A compelling clash of unbeaten heavyweight prospects has been added to an upcoming Top Rank card.

Richard Torrez, Jr. and Brandon Moore will square off on May 18, Top Rank announced Tuesday afternoon. The eight-round bout will take place at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California and will open the Top Rank on ESPN telecast (10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT).

The Torrez-Moore fight was added to the telecast that is headlined by the vacant WBO lightweight world title fight between Emanuel Navarrete and Denys Berinchyk and the clash between unbeaten welterweights Giovani Santillan, who resides in San Diego, and Brian Norman.

“Richard Torrez, Jr. is one of the most explosive and powerful young heavyweights I’ve seen, and he’s in for a big test against Brandon Moore,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “These are two unbeaten, skilled big men and a great addition to an already loaded card at Pechanga Arena (in) San Diego.”

Torrez (9-0, 9 knockouts), who resides in Tulare, California, last fought on March 29, stopping Donald Haynesworth in the opening round. The knockout win over Haynesworth was Torrez’s fifth first-round knockout victory.

In his previous fight on December 9, the southpaw Torrez stopped gatekeeper Curtis Harper in the final moments of the last round.

The 24-year-old was an amateur standout, culminating his amateur career at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, losing in the super heavyweight gold medal final to Bakhodir Jalolov.

Moore (14-0 1 No Decision, 8 KOs) defeated Helaman Olguin by over eight one-sided rounds in his last bout on March 2. In his previous fight on November 4, Moore dropped Robert Simms en route to a one-sided decision win.

The 30-year-old, who resides in Lakeland, Florida, is managed by Ryan Rickey.

Both Torrez and Moore are promoted by Top Rank.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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