We get two televised title figthts today as the PBC on FS1 shows a special Saturday night fight between Carlos Zombrano (26-0, 11 KOs) and Claudio Marrero (21-1, 15 KOs) for Zombrano’s WBA World Featherweight belt and the vacant IBO World Featherweight title in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the primary undercard, we’ll see Jeison Rosario (12-0, 9 KOs) fight Nathaniel Gallimore (17-1-1, 14 KOs). I’ll be picking up the live blog when Rosario and Gallimore hit the ring.
As always, scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from the PBC.
An injury to 200-pound champion Beibut Shumenov is putting an interim 126-pound title bout on a bigger stage.
Beibut Shumenov suffered an eye injury while training Wednesday and is now unable to defend his world title against Yunier Dorticos on April 29. The 200-pound championship fight will be rescheduled as soon as Shumenov is healthy enough to return to training. PBC
Now elevated to the main event, unbeaten Carlos Zambrano (26-0, 11 KOs) will defend his interim 126-pound world title against talented southpaw Claudio Marrero (21-1, 15 KOs) at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas on April 29 (FS1, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
“It is disappointing that Shumenov suffered an eye injury in training. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of boxing,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “We were looking forward to seeing him defend his cruiserweight world title against Dorticos. I hope he makes a full recovery and we can reschedule the match.
“Now, we’re looking forward to Carlos Zambrano making his Mayweather Promotions debut in a scintillating match against a very tough challenger in Claudio Marrero on FS1 and FOX Deportes.”
Televised fight coverage also will include unbeaten Jeison Rosario (12-0, 9 KOs) taking on Nathaniel Gallimore (17-1-1, 14 KOs) in a 160-pound bout scheduled for 10 rounds.
Zambrano, 32, gained his interim title by earning a unanimous decision over Daniel Ramirez in March 2015, and retained it with a unanimous decision over Jose Sanmartin that August.
The Peru native will be fighting for the United States for the first time since October 2010, with all 14 of his subsequent bouts occurring in his home country.
Marrero has won seven straight fights since losing to eventual world champion Jesus Cuellar by unanimous decision in an interim title bout in August 2013.
The 28-year-old native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, last fought in August, when he gained a fourth-round TKO of Luis Hinojosa at New York’s Coney Island.
For a complete look at Zambrano vs Marrero, visit our fight page
Years ago, a legend of the ring coined a phrase that gradually morphed into a cliché that nowadays rolls off the tongue of athletes in every sport. “To be the man,” pro wrestling icon Ric Flair once said, “you’ve got to beat the man.”
Given that he was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, it’s unlikely that Claudio Marrero is familiar with 1980s wrestling stars, but the 126-pound contender is certainly familiar with the meaning behind Flair’s words. That’s because Marrero was given the opportunity to be the man nearly four years ago. Unfortunately for him, though, he failed to beat the man.
The fights are on FS1 at 10 p.m. Watch it with me.
