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Lem’s latest: Peterson-Matthysse undercard announced

Fighters Network
14
May

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Saturday’s Lamont Peterson-Lucas Matthysse main event, which will be contested at a 141-pound catchweight along with an IBF welterweight bout between beltholder Devon Alexander and Lee Purdy, begins on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

The loaded undercard will air on Showtime Extreme starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT, and will feature a 150-pound clash between Shawn Porter (20-0-1, 14 knockouts) and Phil LoGreco (25-0, 14 KOs). Porter is coming off December’s draw with former two-time lightweight beltholder Julio Diaz, and LoGreco rose from a first-round knockdown for November’s seventh-round stoppage of Daniel Sostre.



It will also include the return of Lamont’s younger brother, lightweight standout Anthony Peterson (31-1, 20 KOs), who will end a 17-month layoff against Dominic Salcido (18-4, 9 KOs), of Rialto, Calif.

In addition, bantamweight Cesar Seda (24-1, 17 KOs), of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, will take on Miguel Tamayo (13-5-2, 11 KO’s), of Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.

In the opening bout of Showtime Extreme, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Anthony Ogogo, of Great Britain, who signed with Golden Boy in December, will make his United States debut against Puerto Rico’s Edgar Perez (5-4, 3 KOs). Ogogo, 24, won his professional debut with last month’s second-round stoppage of Kieron Gray in Sheffield, England.

Also on the televised card, time permitting, will be bantamweight Haroon Khan, 22, the younger brother of Amir Khan, in his second professional fight against Vicente Medellin (0-5), of Riverside, Calif., and light heavyweight Thomas Williams (13-0, 10 KOs), of Washington, D.C., meeting veteran Otis Griffin (24-12-2, 10 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif.

U.S. Olympians Rau’shee Warren (3-0, 1 KOs), of Cincinnati, and, Jamel Herring (2-0, 1 KOs), of Rockville Centre, N.Y., will also be featured. Warren has a bantamweight bout against Chicago’s Angel Carvajal (2-1), and Herring, a lightweight matchup with Victor Galindo (1-1), of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Another undercard bout features lightweights Robert Easter Jr. (3-0, 3 KO’s), of Toledo, Ohio, and, Antoine Knight (2-3), of Merrillville, Ind.

 

OMAR FIGUEROA TO FACE NIHITO ARAKAWA ON JULY 27 CARD

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Lightweight prospect Omar Figueroa Jr. (21-0-1, 17 KOs), who is coming off April’s first-round stoppage of Abner Cotto, will fight Japan’s Nihito Arakawa (24-2-1, 16 KOs) for the WBC’s interim belt on the July 27 undercard of a Showtime-televised tripleheader featuring Andre Berto against Jesus Soto Karass and 147-pound contender Keith “One Time” Thurman against Selcuk Aydin in San Antonio, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.

ESPN.com had the initial report.

If victorious over Arakawa, Figueroa will become the WBC’s full titleholder if, Adrien “The Problem” Broner, chooses to relinquish it following his June 22 clash with WBA welterweight titleholder Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi, Schaefer said.

“Broner is moving up, but will keep the title,” said Schaefer, in an e-mail to RingTV.com. “After the Paulie fight, he will decide [what he is going to do.]”

If Broner decides not to return to the lightweight division, “then the Figueroa fight might be for the full title,” said Schaefer.

 

CHRIS ARREOLA HAS SURGERY ON HIS NOSE

Heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (35-3, 30 KOs) had surgery on Friday to handle damage as a result of a broken nose suffered during last month’s unanimous decision loss to Haitian-born rival Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20- KOs).

According to a story that was initially reported by ESPN.com, Arreola had stints removed on Monday to assist and improve his breathing.

Arreola-Stiverne was a WBC elimination bout. Stiverne is now in line to challenge 41-year-old WBC titleholder Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KOs), who scored his 13th straight win and his 10th stoppage victory during that run against Manuel Charr (21-1, 11 KOs) in September.

 

RAY NAHR REPLACES JAIME HERRERA AGAINST RONALD CRUZ

Welterweight Ray Nahr (25-2, 21 KOs) will end a more than two-year layoff when he returns to the ring against Puerto Rican welterweight Ronald Cruz (17-1, 12 KOs) on June 14 on NBC’s Fight Night from the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pa. Nahr has not fought since May of 2011, when he was stopped in the third round by Mike Alvarado.

Cruz-Nahr will be part of a triple-header that will also feature light heavyweights Sergei Kovalev (20-0-1, 18 KOs) and Cornelius White (21-1, 16 KOs), as well as Philadelphia heavyweight Bryant Jennings (16-0, 8 KOs) against Russian Andrey Fedosov (24-2, 19 KOs).

Nahr is replacing Jaime Herrera (10-2, 5 KOs), who suffered a lower back injury during training last week.

ZOU SHIMING TO HEADLINE TOP RANK’S MACAU CARD YET AGAIN

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming will headline the Top Rank’s second card in Macau, China, on July 27 against Mexico’s Jesus Ortega at the Venetian Casino and Resort in Macau.

A flyweight, Zou (1-0) was the focus of the initial show on April 6, when he unanimously decisioned Eleazar Valenzuela over four rounds, and will take a step up in Mexico’s Jesus Ortega (3-1, 2 KOs), whom he will battle in a six-rounder.

“I was very pleased with how quickly Shiming learned what I was teaching during our first training camp, and he is the hardest worker in the gym,” said trainer Freddie Roach.

“This time, our main focus will be on getting him to punch harder. Shiming will need to learn how to sit down on his punches to maximize their power. I can not wait to start working with him again.”

Also on the card, WBA and WBO flyweight titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada (24-2, 18 KOs) of Sonora, Mexico, in the first defense of the unified title against Milan Melindo (29-0, 12 KOs), of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, as well as IBF featherweight titleholder Evgeny Gradovich (16-0, 8 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., by way of Russia, in the first defense of his title against Mauricio Javier Munoz (26-3, 12 KOs), of Argentina.

Estrada vanquished Brian Viloria in April for his belts on the April 6 card, and Gradovich won his title by split-decision over Billy Dib in March after taking the bout on short notice.

“The exciting matches taking place at The Venetian Macao’s CotaiArena on July 27 highlight the fact that boxing is a major global sport,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.

The international telecast will open with a 10-round heavyweight bout between Andy Ruiz, Jr. (18-0, 12 KOs), of Mexicali, Mexico, and Joe Hanks (21-0, 14 KOs), of Los Angeles.

The undercard will also feature Genesis Servania (19-0, 7 KOs), of Cebu City, Philippines, in an eight-round junior featherweight bout against Konosuke Tomiyama (23-5-1, 8 KOs), of Tokyo, Japan; Paul Fleming (17-0, 12 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, in an eight-round super featherweight bout against Mike Tawatchai (26-1-1, 17 KOs), of Bangkok, Thailand; and Dodie Boy Pe├▒alosa (10-0, 8 KOs) and Dave Pe├▒alosa (5-0, 3 KOs), both from Cebu City, Philippines, in separate six-round featherweight and four-round junior featherweight bouts, respectively, against opponents to be determined.

 

 

Photos: Al Bello-Gettyimages; Jim Watson-AFP/Getty

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]

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