Here's your fight-size boxing update for July 1, 2020:
- Teofimo Lopez recently appeared on ESPN to give the latest on the status of his planned WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight title unification bout against Vasiliy Lomachenko. Lopez said Bob Arum’s trying to make the fight possible and with fans, perhaps a couple of thousand fans in attendance, and the tentative date is September 19. The two were originally planned to fight earlier this year, but it got postponed due to the pandemic before negotiations were finalized.
- According to Eddie Hearn, the WBC has ordered a fight between Luke Campbell and Ryan Garcia, both ranked No. 2 and No. 3 by the WBC at lightweight, respectively, after a fight between Campbell and Javier Fortuna could not be made. Fortuna is set to face Jorge Linares on August 28 in the main event of a DAZN card from California.
- Former WBO bantamweight champion Alfred Kotey recently died. Kotey held the WBO title from 1994 to 1995 and has faced the likes of Rafael Del Valle, Orlando Salido, Victor Ortiz, Daniel Jimenez and Juan Manuel Marquez.
- Top Rank has officially unveiled the full lineup of fights for next week's ESPN cards from Las Vegas. Below are the fights taking place on July 7 and July 9.
July 7:
- Jose Zepeda vs. Kendo Castaneda
- Andy Vences vs. Luis Alberto Lopez
- Andres Cortes vs. Alejandro Salinas
- Genaro Gamez vs. Reymond Yanong
- Eric Puente vs. Diego Elizondo
- Gabriel Muratalla vs. Sergio Lopez
July 9:
- Carlos Takam vs. Jerry Forrest
- Carlos Castro vs. Cesar Juarez
- Jared Anderson vs. TBA
- Fred Wilson Jr. vs. Ashton Sykes
- Robin Sirwan Safar vs. DeShon Webster
- Peter Cortez vs. TBA
- Joshafat Ortiz vs. Joshua Orta
- The June 30 Top Rank on ESPN card averaged 298,000 viewers and drew a 0.09 rating in the 18-49 demo (good for 82nd on cable for the day). Both numbers down from the June 30 show, which averaged 418,000 viewers and drew a 0.17 rating in the 18-49 demo (16th on cable for the day).
- Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter has revealed that he is no longer with Matchroom Boxing and is a promotional free agent. Hunter, a former cruiserweight title challenger, last fought in December when he fought Alexander Povetkin to a draw in Saudi Arabia. Hunter, who is ranked in the top 10 of all four major governing bodies (WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF) also told Sky Sports that he ia targeting a fight in September.
- Per Deadline, HBO is developing Unruly, a six-part limited series about boxing legend Jack Johnson to be played by two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.
- John Docherty's opponent for his August 14 fight on Matchroom Fight Camp has been revealed. He will fight Anthony Fox on the card headlined by Felix Cash vs. Jason Welborn for the Commonwealth middleweight title.
- Below are the official weights for the July 2 Top Rank on ESPN card from Las Vegas. A programming note for the card is that the broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET with Robeisy Ramirez vs. Adan Gonzales.
- Jose Pedraza (143.9 lbs) vs. Mikkel LesPierre (143.5 lbs)
- Albert Bell (133 lbs) vs. Mark Bernaldez (132 lbs)
- Elvis Rodriguez (140.2 lbs) vs. Dan Murray (139.2 lbs)
- Patrick Mailata (284 lbs) vs. Kingsley Ibeh (284.1 lbs)
- Carlos Jackson (125.1 lbs) vs. Jose Enrique Vivas (125.9 lbs)
- Robeisy Ramirez (125.1 lbs) vs. Adan Gonzales (125.4 lbs)
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