Really strong card tonight on DAZN. Worth tuning in for. DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas, Kal Yafai vs Roman Gonzalez, Julio Cesar Martinez vs Jay Harris, Joseph Parker vs Shawndell Winters. Pretty easily the best top three on a single card on paper so far this year. Garcia is going make or break at 147 against Vargas, who is a big step back from Errol Spence Jr but still a credible fighter, a former titleholder. If Mikey just can’t hack it at welterweight, Vargas is good enough to show us. Yafai-Gonzalez is for a 115-pound title, and the sort of fight Yafai has been trying to get for years. Martinez-Harris is for a 112-pound title. This could be a great show. Garcia and Vargas are both in sort of a must-win situation here. Garcia needs it because he’s been out for a year after being frankly embarrassed by Errol Spence Jr, and another poor showing tonight will kill his name value in the short term. And Vargas, who has been flirting with a move to 154, is in real need of a notable win, too, if he wants to stay in this big fight mix at either 147 or 154 going forward. Julio Cesar Martinez will defend the WBC flyweight title against Jay Harris, and Kal Yafai will put his WBA junior bantamweight title on the line against Hall of Fame-bound Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. The main card will open with heavyweight Joseph Parker taking on Shawndell Winters.
118-109, 116-111, 115-112 for JCM. Damn good fight. Harris gonna be pissing blood tomorrow, but he's a damn fun fighter. Will watch him anytime.
WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Garcia vs. Vargas (2/29/20) Matchup Odds Mikey Garcia -700 Jessie Vargas +500
116-111 x2, 114-113 for Mikey. Damn quality fight. Those 116 cards are too wide. I love Mikey, but he’s got to give up the dream of 147. He’s not big enough.
I just watched the fight. He’s not going to land punches better than what knocked Vargas down, and Vargas came back from it pretty damned well. You’re right, he just doesn’t have the size/power for this class. That said, he’s such a damned good fighter.
Hearn saying he's already talking with Fury's people about getting the contract in place for Joshua-Fury in December.
Reports out there that Leo Santa Cruz - Tank Davis is basically finalized. Really fun fight that Tank wins if he’s got his head on straight.
Can anyone tell me more about Efe Ajagba? He’s fighting on FOX tomorrow, looks like a Nigerian Wilder clone, and I’ve wanted to see him fight since the video of the dude leaving the ring after touching gloves with him. edit: apparently today is not Friday. He fights Saturday.
He’s a really fun HW prospect. Power is legit, throws a lot of punches, shown some ability to make adjustments during fights, but overall he’s really raw as a boxer from a skill standpoint. Got a good trainer in Ronnie Shields, and the matchup this weekend is set up for him to put on a show with a big KO. I like him, but he’s a ways off still from advancing beyond prospect status. He’s like a single-A version of Wilder at this point, to make a baseball comparison.
I think we’ll find out next month. Joyce is a nice test and a big step for him. Handle that well, and I think his window moves up a good bit. Excited for that fight.
Alright, here's what we've got tonight. Nice trio of HW fights. FOX, 8:00 pm ET, Adam Kownacki vs Robert Helenius, Efe Ajagba vs Razvan Cojanu, Frank Sanchez vs Joey Dawejko. No FS1 prelims for this show, which was also the case for the last FOX show (Plant-Feigenbutz), and wouldn’t exactly surprise me if that’s more the case going forward for these frankly “lesser” FOX shows. Kownacki is in line for a title shot of some kind at some point, in theory, except now PBC have zero hold on any of the heavyweight titles. Helenius is long past his best days and his best days turned out to not be that great in the first place. Ajagba and Sanchez are both prospects facing veterans.
Sanchez fighting well, but I do worry about his legs, as they've mentioned on the broadcast. Not much of a base to build on.
100-90 x2, 98-92 for Frank Sanchez. Brian Kenny bewildered by whatever judge it was finding two rounds for Joey.
Good stoppage. Ajagba looked good, but wanted him to press on the gas more. Be a little more aggressive.