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The June 17th rematch between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev now has a second member of its supporting cast: a middleweight fight between Arif Magomedov and Luis Arias, which Dan Rafael reports will open the pay-per-view.
Magomedov (18-1, 11 KO) numbered among the division’s top young prospects before getting utterly dominated by Andrew Hernandez, a full-time landscaper with losses to practically every competent foe he’d faced before. As it turns out, Magomedov had been working with the infamous Edmond Tarverdyan, best known for training Ronda Rousey and turning several solid MMA strikers under his tutelage into constant knockout victims.
Arias (17-0, 8 KO) has taken a moderate step up in the last year or so, beating some credible journeymen. You may remember him from his nasty split with Floyd Mayweather a few years ago; he’s since signed on with Roc Nation, which currently promotes him.
In addition to the main event and Magomedov-Arias, the pay-per-view will feature a WBA super bantamweight unification bout between Guillermo Rigondeaux and interim champ Moises Flores.