World title action tops the bill at the BleauLive Theater, Fontainebleu Hotel in Las Vegas this Friday night, with Rafael Espinoza making his first defence of his WBO featherweight title against Sergio Chirino in an all-Mexican affair.
Top Rank promote, and Sky Sports is the place to watch in the UK. ESPN take up the USA television rights.
Espinoza (24-0, KO20) is yet another Mexican fighter to come from relative obscurity and into the big time with a career-defining win. Having only been ten rounds once, and then racking up seven straight early wins after that 2021 win against Carlos Ornelas, Espinoza got a crack at the world title last December. ‘El Divino’ started as firm underdog against the highly-skilled Robeisy Ramirez, but Espinoza upset the odds, getting off the floor in round five before returning the favour in the final round, which clinched a majority decision win. Chirino (22-1, KO13) has never fought outside of his homeland, with his sole defeat coming to the dangerous Mauricio Lara via second round retirement back in 2018. Since then, the 29-year-old has won 13 on the spin, going ten rounds twice, and he has never fought at championship level. He was last out in February, stopping Denis Contreras in three rounds in Oaxaca.
Our Mexican world title showdown is set 🇲🇽#EspinozaChirino | TOMORROW | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/TGkR2IjTXh
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) June 20, 2024
Prediction: Espinoza made a lot of people sit up and take note when he took the title from Ramirez, and he can keep that form going here with a clear points win over his Countryman.
On the undercard, Andres Cortes (21-0, KO12) takes a step up in class, and the super featherweight takes on recent world title challenger Abraham Nova (23-2, KO16) over ten rounds. The WBO NABO belt is up for grabs. Cortes has been operating at ten round level for his last three fights, the first a shutout against Luis Melendez last February. He then forced Xavier Martinez to retire after seven rounds last July, and he was last out in February, stopping Bryan Chevalier in the fourth round having lost the first three frames. Nova is coming off a close loss to O’Shaquie Foster in a bid for the WBC title in February, where Nova was decked in the final round to cost him a draw, with the champion retaining via split decision.
High stakes in this co-feature 🎲#EspinozaChirino | TOMORROW | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/yzt2OdaWMr
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) June 20, 2024
Prediction: Nova acquitted himself well in defeat to Foster, but Cortes looks a talent, and can come through on the cards.
The second and final ten rounder comes at middleweight, where Troy Isley (12-0, KO5) can take the WBO NABO title with a win on the scorecards against Javier Martinez (10-0-1, KO3).
In eight round action, Floyd Diaz (11-0, KO3) can take his bantamweight meeting with Francisco Pedroza Portillo (18-11-2, KO10) on points, and super featherweight prospect Demler Zamora (12-0, KO9) may be forced to go the distance to get the win over Jose Antonio Mexa (9-9, KO2).
Six rounders, complete the card.
Albert Gonzalez (8-0, KO4) can win on points against Conrado S. Martinez (9-1, KO0) at featherweight, and at middleweight, Bryan Polaco (6-0, KO4) can win inside schedule against Richard Acevedo (6-0-1, KO5). Super flyweight hope Steven Navarro (1-0, KO0) can come through on the cards in his meeting with Juan Pablo Meza (7-3, KO2).
