On February 28th, 2023, Showtime announced the addition of three more boxing events to its spring and summer lineup. Here’s what we know.
April 8th, 2023
Sebastian Fundora, a southpaw from Coachella, California, aged 25, will take up the challenge of defending his WBC interim junior middleweight title for the second time at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, against Brian Mendoza.
Fundora, who sports an unblemished record of 20 wins and one draw with 13 knockouts, won the vacant title through a ninth-round knockout of Erickson Lubin in April 2022 and held on to it with an impressive points win against Carlos Ocampo in October.
Rio Rancho, New Mexico’s Brian Mendoza confirms recent reports that he’ll be facing Sebastian Fundora on April 8 for Fundora’s interim WBC 154lb. title at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Mendoza looks to become just 5th native New Mexican to win a world title. pic.twitter.com/MvqCZdKnq1
— Jorge Hernández (@JorgeDeBurque) February 20, 2023
His opponent, Brian Mendoza, aged 29 and from Las Vegas, has his biggest triumph to date in the form of a fifth-round knockout of former unified junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario, a fight that prompted Rosario to hang up his gloves for good.
May 13th, 2023
Alberto Puello is set to defend his WBA junior welterweight title for the first time against Rolando Romero at a yet-to-be-determined location.
Puello, aged 28 and hailing from the Dominican Republic, has a record of 21-0 with ten knockouts and won the 140-pound belt vacated by Josh Taylor thanks to a split decision against Batyr Akhmedov.
Rolly Romero will challenge Alberto Puello for the WBA junior welterweight title in the spring in a PBC on Showtime bout, sources tell @MikeCoppinger.
First reported by @IdecBoxing. pic.twitter.com/CB2KUtk17x
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) February 8, 2023
Romero, 27, will be moving up in weight and fighting for the first time since he was knocked out in the sixth round when he challenged Gervonta Davis.
June 24th, 2023
Carlos Adames is set to make his debut as the WBC interim middleweight champion, taking on former unified junior middleweight title holder Julian Williams at The Armory in Minneapolis.
Adames, 28 and hailing from the Dominican Republic, became the interim champion after his third-round knockout of Juan Macias Montiel in October.
Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) held the top spot in the junior middleweight division after beating Jarrett Hurd in 2019 to take his unified title.
Carlos Adames-Julian Williams To Headline Showtime Tripleheader 6/24 In Minneapolis https://t.co/iVOepREotc pic.twitter.com/wwsIHPiETF
— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) February 28, 2023
Unfortunately, he then went on to lose two fights in a row, the first being a fifth-round knockout to Jeison Rosario and the other being a 10-round split decision to Vladimir Hernandez.
Williams moved up to middleweight and achieved victory in his last fight in November, an eight-round decision over Rolando Mansilla after a 13-month hiatus.
Showtime Staying Strong
Showtime’s namesake, HBO Boxing, may have gone out of business, but there is still plenty that the network has to offer.
The Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight and a potential bout with Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford or Keith Thurman shows that boxing and Showtime are here to stay.