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Tonight at 9:45 pm EST on HBO, Top Rank has a doubleheader from the Alamodome in San Antonio, headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr facing Bryan Vera in a super middleweight rematch of last September's controversial fight in California.
In the co-feature, Orlando Salido faces Vasyl Lomachenko, with the WBO featherweight title at stake for Lomachenko. Salido forfeited the belt on the scales, missing weight by over two pounds on Friday afternoon.
Chavez (47-1-1, 32 KO) won a highway robbery decision last year against Vera (23-7, 14 KO), necessitating a rematch for the would-be star against a mid-level opponent who was meant to be a tune-up for him. Chavez looked in better shape at yesterday's weigh-in, coming in at 167.5 pounds, the same as Vera. The naturally bigger man, a better-conditioned Chavez could be significantly better than the fighter we saw in the first bout, and bad news for Vera.
Salido (40-12-2, 28 KO) didn't even try to make weight yesterday, weighing in heavy with a look of resignation, giving up his belt and $15,000. Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO) is trying to make history by winning the world title in just his second pro fight, but it does feel a bit lessened with the title not at stake for both men.
Streaming undercard
Beginning at 6:30 pm EST on TopRank.TV, preliminary fights will be aired featuring, notably, former lightweight titleholder Juan Diaz and two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez.
Diaz (38-4, 19 KO) continues his rather tepid comeback run against Gerardo Robles (16-12, 7 KO) in a lightweight fight scheduled for 10 rounds. The 30-year-old "Baby Bull" returned to the ring just about a year ago, fighting three bouts against this sort of competition and winning handily in each outing.
Valdez (8-0, 8 KO) will face Samuel Sanchez (6-4-1, 1 KO) in what should be an easy six-round featherweight bout. The 23-year-old has been moved delicately thus far, but he's a legit and exciting prospect.
Other bouts: Ivan Najera (12-0, 8 KO) vs Angel Hernandez (8-1, 4 KO), lightweights, 8 rounds ... Jose Zepeda (17-0, 15 KO) vs Johnnie Edwards (15-6-1, 8 KO), welterweights, 8 rounds ... Alex Saucedo (12-0, 9 KO) vs Gilbert Venegas (12-12-4, 8 KO), welterweights, 6 rounds ... Jerren Cochran (10-0, 4 KO) vs Adauto Gonzalez (10-9, 3 KO).