In the featured attraction, super lightweight prospect Arnold Barboza Jr. (20-0, 7 KO) takes on former interim WBO champion Mike Alvarado (40-4, 28 KO). Barboza has risen steadily through the ranks, most notably defeating Mike Reed last March, while Alvarado has been rehabbing with six victories over poor competition since losing consecutive fights to Ruslan Provodnikov, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Brandon Rios in their rubber match.
As a random coincidence, Barboza beat Alvarado’s last opponent, Robbie Cannon, back in 2016.
The other biggest names are Olympian Vijender Singh (10-0, 7 KO) making his U.S. and Top Rank debut opposite Calvin Metcalf (9-1-1, 2 KO) and WBA #1 welterweight contender Alexander Besputin (12-0, 9 KO) fighting Argentina’s Alfredo Blanco (20-7, 11 KO). This will be Singh’s first fight since December of 2016.
The main card includes Gilberto Ramirez’s light heavyweight debut against Tommy Karpency alongside the main event.