Joshua Franco faces Andrew Moloney for the third time on Saturday, in the main event of a Top Rank on ESPN card at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma (ESPN, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET).
Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs), 25, of San Antonio, Texas, won the WBA “regular” junior bantamweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs), 30, of Australia, in June 2020. In a rematch last November, Franco suffered a bad cut over his right eye and the fight was ruled a “no contest” because the referee ruled it had happened by an accidental head-butt, and the fight hadn’t gone long enough for an official decision.
Also on the card, Muhammad Ali’s grandson Nico Ali Walsh, of Chicago, makes his professional boxing debut against Jordan Weeks (4-1, 2 KOs), 29, of Lexington, South Carolina. Ali Walsh is just 21, but one big question lingers — can he fight?
On another boxing card on Saturday, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET), WBO bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero faces WBA “regular” titleholder Guillermo Rigondeaux in the main event.
Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs), 32, of the Philippines, has won six consecutive fights by stoppage, including a third-round KO of Duke Mich in his last outing in September 2020. Rigondeaux (21-1, 13 KOs), 40, of Cuba, is a former junior featherweight world champion who lost to Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2017. Since that defeat, he has won three consecutive fights, including a split decision victory over Liborio Solis in February 2020 to win the WBA belt.
In the co-main event, Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, faces Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-2, 12 KOs), 29, of Manati, Puerto Rico, in a 12-round battle for the vacant WBA interim bantamweight title.
At The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL, welterweight sensation Vergil Ortiz Jr. takes on the biggest challenge of his career so far against former title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas in the main event (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET).
Ortiz (17-0, 17 KOs), 23, of Dallas, hasn’t fought past the seventh round so far in his career. In February, Ortiz scored a seventh-round KO against former world titlist Maurice Hooker in a dominant performance.
Kavaliauskas (22-1-1, 18 KOs), 33, of Lithuania, lost via ninth-round TKO against Terence Crawford when he challenged for the WBO welterweight title in December 2019, but recovered with an eighth-round TKO of Mikael Zewski in September 2020.
Follow along throughout the night for live results from all three boxing cards.
Fight in progress from Tulsa: Karlos Balderas vs. Fidel Cervantes, 6 rounds, junior lightweights
Results:
Andres Cortez def. Genesis Servania by first-round KO
Fight recap coming up …
In Tulsa: Bell dominates Cortez for one-sided victory
Albert Bell scored a shutout unanimous decision over Julio Cortez, winning 80-72 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Bell (19-0, 5 KOs), a native of Toledo, Ohio, was coming off an eight-round decision win over Manuel Rey Rojas in April. The 130-pounder easily outboxed Cortez (15-3, 11 KOs), using his significant height and reach advantage to keep the Ecuadorian on the outside.
Bell might not pack much pop, but at 6 feet, he’s very tall for the 130-pound division, and he has the boxing skills to go along with it. He appears to be inching closer to a top-10 ranking in a stacked weight class. Now he just needs the step-up opponent to prove he’s at that level.
In Tulsa: Nova outpoints Pumicpic for unanimous decision win
Abraham Nova returned from an Achilles tear with a successful performance, earning a unanimous decision victory over Richard Pumicpic in the ESPN+ opening bout.
Nova (20-0, 14 KOs) was stunned late in the first round but settled into the fight to win by scores of 79-73, 78-74 and 79-73. The power-punching 130-pounder was competing for the first time since a June 2020 decision win over Avery Sparrow.
Pumicpic (22-12-2, 7 KOs), a native of the Philippines, has lost four of his last five fights.
Still to come:
Tulsa (ESPN/ESPN+)
-
Title fight: Joshua Franco vs. Andrew Moloney, 12 rounds, for Franco’s WBA “regular” junior bantamweight title
-
Arnold Barboza vs. Antonio Moran, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
-
Jason Moloney vs. Joshua Greer, 10 rounds, bantamweights
-
Trey Lippe Morrison vs. Don Haynesworth, 6 rounds, heavyweights
Carson, California (Showtime)
-
Title fight: John Riel Casimero vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux, 12 rounds, for Casimero’s WBO bantamweight title and Rigondeaux’s WBA “regular” bantamweight title
-
Title fight: Gary Antonio Russell vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez, 12 rounds, for the interim WBA bantamweight title
-
Rau’shee Warren vs Damien Vazquez, 10 rounds, bantamweights
-
Brandun Lee vs. Ezequiel Fernandez, 8 rounds, junior welterweights
-
Juan Carlos Payano vs. Raymond Tabugon, 8 rounds, bantamweights
-
Alan Castano vs. Christian Aguirre, 6 rounds, middleweights
-
Jonas Sultan vs. Sharon Carter, 8 rounds, bantamweights
-
Benjamin Stanoff vs. Maycon Oiler De Silva, 4 rounds, middleweights
Frisco, Texas (DAZN)
-
Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas, 12 rounds, welterweights
-
Title fight: Roger Gutierrez vs. Rene Alvarado, 12 rounds, for Gutierrez’s WBA “regular” junior lightweight title
-
Title fight: Felix Alvarado vs. Erick Lopez, 12 rounds, for Alvarado’s IBF junior flyweight title
-
Pablo Cesar Cano vs. Danielito Zorrilla, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
-
Alex Martin vs. Josec Ruiz, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
-
George Rincon vs. TBA, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
-
Leonardo Baez vs. Hector Valdez, 10 rounds, junior featherweights
-
Alex Rincon vs. Sanny Duversonne, 8 rounds, junior middleweights