Heayweights Efe Ajagba (19-1, 14 KOs) and Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (12-1-1, 10 KOs) will meet in a ten round battle of 2016 Olympians in the co-feature for the April 13 ESPN clash between heavyweights Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson and Ryad Merhy at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The eight-round televised opener features three-time world title challenger Robson Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs) looking to keep his junior lightweight world title hopes alive against the upset-minded Jose Guardado (15-1-1, 5 KOs). Conceição, a 2016 Olympic boxing gold medalist, is coming off a draw against three-weight world champion Emanuel Navarrete.
In scheduled undercard action, streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+:
- In a clash between unbeaten junior lightweights, Henry Lebron (19-0, 10 KOs), who is ranked in the top 10 by the WBO and IBF, will face Charly Suarez (16-0, 9 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
- Hot unbeaten 19-year-old southpaw lightweight Abdullah Mason (12-0, 10 KOs) returns in an eight-rounder against Ronal Ron (14-5, 11 KOs).
- Featherweight contender Ruben Villa (21-1, 7 KOs) will fight Cristian Cruz Chacon (22-6-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
- Local welterweight John Rincon (8-0, 2 KOs) looks to thrill the hometown fans in a six-rounder against TBA.
Pretty standard Top Rank undercard. Nothing special but some decent stuff.
Ajagba is being moved so slowly. Not that long ago he was a potential ‘next big thing’.
You could say the same for Anderson…. We’re in shit or get off the pot territory.
From a title fight draw to an 8rd fight. Hmm
Ajagba is way too robotic for my boxing choice.
Equal heavyweight matchup.
This dudes will probably end up fighting derek chisora or dilliam whyte for the european wwwwxyz continental champion belt!
No. Too big of a risk
I’d be good with Anderson v Whyte next up. It would be the first foray for Anderson into a real challenger. Whyte is very beatable, but he’s a been-there, done-that heavyweight with notable wins. I get concerned that Anderson’s handlers are putting him in with dubious fringe contenders and journeymen at this stage… maybe they don’t feel he’s ready for prime time yet. He’s been on the scene for a while; he’s gonna need to prove it sooner or later. He’s only two years younger than Daniel Dubois, who had fought a comparable murderer’s row by the time he was Anderson’s age. I guess that’s the difference btween how American and European guys move along.
Anderson will be the next American heavyweight champ. He’s young and getting better each fight.