This Saturday's HBO Boxing After Dark will be a triple-header (not just two fights, though the video spotlights the top two only) with prospects in action, promoted by DiBella Entertainment. This card is, as you have surely already guessed, fairly "weak" for a Boxing After Dark show, but is a bit closer to the true roots of the program than what we usually get now, which is just your normal HBO broadcast without Jim Lampley working.
This card came together because of HBO's scrapped idea to put together a prospect-based series. With DiBella already guaranteed a date and owed the money, we're getting this card. Gary Shaw has a similar card on October 27, with Thomas Dulorme facing Carlos Abregu in the main event. The most fun will be if these two shows are both excellent, and we're left to wonder what might have been with this as a regular series on HBO, sort of a beefed-up ShoBox: The New Generation.
In the super middleweight main event, Edwin Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KO) will face Jason Escalera (13-0-1, 12 KO). The main co-feature -- and most intriguing fight of the card on paper -- will pit super bantamweight prospect Luis Del Valle (16-0, 11 KO) against former flyweight and super flyweight titleholder Vic Darchinyan (37-5-1, 27 KO). The opener will be a welterweight bout between Alex Perez (16-0, 9 KO) and Antonin Decarie (26-1, 7 KO).
The original opening fight was supposed to be a light heavyweight bout between Isaac Chilemba and Zsolt Erdei, which was canceled when Erdei was injured in training.
Bad Left Hook will have live round-by-round coverage on Saturday, starting at 9:30 pm EDT, which is actually earlier than most HBO cards start, despite being "Boxing After Dark." Go figure. It's a wild world, you guys.