Saturday, March 04, 2017

Three Title Bouts To Take Place On April 8 MGM National Harbor Card!

The Top Rank card that will take place at the MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD on Saturday, April 8 will include three televised title matches.  All three bouts will feature boxers from the Ukraine.

We know about the main event for the card  -- Vasyl Lomanchenko (7-1, five KO's) will defend his WBO Super Featherweight championship against former WBA super featherweight champ Jason Sosa of Camden, NJ (20-1-4, 15 KO's), who recently gave up his title.

There will also be a bout for the WBO Cruiserweight title as champion Oleksandr Usyk defends his title against equally undefeated Michael Hunter of Las Vegas, NV.  Usyk (11-0, 10 KO's) will be making the second defense of his title that he won against Krzysztof Glowacki by unanimous decision on September 17 in Gdansk, Poland. Usyk defended the title with a ninth-round knockout over Thabiso Mchunu on December 17 in Inglewood, CA.

Hunter (12-0, eight KO's) is the NABO Cruiserweight champion, winning that title in his last outing -- a 10-round unanimous decision victory over previously undefeated Isiah Thomas on May 13 in Las Vegas.

The NABF Light Heavyweight championship will also be on the line as champion Oleksandr "The Nail" Gvozdyk defends his title against Yunieski "The Monster" Gonzalez of Miami, FL.  Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KO's) will be making the third defense of the title he won with a second-round knockout over Nadjib Mohammedi on April 9 in Las Vegas.  Gvozdyk has won his last six bouts by stoppage.

Gonzalez, a native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba (18-2, 14 KO's) has righted his career by winning two straight bouts by first-round knockout in Miami after losing two in a row.  This will be Gonzalez's first try at a regional title.

All three title bouts will be shown on HBO, marking the first time the network has televised a boxing card in Maryland.

The non-televised portion of the card will feature undefeated Beltway Boxers Mike "Yes, Indeed" Reed and Patrick Harris as well as undefeated super middleweight contender Jesse "Hard Work" Hart of Philadelphia, PA, who holds numerous regional titles.

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