. Top PBC prospect Caleb Plant is taking a really big step up in class here against criminally underrated super middleweight titleholder Jose Uzcategui. Plant has presented himself as a slick, flashy puncher befitting of his “Sweet Hands” nickname against lesser opposition. Can he still fight that way against a powerful pressure fighter like Uzcategui? I doubt it given that Andre Dirrell couldn’t pull it off in two tries, but I can’t rule Plant entirely out of this one either. Uzcategui-Plant is very solid matchmaking.
February 23rd – Anthony Dirrell (31-1-1, 23 KOs) v Avni Yildirim (21-1, 12 KOs), WBC super middleweight title
Another super middleweight world title is on the line in the second FS1 show, this time a vacant belt. The matchup is the worst main event of the four announced though. I’ve never been super high on Anthony Dirrell, but Avni Yildirim was dominated by a limited fighter in Chris Eubank Jr pretty emphatically last year. Dirrell isn’t any worse than Eubank. Worse, the Flint fighter has been very clear that he wants to win a world title and retire. Unless he has changed his mind, nothing will come of the win either.
March 24th – Lamont Peterson (35-4-1, 17 KOs) v Sergey Lipinets (14-1, 10 KOs), welterweights
On another Sunday show, Lamont Peterson and Sergey Lipinets are supremely well matched against one another in a battle of second tier PBC welterweights. The stakes are simple and pure. The winner is almost guaranteed to take on one of PBC’s major names at the weight, probably for a world title. Washington DC native Lamont Peterson will have home field advantage in Maryland. This is very likely an excellent action fight too as both men tend to put them on. Really I think the mark of a great PBC on FS1 main event is that it would be a solid FOX co-main event. Peterson-Lipinets fits the bill without question.
April 13th – Peter Quillin (34-1-1, 23 KOs) v Caleb Truax (30-4-2, 19 KOs), super middleweights
While Quillin-Truax isn’t exactly a sexy fight that will capture the casual fan’s attention, it is nonetheless the exact sort of sensible matchmaking between two fighters on the same level that Premier Boxing Champions entirely ignored on FOX itself. Caleb Truax will be looking to prove that his 2017 massive upset over James DeGale to win a world title wasn’t a one off fluke after losing a competitive rematch. Former middleweight titleholder “Kid Chocolate” Peter Quillin is looking to rebuild his career at super middleweight after a one round demolition loss courtesy of Danny Jacobs. Both men very much need this one against one another to stay relevant at world level. That is always an example of good matchmaking. Truax will have home field in front of what should be a good crowd in Minneapolis.
