Fight Week Preview
It's finally here! The first mega fight in two months! Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo square off. For the first time in the four-belt era, two undisputed world champions will square off. There are also great appetizers on the menu as well that take place in the UK!
The action kicks off in the UK as one of the sport's most underrated fighters, Jai Opetaia,22-0 (17) of New South Wales, Australia, puts his undefeated record and his IBF cruiserweight title on the line against undefeated British KO artist Jordan Thompson, 15-0 (12). Opetaia pulled off a massive upset of Mairis Briedis 15 months ago to shock the world and capture the IBF crown He has been inactive since. Thompson scored the biggest win of his career by stopping Luke Watkins for the IBF European title last April in Cardiff, Wales. The undercard features a series of intriguing women's bouts.IBF Super bantamweight Ellie Scotney puts her title on the line against Laura Soledad Griffin. Also on the card is undefeated upstart Cheavon Clarke and Rhiannon Dixon, who will compete for regional belts.
Then the action moves to the mega fight as Undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez, 59-2-2 (39), puts all the belts on the line against Houston, Texas native and undisputed Junior Middleweight champ Jermell Charlo, 35-1-1 (19) in Las Vegas. Charlo bounced back from the one-sided loss to Bivol and the lackluster performance against GGG fairly nicely taking a lopsided decision against John Ryder in May. For Charlo, he has battled injuries and has not been in the ring for well over a year. He last fought in May of 2022 when he stopped Brian Castano to pick up the WBO 154-pound strap and the undisputed champ in that division. Also on the card is a highly intriguing crossroads welterweight fight between "El Azteca '' Mario Barrios, 27-2 (18) from San Antonio, Texas. Barrios bounced back nicely from consecutive losses to Tank Davis and Keith Thurman to stop Jovanie Santiago at the Alamodome in his home city with his new trainer, Bob Santos. He will step in with former WBA welterweight champ and aging Cuban legend Yordenis Ugas, the 37-year-old from Santiago de Cuba, who sports a 27-5 (12) record. He held the WBA world title up until his last bout when he was stopped by Errol Spence at AT&T Stadium. in April of 2022. Also on the card is rising Junior Middleweight Jesus Ramos of Casa Grande, Arizona, the undefeated Ramos, 20-0 (16), outs his undefeated record on the line against highly touted contender Erickson Lubin, 25-2 (18), who bounced back nicely from his stoppage loss to Sebastian Fundora by destroying Luis Arias on the undercard of Carlos Adames vs Julian Williams.
