The eyes of the boxing world will descend upon Las Vegas on Saturday in another installment of the classic rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez returns to T-Mobile Arena to headline yet another Mexican Independence Day weekend pay-per-view event when he welcomes unbeaten Puerto Rican slugger Edgar Berlanga.
But as the boxing world prepares to find out whether Alvarez’s legendary reign continues or whether Berlanga can truly upset the apple cart atop the 168-pound division, there’s a loaded undercard full of marquee names (albeit, in potentially one-sided bouts) overflowing with storylines of its own.
Let’s take a closer look at what to watch for below the marquee on the PBC on Prime Video PPV card.
Erislandy Lara (c) vs. Danny Garcia, WBA middleweight title
This is an interesting one that’s overflowing with name value yet has still left a majority of boxing fans puzzled. Lara, long the class of the junior middleweight division for over a decade, moved up to 160 pounds three years ago and saw his interim title elevated to the full WBA belt despite the fact that he has largely fought second-rate competition within the weight class. Garcia, meanwhile, hasn’t fought in two years after making his name as a titleholder at both 140 and 147 pounds. How, exactly, are these two meeting at middleweight for a major title in a fight that has been talked about and teased for two years yet never came to fruition? It’s a question that’s difficult to answer without knowing the behind-the-scenes politics but Garcia, 36, has said he almost retired after entering training camp multiple times only for the fight to fall apart.
Despite some of the weird qualities to the fight, there’s huge potential for it to be a sneaky good action fight between two very capable boxers fighting outside of their respective desired weight. Lara has been much more offensive at 160 pounds, relying on his hard counter left hands to keep opponents away. And the tail end of his run at 154 pounds saw him co-author memorable wars with Jarrett Hurd and Brian Castano as his legs began to age. Garcia also hasn’t beaten a big name since stopping a faded Brandon Rios in 2018 and has hinted that he could retire even with a win. All of that plays into why Lara, the more active of the two, remains nearly a 3-to-1 betting favorite.
Caleb Plant vs. Trevor McCumby, interim WBA super middleweight title
Despite losing two of his last three fights in PPV clashes with Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez, the 32-year-old Plant remains among the most talented fighters at 168 pounds (especially with Benavidez and David Morrell Jr.’s move up in weight). Plant, who will snap a career-long layoff of 18 months, believes a victory over the unbeaten (yet largely untested) McCumby will lead him directly back into a big-money rematch with Alvarez. Either way, this “showcase” fight should be the perfect rebound opportunity for Plant’s brand, especially should he prove able to finish his unheralded opponent, who is best known for his aggressive support of right-wing politics and a failed drug test dating back to 2016. Not only did an 18-month suspension sideline McCumby, injuries and disillusion led to him sitting out for nearly five full years before returning in 2023 to rattle off three straight wins. McCumby, an 8-to-1 underdog, has talked a large amount of trash to the heavy favorite Plant, even to the level of calling him a “quitter,” which is a label that doesn’t seem to make sense. Either way, Plant enters with a huge opportunity, in just his third fight under respected trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, to reassert himself in a big way.
Rolando Romero vs. Manuel Jaimes, junior welterweights
While this can clearly be seen as a get-well fight for the slugging Romero following his 140-pound title loss to Isaac Cruz via knockout in March, one can never be so sure when talking about the colorful and unpredictable “Rolly.” Romero remains boxing’s clown prince of the lower divisions who is no stranger to seeing close title wins fall under heavy scrutiny due to the favorable decisions he received against Jackson Marinez and Ismael Barroso. But Romero is also a legitimate knockout threat with both hands and he remains a prized dance partner, even up to the PPV level, due to his unquestioned ability to get under his opponent’s skin and help sell the big fight. In boxing, however, you are only as good as your last fight and Romero can badly use a win. Jaimes, his opponent, enters the first 10-round fight of his career after turning pro in 2018 yet isn’t what you would call a monster betting underdog, largely because Romero is so raw from a technical standpoint and has been outboxed in the past. Should Romero swing big and re-enter the win column, there is no telling how big his next fight could potentially be.
Stephen Fulton Jr. vs. Carlos Castro, featherweights
Fourteen months removed from his unified title defeat at 122 pounds against pound-for-pound elite Naoya Inoue in Japan, Fulton finally makes his return and will move up to a new division. The Philadelphia native will headline Saturday’s preliminary card leading into the PPV in a tough matchup against veteran Carlos Castro, whose lone defeats have come against former champions Luis Nery and Brandon Figueroa. This fight should be the perfect test to find out what Fulton looks like following such a humbling first defeat and to see whether he can reclaim his P4P reputation.
