One of the sport’s best, and still most underrated fighters, returns to HBO Boxing this Saturday night, with Timothy Bradley taking on Jessie Vargas. The Bradley vs. Vargas fight headlines a two-fight card, also featuring Oscar Valdez vs. Ruben Tamayo. The doubleheader will be televised live this Saturday, June 27th, beginning at 9:45pm from StubHub Center in Carson, California.
The night marks the 1,000th fight televised on HBO. It all began Jan. 22, 1973 when HBO acquired telecast rights to the heavyweight title fight between Joe Frazier and George Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica. HBO has carried fights from 34 states plus Washington. D.C and international destinations such as Buenos Aires, Cancun, Montreal, London, Berlin, Copenhagen, Munich, Manila, Moscow and Tokyo. The fighters with the most appearances on the network during its 43 years of covering the sweet science are Roy Jones Jr and Oscar de la Hoya tied with 32.
Timothy Bradley Jr. (31-1-1, 12 KOs), from Palm Springs, Cal., takes on undefeated Jessie Vargas (26-0, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas in a scheduled 12-round welterweight contest. A former super lightweight and welterweight titleholder, Bradley will be making his 2015 debut.
His only pro loss came at the hands of Manny Pacquiao, which was followed by a controversial draw against Diego Chaves. Bradley has consistently accepted difficult fights and will be returning to the venue where he fought Ruslan Provodnikov in an epic 12-round battle that was named 2013’s Fight of the Year by the BWAA. Vargas has held a title in the super lightweight division and is moving up in weight to take on Bradley, seeking a new championship belt for his collection.
Opening up the telecast is a 10-round featherweight attraction that features the HBO debut of highly regarded two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez. The 24-year-old (16-0, 14 KOs) from Nogales, Sonora, hopes to show off his considerable ring skills in a matchup with southpaw Ruben Tamayo (23-5-4, 15 KOs), who hails from Ciuadad, Obregon, Sonora, Mexico.
