Two of boxing's "most talented and exciting stars," WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) and WBO Featherweight World Champion Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO), will attempt to set the tone for the biggest fight in recent memory between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao this Saturday night (May 2, 2015).
Santa Cruz will co-headline the pay-per-view (PPV) event, putting his world title on the line against Puerto Rico's Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs). Lomachenko, meanwhile, will kickoff the PPV main card action at 9 p.m. against Mexican "brawler" Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs).
Before the PPV begins, though, fans in Las Vegas, Nevada, who are somehow able to afford a ridiculously expensive ticket to sit inside MGM Grand Garden Arena will be able to catch four un-televised under card matches.
HBO sent around the particulars in a press release earlier today:
"The slick and undefeated Chris "Sweet" Pearson (11-0, 9 KOs) meets Said El Harrak (12-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight bout and heavy-fisted Jesse Hart (16-0, 13 KOs) takes on fellow unbeaten Mike Jimenez (17-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-rounder or the NABO, USBA and NABF Super Middleweight titles. An undefeated knockout artist looking to make it 10-for-10, Andrew "The Beast" Tabiti (9-0, 9 KOs) faces Anthony Caputo Smith (15-4, 10 KOs) in an eight- rounds cruiserweight match. Kicking off the night of fights is undefeated contender Brad Solomon (24-0, 9 KOs), who’ll be opposed by Adrian Rene Granados (13-3, 9 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight bout."
Top Rank's Bob Arum, who is co-promoting the event alongside Mayweather Promotions, claimed that, "each under card match could be a main event on another card." That's certainly far-fetched; however, Santa Cruz is a demon and Lomachenko is a two-time gold medal-winning Olympic boxer.
It should be a fun night.
But, there is really only one fight that anyone who is anyone cares about, which is Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which will probably go off around 12:30 a.m. on fight once all the pomp and circumstance is complete.
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