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While it’s yet to be officially announced, WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete’s October 16th mandatory defense against Joet Gonzalez has the beginnings of an undercard. The Athletic’s Lance Pugmire reports that the IBF final eliminator between Esquiva Falcao and Patrick Wojcicki will serve as the co-feature.
Top Rank is looking to put Jose Zepeda on the card as well, plus a prospect clash between unbeaten Puerto Rican Orlando Gonzalez and two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez.
We last heard word of Falcao (28-0, 20 KO) vs. Wojcicki (14-0-1, 5 KO) in May, when Wasserman Boxing outbid Top Rank for the right to stage it. According to Germany’s SportsBuzzer and our old friend Google Translate, an August 28th date in Deutschland fell through; while I haven’t been able to find confirmation, this new arrangement suggests that Wasserman’s failure to put the fight together.
Whatever the case, this will be Wojcicki’s first appearance since 2019, as previous planned eliminators against Patrice Volny likewise collapsed. Falcao, a former Olympic silver medalist been disappointingly unambitious in his pro career, was last seen beating Artur Akavov in February.
The winner will be next in line for the winner of Gennadiy Golovkin’s and Ryota Murata’s still-brewing year-end unification match.