Jesse Hart-Eleider Alvarez possible for Fury-Schwarz undercard

Jesse Hart will follow rival Gilberto Ramirez’s lead and make the move to light heavyweight this summer, taking on Eleider Alvarez in what ESPN calls a “possible title eliminator” that could take place on the June 15th card headlined by Tyson Fury vs. Tom Schwarz.

The fight has been brewing for a couple of weeks, but was originally planned for a standalone card in Quebec.

Like Murat Gassiev’s potential move to light heavyweight, this strikes me as an odd move. Based on the WBO rankings, Hart (25-2, 21 KO) would presumably be next in line for the winner of Billy Joe Saunders vs. Shefat Isufi. Considering the current crop of light heavyweight champions, Saunders (and let’s face it, it’ll be Saunders) seems a much less daunting task.

That’s not to say Alvarez (24-1, 12 KO) is a walk in the park, either; even considering “Storm’s” loss to Sergey Kovalev in their rematch, he remains a legitimately elite 175er and a mighty tall ask for someone making their divisional debut.

Still a better fight than the main event, though.