Fight Week: The return of KO artists Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Artur Beterbiev

FIGHT WEEK

Two KO artists return on Saturday. Vergil Ortiz faces his toughest test in Maurice Hooker in Texas. Also, Artur Beterbiev takes on Adam Deines in Russia.

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ALBERTO MACHADO (22-2, 18 KOs) VS.
ANGEL FIERRO (17-1-1, 13 KOs)

• When: Thursday, March 18
• Where: Alberque Olimpico, Salinas, Puerto Rico
• TV/Stream: NBC Sports Net
• Division: Lightweight (135 pounds)
• At stake: No titles
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: NA
• Also on the card: Jose Martinez vs. Israel Gonzalez, junior bantamweights
• Prediction: Machado KO 10
• Background: Machado, a hard-punching Puerto Rican, bounced back from back-to-back knockout losses to Andrew Cancio in 2019 to stop Luis Porozo in two rounds in December of that year. He has not fought since then. The 30-year-old from San Juan had built considerable momentum and had won a secondary title before the Cancio setbacks. He had been scheduled to face rising prospect Hector Tanajara but Tanajara pulled out because of illness. He was replaced by Fierro, a San Diego-based Mexican who is coming off a ninth-round stoppage of Alexis Reyes this past October. That followed a majority-decision loss to Alex Martin the previous January.

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LEE MCGREGOR (9-0, 7 KOs)
VS. KARIM GUERFI (29-4, 9 KOs)

• When: Friday, March 19

• Where: Bolton Whites Hotel, Bolton, England
• TV/Stream: ESPN+
• Division: Bantamweight (118 pounds)
• At stake: No titles
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: McGregor 6-1 favorite
• Also on the card: Maxi Hughes vs. Paul Hyland Jr., lightweights
• Prediction: McGregor UD
• Background: McGregor, a former amateur standout from Scotland, is coming off a fifth-round knockout of journeyman Ryan Walker at 122 pounds this past August. That followed a razor-thin split-decision victory over Ukashir Farooq in defense of 118-pound Commonwealth title in November 2019. He faces another tough test against Guerfi, the 34-year-old European champion. The Frenchman is a good boxer with limited punching power. He’s coming off a ninth-round stoppage of journeyman Georges Ory the same month McGregor eked out a victory over Farooq.

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ARTUR BETERBIEV (15-0, 15 KOs)
VS. ADAM DEINES (19-1-1, 10 KOs)

• When: Friday, March 19
• Where: Khodynka Ice Palace, Moscow
• TV/Stream: ESPN
• Division: Light heavyweight (175 pounds)
• At stake: Beterbiev’s IBF and WBC titles
• Pound-for-pound ranking: Beterbiev No. 12
• Odds: Beterbiev 17½-1 favorite
• Also on the card: Alexander Besputin vs. Maximilaino Ricardo Veron, welterweights; Azizbek Abdugofurov vs. Pavel Silyagin, super middleweights

• Prediction: Beterbiev KO 5
• Background: Beterbiev’s defense against Deines was postponed twice after the titleholder injured his ribs and then tested positive for COVID-19. The 36-year-old 175-pound titleholder is one of the most-feared men in the sport, having stopped all 15 opponents. That includes his sensational 10^th-round stoppage of Oleksandr Gvozdyk to unify two titles in October 2019, which was his most-recent fight. He’ll be making his fourth title defense. Deines is a native of Russia who is based in Germany. The 30-year-old lost a wide decision to Fanlong Meng in his only fight against an top-tier opponent. He has stopped two journeymen since then, including Yevgenii Makhteienko in September 2019.

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LAWRENCE OKOLIE (15-0, 12 KOs)
VS. KRZYSZTOF GLOWACKI (31-2, 19 KOs)

• When: Saturday, March 20
• Where: SSE Arena, London
• TV/Stream: DAZN
• Division: Crusierweight (200 pounds)
• At stake: Vacant WBO title
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: Okolie 2½-1 favorite
• Also on the card: Chris Billam-Smith vs. Vasil Ducar, cruiserweights; Anthony Fowler vs. Jorge Fortea, junior middleweights; Joe Cordina vs. Faroukh Kourbanov, junior lightweights

• Prediction: Okolie UD
• Background: Okolie, the 2016 Olympian from London, will be fighting for his first major title and facing his biggest test at the same time. The 28-year-old, an excellent all-around boxer-puncher, has stopped his last five opponents in seven rounds or less – including Nikodem Jezewski in December – but he has never faced anyone with the track record of Glowacki. The 34-year-old Pole lost the WBO title to Mairis Briedis by a third-round knockout in June 2019 but he’s a two-time beltholder with victories over Marco Huck, Steve Cunningham and Maxim Vlasov. He hasn’t fought since the setback against Briedis.

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VERGIL ORTIZ JR. (16-0, 16 KOs)
VS. MAURICE HOOKER (27-1-3, 18 KOs)

• When: Saturday, March 20
• Where: Fort Worth, Texas
• TV/Stream: DAZN
• Division: Welterweights (147 pounds)
• At stake: No titles
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: Ortiz 8-1 favorite
• Also on the card: Anabel Ortiz vs. Seniesa Estrada, strawweights (for Ortiz’s WBA title); Luis Hernandez vs. Alex Martin, junior welterweights
• Prediction: Ortiz UD
• Background: Oritz, a 22-year-old contender, is developing into a legitimate challenger for the biggest names in a deep division. The gifted, bruising Dallas fighter has stopped all 16 of his opponents, including a seventh-round stoppage of Sammy Vargas last July. He has faced good fighters – Antonio Orozco, Brad Solomon, Vargas – but Hooker represents a step up in opposition. The 31-year-old, also from Dallas, lost his 140-pound to Jose Ramirez by a sixth-round knockout in July 2019 but rebounded to stop Uriel Perez in one round five months later in his first welterweight fight. He hasn’t fought since then. Hooker is a capable boxer with decent power. He has victories over Terry Flanagan (to win his title), Alex Saucedo and Mikkel LesPierre.