Jermell Charlo vs. Jorge Cota - June 23, 2019

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An anticipated June 23 rematch between the pair of top-rated super welterweights has been postponed. The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger was the first to report Monday afternoon that Harrison has withdrawn from their second bout.

BS.com has learned that an ankle injury suffered by Harrison during training camp has put the Detroit native on the sidelines. Harrison is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday to repair torn ligaments in his ankle.

BS.com also has been informed that to remain in position for this rematch, Charlo will have to get past Harrison’s substitute, Mexico’s Jorge Cota, on June 23. Pending approval from FOX, the bout between Charlo (31-1, 15 KOs) and Cota (28-3, 25 KOs) is expected to headline a “PBC on FOX” doubleheader that night from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Cota, 31, lost his last fight. The Dominican Republic’s Jeison Rosario (19-1-1, 13 KOs) edged Cota by split decision in their 10-round bout April 20 in Carson, California.

Cota also lost by fourth-round technical knockout to Erickson Lubin in March 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Charlo knocked out Lubin (20-1, 15 KOs) in the first round of their October 2017 title fight at Barclays Center.

The chief support for FOX’s June 23 show remains intact. Lineal super bantamweight king Guillermo Rigondeaux – Cuba’s two-time Olympic Gold medalist – will defend his crown versus Mexico’s Julio Ceja, a former 122-pound titlist.

His injury is a bitter disappointment for Harrison (28-2, 21 KOs), who won the WBC 154-pound title thanks to a hotly contested 12-round decision over Houston’s Charlo (31-1, 15 KOs) on December 22 at Barclays Center. That bout served as part of the first primetime show of the rebranded “PBC on FOX” series, which peaked at more than 2.4 million viewers.

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Undercard Information

Exciting unbeaten prospect Chris Colbert takes on Puerto Rico's Alberto Mercado in an eight or 10-round lightweight bout and unbeaten welterweight prospect Jésus Ramos battles Rondale Hubbert in a four-round attraction as part of a special FOX PBC Fight Night Prelims on FOX and FOX Deportes Sunday, June 23 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Prelims will lead up to FOX PBC Fight Night on FOX and FOX Deportes beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show is headlined by former champion Jermell Charlo battling Mexico's Jorge Cota in a super welterweight attraction and features former world champions Guillermo Rigondeaux and Julio Ceja clashing in a 12-round WBC featherweight title eliminator in the co-feature. Also in action is sensational unbeaten prospect Joey Spencer, as hefaces Akeem Black in a six-round junior middleweight bout.

Tickets for the event, which is promoted by Lions Only Promotions, TGB Promotions and Mayweather Promotions, are on sale now and can be purchased at AXS.com.

Representing his hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., Colbert (11-0, 4 KOs) has begun to make a name for himself showing off tremendous skills across his first 11 pro victories. The 22-year-old most recently blasted out Mario Briones by second-round knockout in April on FS1. He will take on a durable 31-year-old in Mercado (16-2-1, 3 KOs), who has never been stopped throughout a pro career dating back to 2009. The Humacao, Puerto Rico-native most recently won a unanimous decision over Sergio Lopez in March.

"I'm preparing for a big day on June 23," said Colbert. "This is chapter 12 in my career. I know Mercado will come to fight just like he's supposed to. I'm just focused on putting on another dominant performance, like I do every time. Mercado has a good record on paper, but I'll do what I do best at Mandalay Bay and make it look easy. People say you have to fight in Vegas to become a top-notch fighter, so I'm excited to fight there. We'll be fighting in primetime on FOX, so I'll get a chance to show everyone why I changed my nickname to 'Prime Time'."

"I'm ready for this fight on June 23," said Mercado. "I know who I'm facing and what I'm up against, but I'm working hard every day on a strategy that will give me what I need in to be successful. I have all the tools to make this a great fight and get the win. I'm going to be aggressive and bring the fight to him. His only advantage is speed, but I'm better at everything else."

Having scored knockouts in each pro fight since turning pro last May, Ramos (9-0, 9 KOs) made his U.S. debut in April with a knockout over Seifullah Wise. The 19-year-old from Casa Grande, Arizona will be opposed by the 30-year-old Hubbert (13-8-2, 8 KOs), who fights out of Fargo, North Dakota.

Spencer (7-0, 6 KOs) will appear on the FOX PBC Fight Night broadcast with his bout against Black (5-2, 2 KOs) serving as part of the show following prelims. At just 19-years-old and having only turned pro just over a year ago, Spencer has shown the tremendous skill and promise he possesses across his first seven pro fights. In April on FS1, the Linden, Michigan-native displayed his boxing acumen in going six rounds for the first time to earn a dominant unanimous decision over Osias Vasquez. He will take on the Chicago-born Black, who enters this fight on a two-bout winning streak.

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https://www.foxsports.com/watch/fair-ga ... =share_url

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Fight night!

[oogiebe]

I imagine the stands as full as that podium.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jermell reckons Tony faked an injury to get out of the rematch.

[oogiebe]

Jermell reckons Tony faked an injury to get out of the rematch.

Who knows? I doubt it though. He'll just have to wait for his revenge for now.

[Onetimeonly]

I predict Apollo creed will be butthurt. That rematch wasn't much to look forward too. Lame fight with bullshit judging.

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Jesus Ramos (9-0) opened up the preliminary bouts on FS1 with a shout out victory over Kevin Shacks (3-3-3) in their welterweight bout.

Shacks started out very aggressively, taking the fight to Ramos who was content to counter punch. Head clashes are quite common when a southpaw faces an orthodox fighter and a clash of heads produced a cut over the right eye of the southpaw Ramos in the second round.

Ramos picked up the pace in the 3rd round and hurt Shacks with several hard shots and continued to dominate the action throughout the 4th round. The final scores were 40-36 on all three scorecards.

Lightweight prospect Julian Rodarte (17-0-1) kept his perfect record intact with a unanimous decision victory over Miguel Angel Aispuro (11-8-2) in an exciting contest. Neither fighter took a step back but Rodarte was the busier man and was a lot more effective with his punches. The final scores were 77-75 twice and 78-74.

In super featherweight action, Leduan Barthelemy (14-0-1) dominated Jose Cayetano (21-6) over 8 rounds. Barthelemy is 6" taller than Cayetano and enjoyed a signficant reach advantage over Cayetano who was simply too slow to get inside often enough to do any damage. The final scores were 80-72 on all three scorecards. Leduan is the brother of former two-division champion Rances Barthelemy.

In the opening bout, Lucas Santa Maria (9-1-1) Marquis Taylor (10-1-1) battled to a majority draw. Both fighters threw a lot of punches but neither was really able to hurt the other man. The final scores were 78-74 in favor of Santa Maria and 76-76 on two judges' scorecards.

[marvelous marv]

Rigo-Ceja turning into a decent scrap. Never seen Rigo fight like this before.

[oogiebe]

Rigo-Ceja turning into a decent scrap. Never seen Rigo fight like this before.

Rigondeaux hasn't been looking good his last few, IMHO.

[diddy]

Man I hope no one bet Rigo tonight. He is fighting the dumbest fight in the history of mankind.

[oogiebe]

Man I hope no one bet Rigo tonight. He is fighting the dumbest fight in the history of mankind.

Ceja looks much younger and looks much bigger than Rigo.

[diddy]

Standing in the center of the ring is the only way Ceja beats him. And that’s exactly what is happening. Rigo isn’t moving. At all.

[Onetimeonly]

Really good fight. Rigo is 38, I think ceja is 28 or 29.

[oogiebe]

Standing in the center of the ring is the only way Ceja beats him. And that’s exactly what is happening. Rigo isn’t moving. At all.

Rigo fighting like he thinks he can take out Ceja anytime he wants to, but I'm not seeing it.

[oogiebe]

Really good fight. Rigo is 38, I think ceja is 28 or 29.

Ceja is 26. Got it backwards before.

[oogiebe]

Great exchange at the end of that round!

[diddy]

Rigo is way behind at this point. Unless corruption is in place or he starts moving this fight is over. He can’t win this type of fight against a much bigger, busier man.

[oogiebe]

Rigo is way behind at this point. Unless corruption is in place or he starts moving this fight is over. He can’t win this type of fight against a much bigger, busier man.

Wow! both fighters lost a point? Hmmm...but yeah, Rigo needs KD's or KO.

[oogiebe]

STOPPED??!!!! What kind of bull is that?!

[oogiebe]

Thunderous shot! But I would've given the kid some more time.

[marvelous marv]

I want to see this fight again

[diddy]

Man that’s a bad stoppage. Sucks for that kid. Rigo was trying to give him a career changing win with those awful tactics.