WEEKEND
Artists KO Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Edgar Berlanga will try to stay unbeaten in separate hands on Saturday night.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18 KO) vs Michael McKinson (21-0, 2 KO)
- When: Saturday, March 19
- Time: 9pm ET / 6pm Pacific Time (main event follows)
- Where: USC Galen Center, Los Angeles
- TV / Stream: DAZN
- Assignment: Welterweight
- Circle: twelfth
- Under threat: No main title
- Ranking in British Pounds: Not available
- The odds: Ortiz 8½-1 favorite
- Also on the card: Alexis Rocha vs. Blair Cobbs, weight class
- Guess: Ortiz KO 10
- Story: Ortiz was busy until he got his inevitable hit at the 147-pound grand slam. The 23-year-old Texas player is about to have an impressive 1/8 round knockout of Egidijus Kavaliauskas last August in Frisco, Texas. It was his seventh fight as a welterweight, one that also included consecutive wins over Brad Solomon, Samuel Vargas and Maurica Hooker. No competitor has made it past eight rounds with the former 140-pound owner. He is ranked in the Top 4 by all four major sanctioning bodies, including the #1 spot by WBC (Errol Spence Jr.) and WBO (Terence Crawford). The undefeated McKinson has an unusual record as he stops only 2 of his 21 opponents. However, the 27-year-old male boxer from England is a good boxer and athlete with excellent boxing shots. He also last fought in August, when he easily overcame Przemyslaw Runowski in a 10-game match in Brentwood, England. McKinson will launch in the US.
Edgar Berlanga (18-0, 16 KOs) vs Steve Rolls (21-1, 12 KOs)
- When: Saturday, March 19
- Time: 9pm ET / 6pm Pacific Time (main event follows)
- Where: Madison Square Garden Theater, New York
- TV / Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
- Assignment: Super middleweight
- Circle: ten
- Under threat: No main title
- Ranking in British Pounds: Not available
- The odds: NA
- Also on the card: Xander Zayas vs. Quincy LaVallais, young middleweight; John Bauza vs Tony Luis, weight class competitors
- Guess: Berlanga KO 10
- Story: Berlanga has had a remarkable start to his career, stopping his first 16 opponents in the first round, but he has looked human in his last two matches. Demond Nicholson knocked the 24-year-old New Yorker by 8 rounds last April, though Berlanga won easily. Then, in his first 10th round last October, he survived being knocked out in Round 9 to win a unanimous decision victory over the surprisingly stubborn Marcelo Esteban Coceres. Berlanga is ranked #6 by the WBO and #13 by the WBA, which means a title will come if he continues to win. Rolls can also test Berlanga. The 37-year-old Canadian boxer is best known for being blown away by Gennadiy Golovkin – his only elite enemy – for four rounds in June 2019 but he is a highly trained boxer so will give Berlanga some resistance. Rolls recovered from the Triple-G loss by stopping Gilberto Perez dos Santos in January 2020 and Christopher Brooker this past December.
Also fighting this week:
THURSDAY
- Cem Kilic (15-1, 10 KO) of Germany will play Antonio Hernandez (6-12-2, 4 KOs) of Kansas City, Kansas, during the super middleweight fight in Montebello, California (UFC Fight Pass).
SATURDAY
- IBF Flyweight Championship Sunny Edwards England’s (17-0, 4 KOs) will defend his title first Muhammad Waseem (12-1, 8 KOs) of Pakistan in Dubai (no US TV). Also, Regis Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) of New Orleans will face Tyrone McKenna (22-2-1, 6 KOs) of Northern Ireland in a welterweight bout.
- Masamichi Yabuki (13-3, 12 KOs) of Japan will defend its WBC lightweight flyweight belt against compatriots Kenshiro Teraji (18-1, 10 KOs) in Kyoto (no US TV).
- Yamileth Mercados Mexico’s (18-3.5 KOs) will defend her WBC lightweight featherweight title against compatriot Zulina Munoz (53-4-2, 30 KOs) in Mexico (no US TV).
- Australian Sam Soliman (47-16-1, 19) will face compatriots Jesse White (6-2, 0 KO) in the middleweight bout in Melbourne, Australia (FITE).
- Jacob Ng (15-0, 11 KO) will happen Billy Dib (47-6, 27 KOs) in an Australian lightweight bout in Broadbeach, Australia (FITE).
