Jose Pedraza and Mikkel LesPierre will give it another shot. The junior welterweights will face off in the ten-round main event Thursday, July 2nd from the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Pedraza-LesPierre was originally scheduled for June 18th, but the bout was postponed after LesPierre’s manager tested positive for COVID-19. Note: the original main event planned for that weekend, WBO 130-pound champion Jamel Herring vs. Jonathan Oquendo was postponed due to Herring's positive COVID test, and is being rescheduled.
“Mikkel and Jose deserve this opportunity, and I commend both camps for agreeing to reschedule this fight on short notice,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Alex Saucedo is destined to be a world champion, but he has an incredibly tall task in Sonny Fredrickson. We have another great week in store at MGM Grand.”
Pedraza, who won world titles at junior lightweight and lightweight, is taking another run at the 140-pound division following last September’s decision loss to Jose “Chon” Zepeda. His opponent LesPierre challenged Maurice Hooker for a world title last year, dropping a unanimous decision. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brooklyn resident received deliveries and assisted doctors and nurses at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan.
"I didn't want to wait around for this fight, so I'm glad we got the deal done," Pedraza said. "My march toward a junior welterweight world title continues July 2nd in Las Vegas."
"I want to thank Top Rank and DiBella Entertainment for making this fight happen through the trials and tribulations,” LesPierre said. “I’m honored to be the main event on July 2, and I am ready to showcase my talent to the world and prove my world championship caliber.”
Undercard
Robeisy Ramirez is out for revenge. The two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba will fight Adan Gonzales (5-2-2, 2 KOs) in a six-rounder at featherweight. It was Gonzales who shocked the boxing world last August with a four-round split decision victory. Ramirez has scored three knockout wins since then, including June 9th at MGM Grand. Gonzales has not fought since the Ramirez fight...
Junior lightweight Albert Bell (16-0, 5 KOs), from Toledo Ohio, will face Filipino puncher Mark Bernaldez (20-3, 14 KOs) in a ten-round lightweight bout. Bell graduated from prospect to contender last June on the Tyson Fury-Tom Schwarz undercard, defeating Andy Vences (22-0-1 at the time) over ten rounds. He returned in October and shut out Frank De Alba...
Featherweight Carlos Jackson (16-0, 11 KOs), who has knocked out five of his last six opponents, will face Jose Enrique Vivas (18-1, 10 KOs) in a ten-rounder...
Elvis Rodriguez (6-0-1, 6 KOs), the southpaw from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, will seek to register his fifth consecutive knockout in a six-round junior welterweight tilt against Daniel Murray (5-3, 0 KOs). The only blemish on Rodriguez’s record came in this third pro fight, a technical draw following an accidental clash of heads...
Featherweight Luis Melendez (8-1, 6 KOs) will fight an opponent to be named in an eight-round bout.
