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Top light heavyweight prospect Artur Beterbiev has an opponent for his previously-announced ring return. The Russian is set to face Argentina's Ezequiel Maderna on June 4th, headlining PBC on ESPN at Montreal's Bell Centre.
Eleider Alvarez, Adonis Stevenson's current mandatory, is scheduled to fight on the undercard against the dreaded TBA.
Maderna (23-2, 15 KO) has campaigned at super middleweight for his last thirteen fights. In his two fights of note, he lost a unanimous decision to Edwin Rodriguez and a majority decision to Thomas Oosthuizen. He is unequivocally a "get-well" opponent for Beterbiev (9-0, 9 KO), who's been on the mend since last June's knockout of Alexander Johnson. Heavy-handed Argentinians may have a habit of ruining the best-laid plans, but Maderna's a massive step back from the likes of Tavoris Cloud and Gabriel Campillo.
Hopefully, Beterbiev vs. Kovalev is still in play for the future once "Krusher" finishes up his business with Andre Ward. If not, well, it's always fun to watch a monster puncher smash some fools.
Especially when it's for free.