Today at 6 pm EST, Timothy Bradley, Ruslan Provodnikov, Jessie Vargas, and Wale Omotoso will hit the scales for tomorrow night's HBO broadcast. Both fights are welterweight bouts.
Bradley (29-0, 12 KO) will defend his WBO title for the first time, the belt he won last June in an incredibly controversial decision against Manny Pacquiao. The 29-year-old Bradley hasn't fought since then despite several negotiations for a bout that would have taken place in December.
One of the candidates then was Provodnikov (22-1, 15 KO), a gutsy and tough junior welterweight fringe contender, who has never proven himself a world-level fighter to date. That doesn't mean he can't, but Bradley is a far cry from the likes of Ivan Popoca, Jose Reynoso, Daniel Torres, and veterans like Emanuel Augustus and DeMarcus Corley.
Top Rank prospects Vargas (21-0, 9 KO) and Omotoso (23-0, 19 KO) will look to take the next step up the welterweight ladder tomorrow night. Neither are blue chip guys, but both have talent.