Showtime Boxing have made an expected major announcement this morning of eight cards set for between Aug. 1 and Dec. 12, two of them pay-per-view events.
Without getting into a bunch of unnecessary drawn-out wordage, here’s the lineup:
- Aug. 1 (SHO): Stephen Fulton Jr vs Angelo Leo in a junior featherweight bout for the vacant WBO title (PBC is recognizing the WBO now, it seems). This had already been reported and is now confirmed. Tramaine Williams vs Ra’eese Aleem in another junior featherweight bout, and Joe George vs Marcos Escudero in a light heavyweight rematch.
- Aug. 15 (SHO): David Benavidez vs Roamer Alexis Angulo, with Benavidez defending the WBC super middleweight title. Had also been reported, now confirmed. Rolando Romero vs Jackson Marinez for an interim WBA lightweight title, and Otto Wallin vs Travis Kauffman in a heavyweight bout.
- Sept. 19 (SHO): Erickson Lubin vs Terrell Gausha in a pivotal junior middleweight fight for both. Tugstsogt Nyambayar vs Eduardo Ramirez in a WBC featherweight eliminator, plus Jaron Ennis vs TBA in a welterweight fight.
- Sept. 26 (PPV): A twin main event, with Jermall Charlo defending the WBC middleweight title against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and Jermell Charlo taking on Jeison Rosario in a junior middleweight fight with the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles on the line. This will be a SIX-FIGHT pay-per-view, also featuring: Brandon Figueroa vs Damien Vasquez in a junior featherweight fight; Diego Magdaleno vs Isaac Cruz in an IBF lightweight eliminator; Mario Barrios vs Ryan Karl in a junior welterweight fight; and Daniel Roman vs TBA at junior featherweight.
- Oct. 10 (SHO): Sergey Lipinets vs Kudratillo Abdukakhorov in a welterweight main event. Xavier Martinez vs Claudio Marrero at junior lightweight and Malik Hawkins vs Subriel Matias at junior welterweight.
- Oct. 24 (PPV): Gervonta “Tank” Davis takes on Leo Santa Cruz in another fight that was expected and is now officially set. This will be a 130-pound fight, but both Santa Cruz’s WBA 130-pound belt and Davis’ secondary WBA lightweight title will be on the line.
- Nov. 28 (SHO): Chris Colbert, a top 130-pound prospect and rising contender, takes on Jaime Arboleda in a nice step-up matchup. Richardson Hitchins vs Argenis Mendez at junior welterweight and another fight TBA will also be on the card.
- Dec. 12 (SHO): Nordine Oubaali defends the WBC bantamweight title against Nonito Donaire. Two undercard fights will be added.
Lots to like here, and good to see Showtime really back in the boxing mix with some good fights.
