Former unified and lineal lightweight world champion George Kambosos Jr. makes his Top Rank debut in a 12-round IBF world title eliminator against English southpaw Maxi Hughes on Saturday, July 22, at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. In the 10-round co-feature, U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis takes a seismic step up in class against Belgian contender and former European champion Francesco Patera.
Kambosos-Hughes and Davis-Patera will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. The ESPN+-streamed undercard will feature the ring returns of welterweight contender Giovani Santillan, Oklahoma-born heavyweight Jeremiah Milton and middleweight prospect Troy Isley.
Santillan (30-0, 16 KOs) will face Ecuadorian contender Erick Bone (27-6, 14 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight battle. He is coming off his best year yet as a pro, stopping Jeovanis Barraza in April 2022 before a hometown win over Julio Luna Avila in San Diego last August. Bone is an experienced veteran who has given tough challenges to former world champions Shawn Porter, Chris Algieri, Miguel Vazquez and Sergey Lipinets.
Milton (9-0, 6 KOs) will make his second appearance in 2023 in an eight-round heavyweight tilt. The 29-year-old is no stranger to fighting in Oklahoma, having fought four times in his hometown of Tulsa. Milton is coming off an eight-round decision win over Fabio Maldonado in April.
Isley (9-0, 4 KOs) will fight in an eight-rounder. The 24-year-old U.S. Olympian joined the Top Rank stable in January 2021 and started his pro career with a decision win against Bryant Costello. In 2022, he stayed busy and went 5-0 with two knockouts. In April, on the Shakur Stevenson-Shuichiro Yoshino card, he notched a near-shutout over Roy Barringer.
Two competitive eight-round heavyweight matchups will also be featured on the ESPN+-streamed portion.
American contender Mike Balogun (20-1, 16 KOs) will collide against New Zealand’s Hemi Ahio (20-1, 15 KOs). Balogun is a former Oklahoma University linebacker who is coming back from a loss to former cruiserweight world champion Murat Gassiev, while Ahio stopped Richie Stanley in the first round in February.
Unbeaten Cleveland southpaw Roney Hines (12-0-1, 8 KOs) will face Belgium’s Michael Pirotton (7-0, 3 KOs).
No a bad undercard full of undefeated fighters, lets just hope they aren’t all just one sided affairs
Or the judges don’t ruin the night. Pretty sure the lesser IBO title is up for grabs between Kambosos and Hughes too.
Hope George doesn’t take this fight lightly, Maxi is a southpaw,gone the distance several times and no doubt would of studied footage of both Kambosos defeats to Haney.
I’m tipping Hughes in a close contest as long as the judges and referee don’t ruin the contest