Showtime’s television broadcast of the lightweight title unification bout between Mikey Garcia and Robert Easter Jr. will include the return of Luis Ortiz and unbeaten junior welterweight Mario Barrios.
The July 28 boxing card from the Staples Center in Los Angeles will have Luis Ortiz, a former world heavyweight title challenger, face off against fellow former title challenger Razvan Cojanu in the co-main event.
Ortiz has not fought since this past March when he lost to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight classic. That fight headlined a Showtime Championship Boxing card from the Barclays Center in New York. Ortiz was originally ordered to fight Dillian Whyte in a title eliminator, but Whyte withdrew from the fight.
Cojanu has not fought in more than a year, which was a unanimous decision loss to then-WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in May 2017. Cojanu, who sports a 16-3 record, previously held the WBO China National heavyweight title and fought in ESPN’s 2015 Boxcino tournament, reaching the semifinals before losing to Donovan Dennis.
The opening bout of the Showtime telecast will have Barrios face off against twice-beaten Jose Roman. Barrios has won all 21 of his pro bouts, knocking out 13 and achieving a ranking on the WBA junior welterweight rankings (No. 4) and on the IBF lightweight rankings (No. 8). Roman, a former regional champion at lightweight, is 24-2-1 as a pro, but is coming off a loss to Wilberth Lopez this past September in California.
Fightful will have live coverage of the card on July 28 in Los Angeles which will crown a unified WBC and IBF lightweight champion.
