Showtime will get to broadcast the in-ring return of Erislandy Lara as part of a televised tripleheader in March.
The network announced that Lara will fight Brian Castano for the WBA "Regular" junior middleweight title on March 2 in the main event of a boxing card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight will be Lara's first since losing a title unification against Jarrett Hurd last year.
Castano has held the WBA's secondary world title since 2017 after being elevated from interim champion to "Regular" titleholder. The undefeated Castano successfully defended the title back in March 2018 when he stopped Cedric Vitu in the 12th round in a boxing card in Paris.
The co-main event fight is a previously-reported heavyweight bout between former title challenger Luis Ortiz and Christian Hammer. Ortiz will be fighting for the third time since losing to Deontay Wilder in the same venue last year. Hammer, who sports a 24-5 record as a professional, has faced the likes of Tyson Fury, Mariusz Wach and Alexander Povetkin.
Also announced for the event is a 12-round super featherweight contest between Ricardo Nunez and Edner Cherry. Nunez is on a nine-fight win streak and is currently ranked No. 2 by the WBA and No. 14 by the IBF. Cherry unsuccessfully challenged for the IBF super featherweight title back in 2015, but has since then won his last three fights. The 36-year-old Cherry is currently ranked in the top six in both the WBC and WBA rankings.
