Jose Pedraza vs. Mikkel LesPierre - July 2, 2020

[Ruthless-RKO]

Jose Pedraza and Mikkel LesPierre will give it another shot. The junior welterweights will face off in the 10-round main event Thursday, July 2 from the MGM Grand Conference Center—Grand Ballroom. Pedraza-LesPierre was originally scheduled for June 18, but the bout was postponed after LesPierre’s manager tested positive for COVID-19.

Week 4 of the Top Rank on ESPN summer series begins Tuesday, June 30 at the MGM Grand, when top junior welterweight contender Alex Saucedo faces Sonny Fredrickson in a 10-round showdown.

The Pedraza-LesPierre and Saucedo-Fredrickson cards will air on ESPN and ESPN Deportes beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

“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.”

July 2
MGM Grand Conference Center – Grand Ballroom

Main Event

Jose Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) vs. Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KOs)
10 rounds, Junior Welterweight

Pedraza, who won world titles at junior lightweight and lightweight, is taking another run at the super lightweight 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 2 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 (3-1, 3 KOs) 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 when he spoiled Ramirez’s pro debut with a four-round split decision victory. Ramirez has scored three knockout wins since then, including June 9 at MGM Grand. Gonzales has not fought since the Ramirez fight.

Top junior lightweight contender Albert Bell (16-0, 5 KOs), from Toledo Ohio, will face Filipino puncher Mark Bernaldez (20-3, 14 KOs) in a 10-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 10 rounds. He returned in October and shut out Frank De Alba.

Featherweight prospect 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 10-rounder.

Elvis Rodriguez (6-0-1, 6 KOs), the southpaw sensation 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 prospect Luis Melendez (8-1, 6 KOs) will fight an opponent to be named in an eight-round bout.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Pedraza-LesPierre Rescheduled Fight To Take Place At 144-Pound Catchweight

Chances are, Jose Pedraza will check in at a career-heaviest weight for the second time in two weeks.

It’s not because the two-division titlist from Cidra, Puerto Rico is out of shape. Quite the opposite, in fact, as he braces for a rescheduled July 2 clash versus former junior welterweight title challenger Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1, 14KOs).

The bout will top the July 2 edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN, live from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas and take place at a 144-pound catchweight. It comes as a make-up call for their quick turnaround from their previously scheduled June 18, as a concession to allow Brooklyn’s LesPierre to not allow a second-chance payday slip through the cracks.

“To me it doesn’t matter whether I fight at 140, 141 or 144,” Pedraza (26-1, 13KOs) admitted to Boxing Scene of the modified limit. “This [rescheduled] fight was actually made at 144. It was a request from his side, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to fight this soon.

“It was fine with me. I’m ready to fight and will be ready on Thursday. It probably benefits me a little. I won’t have to sacrifice as much to make the weight. I will be very comfortable making weight and expect to weigh about 150 on fight night. It’s a perfect weight for me.”

The bout will mark the second straight at a new weight for Pedraza (26-1, 13KOs), who’s previously campaigned and has won titles at 130- and 135-pounds. The 31-year old southpaw moved up to the 140-pound division last September, albeit in a 10-round loss to Jose Zepeda.

Pedraza has since spent most of the past near-10 months attempting to move past that defeat, with Thursday marking the third such effort. He was due to return in May, only for those plans to be scrapped due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The same disease was the direct cause for the June 18 fight between Pedraza and LesPierre not seeing the light of day, this time getting canceled on the day of the contest. LesPierre was forced off of the show after his manager, Jose Taveras tested positive for COVID. At the time, testing protocol called for the boxer and his entire team to be removed from “The Bubble”—the secured area on the Las Vegas site—even if just one person tests positive.

That policy has since been modified to give clean and healthy boxers a fighting chance to make their way to the ring, as long as they test negative which at the time was the case for Pedraza and LesPierre. Both had also already made weight for the scheduled fight, with Pedraza checking in at a career-heaviest but in-shape 140.4 pounds.

Hours after his fight was canceled, the Puerto Rican boxer continued to work out on site. He did as much once he returned home, even with the quick turnaround back to Las Vegas.

“Basically, I spent time with my family and I kept training,” noted Pedraza. “Even the day of the fight in the arena I was still training. I had a gym teammate fighting on the same card (Frevian Gonzalez, who won a four-round decision).

“When I went home, I wasn’t expecting to be rescheduled so quickly. The fight was mentioned to take place July 14. But they told us we’d be fighting July 2 and at this new weight, and I was fine with that. I kept in shape and I’m ready for this opportunity.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Former champion Jose Pedraza dominates Mikkel LesPierre

Former two-time world champion Jose Pedraza was in excellent form on Thursday as he dominated Mikkel LesPierre, dropping his opponent twice in the 144-pound catchweight bout in the main event of a Top Rank card in Las Vegas.

The scorecards read 100-88, 99-89 and 99-89 in favor of Pedraza (27-3), who showed that he still has a chance to be a title contender.

"I had it all coming together for me," Pedraza said. "In boxing you can't have an off night. I was physically fit, I was mentally fit, spiritually fit. I put it all together this evening, I couldn't afford not to. That's the kind of performance you get from me when I'm 100 percent focused."

There was some controversy in the fifth round as LesPierre sent Pedraza to the canvas with a straight left to the body. Later on in the round, Pedraza evened things up by scoring his own knockdown with a left hook-right hook combination.

But before the sixth round started, referee Kenny Bayless paused the action to check the replay in accordance with Nevada State Athletic Commission rules and decided that LesPierre had tangled his feet with Pedraza, and he overturned his original ruling.

But that moment was simply academic, because Pedraza was the dominant force throughout the fight. Boxing out of both the right-handed and southpaw stance, he darted in and out, throwing slashing punches that came from all directions. His upper-body movement made him an elusive target for LesPierre. To cap things off, Pedraza scored another knockdown in the 10th from a left hand and had LesPierre staggering. To LesPierre's credit, he showed great heart and made it to the final bell.

LesPierre, who worked at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York throughout the coronavirus pandemic, fell to 22-2-1. The 35-year-old had his moments, but it wasn't enough to overcome Pedraza's speed and power. By the end of the night, he had a bloody nose and a cut near the corner of his right eye. LesPierre had challenged Maurice Hooker last year for the WBO's 140-pound title.

Coming off his listless effort against Jose Zepeda last September, there were many questions about the future prospects of Pedraza. Prior to that defeat, the only boxers to beat him were Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko. While the 31-year-old Puerto Rican's performance versus Zepeda left much to be desired, on this night he was quick, fast and decisive with his movements on both offense and defense. He is now focused on another title bout in the 140-pound class, which has two unified champions in Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor.

Final CompuBox Stats

Code: Select all

Punches		Pedraza	LesPierre
Total landed	168	69 
Total thrown	406	443 
Percent		41%	16% 
Jabs landed	39	21 
Jabs thrown	165	177 
Percent		24%	12% 
Power landed	129	48 
Power thrown	241	266 
Percent 	54%	18% 

[diddy]

Sniper looked phenomenal. Though I’m sure a major drop in class level helped matters.

[world ranked]

I would be shocked he becomes a champion again. He food for someone maybe Ramirez or even someone lesser. Had a good career/run.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Pedraza-LesPierre ESPN Telecast Peaks At 448K Viewers, Averaged 350K

Jose Pedraza breathed new life into his career atop a card which provided ESPN with its best rating for a boxing telecast in nearly a month.

The July 2 edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN averaged 350,000 viewers over the course of the five-fight, three-plus hour telecast according to Nielsen Media Research. Thursday’s show reached a peak audience of 448,000 viewers, coming at the 10:45-11:00pm ET block which coincided with the heart of the 10-round main event.

Puerto Rico’s Pedraza (27-3, 13KOs) scored two knockdowns en route to a dominant unanimous decision win over Brooklyn-based former title challenger Mikkel LesPierre in the evening’s headliner at MGM Grand Conference Center (‘The Bubble’) in Las Vegas. The win was the first for Pedraza in more than a year, when the former two-division titlist stopped Mexico’s Antonio Lozada in nine rounds last May in Kissimmee, Florida.

As far as ratings go, Pedraza's win proved to be worth the wait. The overall telecast average marked more than a 17% improvement from its preceding show, where Alex Saucedo’s 10-round win over Sonny Fredrickson topped a four-fight card averaging just 298,000 viewers.

Additionally, it provided the best performing Thursday night telecast since Top Rank began its closed-doors ‘Bubble’ series in June. The telecast average matches the second-best overall weeknight performance, bested only by the June 9 series debut—topped by unbeaten featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson in a 5th round knockout of Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo—which played to a 397,000 viewership average, peaking at 609,000.

Philippines' Mike Plania scored a 10-round upset over Chicago's Joshua Greer atop a June 16 show which also averaged 350,000 viewers.

The July 2 show also lands just north of the overall series average to date. The card marked the 10th show to air live on ESPN, which has carried four each shows on Tuesday and Thursday from Las Vegas along with two Saturday shows live from Mexico City, which now average 340,900 viewers including last Thursday’s show.

The Saturday cards have been aided by strong lead-ins from UFC, in turn boasting high peaks but its overall average skewered as viewership (327,000 on June 20, 416,000 on June 27) has rapidly declined over the course of each telecast.