Boxing on Television Preview: Baumgardner vs Linardatou 2, Martin vs Harutyunyan
Weekend of July 15th
Another week of solid, but not high profile cards.
Main Event: William Foster III vs Fradimil Macayo
Date: July 12th, 2023 (Wednesday)
Venue: ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida
Broadcast: ProBox TV and the ProBox TV YouTube Channel
Promoter: ProBox Promotions
My Notes
ProBox seems to be carrying on with their events on every other Wednesday after a break at the end of May. Most of their upcoming events seem to be listed as being in Florida for what that’s worth.
Main Event: Josh Kelly vs Gabriel Corzo
Date: July 15th, 2023
Venue: Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle, England
Broadcast: DAZN
Promoter: Wasserman Boxing
My Notes
This fight has implications in the WBO rankings at super-welterweight. Kelly was considered a good prospect, but he had a loss against David Avenesyan at welterweight. Kelly moved up in weight and rebuilt himself by winning the British title. Corzo is undefeated, but hasn’t faced serious opposition. Nathan Gorman is on the undercard. This fight was originally scheduled for June 24th, but got postponed due to Kelly suffering an injury.
Main Event: Alan Picasso vs Sabelo Ngebinyana
Date: July 15th, 2023
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Broadcast: DAZN and possibly the Golden Boy YouTube Channel
Promotional Affiliation: Golden Boy Promotions and Zanfer Promotions
My Notes
The main event is a WBC eliminator in the super-bantamweight division. This appears to be a Zanfer card that Golden Boy simply picked up the US rights to a couple of weeks before the event. A few Golden Boy prospects may end up on the undercard. Picasso is undefeated, but relatively untested. Ngebinyana has six losses and a draw on his record, and didn’t win either of his last two fights. Don’t ask me why this is a sanctioned eliminator, because it shouldn’t be.
Main Event: Alycia Baumgardner vs Christina Linardatou (rematch)
Date: July 15th, 2023
Venue: Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan
Broadcast: DAZN
Promotional Affiliation: Matchroom Boxing
Who are these fighters?
Alycia Baumgardner is the women’s undisputed super-featherweight champion. She last fought in February where she defeated Elhem Mekhaled to win the vacant WBA title. This is her first defense of the undisputed title.
Christina Linardatou is the former super-lightweight titleholder. She has a previous win over Baumgardner. She has losses to Delfine Persoon and Katie Taylor. Linardatou is promoted by DiBella Entertainment.
What’s at stake?
Baumgardner’s undisputed super-featherweight titles and the right to stay in the mix for bigger fights.
Why did this fight get made?
Baumgardner needed a compelling opponent for a homecoming fight and there were limited available options. Linardatou had a fight canceled in the UK recently due to a denied license, so she was available. Linardatou is the only fighter to have a win over Baumgardner, so that makes her a compelling opponent.
What’s on the undercard?
In the co-feature, Richardson Hitchens was scheduled to face Montana Love. However, Love withdrew due to an injury. This fight is expected to be rescheduled for another date.
Olympic Gold Medalist Andy Cruz will make his professional debut against former world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos. Burgos last fought in December when he lost an eight round decision to Keyshawn Davis.
French Olympian Soulemane Cisshoko will face ShoBox veteran Janelson Bocachica.
Marc Castro will also return on this card. Michigan Heavyweight Jermaine Franklin, who is coming off a loss to Anthony Joshua, will also be on this card.
Main Event: Frank Martin vs Artem Harutyunyan
Date: July 15th, 2023
Venue: The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcast: Showtime
Promotional Affiliation: Premier Boxing Champions
Who are these guys?
Frank Martin is a lightweight contender promoted by Errol Spence. He last fought in December where he won a WBA eliminator against Michel Rivera, who was undefeated at the time.
Artem Hartutyunan is an undefeated fighter who is ranked eighth by the WBC. He represented Germany in the 2016 Olympics. His most notable win as a professional is against Humberto Galindo, who was knocked out in March by Ray Muratalla on a Top Rank show. He’s a relatively unknown commodity here.
What’s at stake?
This is a sanctioned WBC eliminator. Shakur Stevenson is already the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, so I am not sure how the winner benefits here. Martin is already in position with the WBA to challenge Gervonta Davis for the secondary WBA title, but he can’t do that right now because Davis is in jail.
Why did this fight get made?
This is really a stay-busy fight that will get additional exposure for Martin.
What’s on the undercard?
In the co-feature, Nonito Donaire will attempt to re-gain the WBC bantamweight title, which he lost in his last fight by knockout to Naoya Inoue. Donaire will face Alexandro Santiago. If Donaire wins, this would be his 4th time holding a bantamweight world title. I thought this was more worthy of being the main event, but I am not in charge of constructing the card.
Elvis Rodriguez will face former WBC titleholder Viktor Postol in the opener. I think Postol could be stylistically problematic for Rodriguez, but Postol is also towards the end of his career.
Preliminary fight will be shown on the Showtime Sports YouTube Channel.
Final Thoughts
It’s one of those cards that feels like it’s just there. It’s not super-exciting and the undercard is ok.