:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/27761465/163846049.0.jpg)
Top Rank has finalized the HBO pay-per-view undercard for the April 12 rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, with one sorta-world title fight, an interim world title fight, and a lightweight showdown between a pair of veterans with a habit of putting on good fights.
In the featured undercard bout, Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-0, 9 KO) will defend the WBA "regular" junior welterweight title against Jessie Vargas (23-0, 9 KO). Allakhverdiev, 31, won the then-vacant title against Joan Guzman in 2012, then signed with Top Rank and made one defense against Souleymane M'baye in Monaco. This will actually be Allakhverdiev's first fight on a Top Rank-promoted card as a Top Rank fighter.
Vargas, 24, is a former Mayweather Promotions prospect who jumped ship to Top Rank in 2012. His career has been steady at the same level since a 2011 win over Josesito Lopez. This will be his first shot at a world title -- whatever you think of the world title -- and he'll be looking to live up to some hype that has stagnated somewhat over the last year or so.
Former two-time super featherweight titlist Rocky Martinez (27-2-2, 16 KO) will move up to lightweight to face Raymundo Beltran (28-6-1, 17 KO) in the night's second PPV fight. Beltran, 32, hasn't fought since a highly controversial draw in the UK against lightweight titlist Ricky Burns last September, a fight most observers felt he'd obviously won. Martinez, 30, is coming off of a KO-8 loss to Mikey Garcia in November.
In the PPV opener, interim WBA super featherweight titleholder Bryan Vasquez (32-1, 17 KO) will face prospect Jose Felix Jr (26-0-1, 21 KO). The 21-year-old Felix has been impressive thus far as a pro, while Vasquez, 26, is probably best-known for a 2012 loss in Japan to Takashi Uchiyama.