Jhonny Gonzalez vs Rogers Mtagwa Headlines Sept. 15 Show on ESPN Deportes

As part of their Mexican Independence weekend celebration, ESPN Deportes will have a double-header boxing card on September 15, which will also air on Televisa in Mexico.

In the main event, WBC featherweight titlist Jhonny Gonzalez (49-7, 43 KO) will defend his title against rugged veteran Rogers Mtagwa (27-14-2, 19 KO). Gonzalez, 29, is making what is to be honest a second straight weak title defense against an always-game but likely overmatched opponent in Mtagwa, after defending against veteran scrapper Tomas Villa on July 9 in Atlantic City. Gonzalez won the title on April 8 in Japan from Hozumi Hasegawa.

The good (if you want to put it that way) is that Gonzalez, for as highly-skilled and powerful a puncher as he is, has always been hyper vulnerable due to a subpar chin, and if Mtagwa can do two things, it's survive a more talented fighter, and lay in heavy shots of his own. The 32-year-old Mtagwa really doesn't deserve a title shot, given that his only fight since dropping two straight to Juan Manuel Lopez (highly competitive Fight of the Year candidate in 2009) and Yuriorkis Gamboa (not so competitive in early 2010) is an August 2011 win over Pedro Navarette, but I can say that Gonzalez vs Mtagwa promises to be fun to watch, and that's something you don't always get.

Also featured on the program will be super middleweight prospect Shawn Estrada (13-0, 12 KO) in action against Zane Marks (17-6, 10 KO). The press release hypes a 14-fight win streak earlier in Marks' career, but he's lost four of his last six, and to fellow club fighters. His best career opponent is Lucian Bute, who knocked Marks out in 2:33 in the third fight of Marks' career, and fourth of Bute's, back in 2004.

Also on the card in El Paso:

• 21-year-old welterweight prospect Javier Molina (8-0, 4 KO) faces John Revish (10-4-2, 8 KO). Revish gave Sadam Ali a pretty good fight on the May 20 edition of Friday Night Fights.
• El Paso's Miguel "Mickey" Roman (35-8, 27 KO) faces Antonio Meza (25-10-1, 17 KO) in featherweight or super featherweight action. Meza is 2-7-1 in his last ten, but Roman always makes for good fights.
• Another El Paso fighter and Roman's old rival, Antonio Escalante (24-4, 15 KO) looks to get his career back on track after a pair of devastating knockout losses. Escalante was destroyed over three rounds by Daniel Ponce de Leon on the Mosley vs Mora card last year, then followed that with a surprising first round knockout loss to Alejandro Perez in March. He'll be facing Pipino Cuevas Jr (14-7, 12 KO), who isn't his father.
• Welterweight Oscar Valenzuela (3-0, 1 KO) and flyweight Joel Garcia (2-0, 1 KO) are also in action. Both are local fighters.