You want more boxing? Three fight cards are scheduled for the next seven days on ESPN and ESPN+.
Joshua Greer Jr., Jose Pedraza and Emanuel Navarrete will be showcased on Tuesday, June 16 (ESPN), Thursday, June 18 (ESPN) and Saturday, June 20 (ESPN+), respectively, as Top Rank maintains its fast pace in the return of boxing from the coronavirus lockdown.
Greer, the 26-year-old bantamweight contender from Chicago, is scheduled to face Filipino Mike Plania in a 10-rounder in the tightly controlled MGM Grand ballroom in Las Vegas in which Shakur Stevenson and Jessie Magdaleno won their main events last Tuesday and Thursday.
Greer (22-1-1, 12 KOs) is a quick-handed boxer-puncher. He’s the No. 1 challenger to John Riel Casimero’s 118-pound title and is ranked in the Top 10 of two other organizations, meaning a title shot is around the corner if he continues to win.
He is coming off back-to-back victories over fellow contender Nikolai Potapov (majority decision) and Antonio Nieves (unanimous decision), which bolstered his position as one of the top bantamweights in world. He has his eye on an eventual showdown with pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue, who holds two 118-pound belts.
Greer has won 19 consecutive fights since he lost a four-round majority decision to Stephen Fulton in 2015, his fifth fight.
“Whoever the opponent is, it doesn’t matter. I prepare the same,” Greer said. “Every fight is a world title fight for me. I’m ranked No. 1 in the world, so I have to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Plania (23-1, 12 KOs) is ranked in the Top 12 by two sanctioning bodies. The 23-year-old General Santos City resident failed the only other time he faced a contender, losing a unanimous decision to Juan Carlos Payano even though he put Payano down in 2018.
Another big name is on the June 16 card. Former lightweight titleholder Antonio DeMarco (33-8-1, 24 KOs) faces unbeaten Giovani Santillan (25-0, 15 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder welterweight bout.
DeMarco, 34, has lost his last two fights – decisions against Maxim Dadashev and Jamal James – and five of his last seven but the Mexican has a big name. That gives Santillan, a prospect from San Diego, a chance to score points as he builds his resume.
“A win against DeMarco will change my life,” Santillan said. “It will mean I would’ve won a fight against a former world champion on national television when hardly anything live is occurring. A lot of people are watching these fights, and I believe this will put me in contention to fight for a world title.
“I want to get a ranking in the Top 15 of any of the major sanctioning body to be considered as a world title challenger, and defeating Antonio DeMarco will be a great step in that direction.”
Also on the June 16 card:
- Nikoloz Sekhniashvili (5-04, 4 KOs) vs. Isiah Jones (8-1, 3 KOs), six rounds, super middleweights
- Edward Vazquez (7-0, 1 KO) vs. TBA, six rounds, junior lightweights
- Hector Perez (6-2, 3 KOs) vs. Juan Torres (5-2-1, 2 KOs), six rounds, heavyweights
Featherweight prospect Chris Zavala (6-0, 3 KOs) was scheduled to fight Vazquez on the June 16 card but was pulled after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Manny Robles Jr., Zavala’s trainer, told ESPN that his fighter was infected by a sparring partner.
“All three of the kids that were sparring one another, we have quarantined them. Chris was the last one to test positive,” he said.
On June 18, Pedraza, the former Olympian and two-division titleholder, faces Mikkel LesPierre in a 10-round junior welterweight main event. Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) has lost two of his last three fights, decisions against Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2018 and Jose Zepeda last September.
LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KOs) rebounded from a one-sided loss to Maurice Hooker in March of last year to outpoint Roody Pierre Paul in December. LesPierre is from Trinidad and Tobago but lives in Brooklyn.
Gabriel Flores Jr. fights Josec Ruiz in a 10-round lightweight co-feature.
And on June 20, Navarette, a junior featherweight titleholder and one of the hottest fighters in the world, defends his title against fellow Mexican Uriel Lopez in Mexico City on ESPN’s streaming service.
Navarette (31-1, 27 KOs) outpointed then-unbeaten Isaac Dogboe to win his title in December 2018, stopped Dogboe in an immediate rematch and has successfully defended four more times – all by knockout. He fought five times last year.
Lopez (13-13-1, 6 KOs) has lost his last three fights by decision.
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