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FIGHT WEEK

Amir Khan and Kell Brook lastly meet Saturday in England. Additionally, unbeaten middleweight contender Jaime Mungia faces D’Mitrius Ballard in Tijuana, Mexico.

Amir Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) vs. Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs)

• When: Saturday, Feb. 19
• Time: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (essential occasion later in present)
• The place: AO Enviornment, Manchester, England
• TV/Stream: ESPN+ (pay-per-view in U.Okay.)
• Division: Welterweight
• Rounds: 12
• At stake: No titles
• Pound-for-pound rating: None
• Odds: Brook 1½-1 favourite (common of a number of shops)
• Additionally on the cardboard: Natasha Jonas vs. Chris Namus, junior middleweights (for vacant WBO title); Charlie Schofield vs. Germaine Brown, tremendous middleweights
• Prediction: Brook KO 8
• Background: Lastly. Khan and Brook, two of the very best British fighters of that previous few a long time, have spoken about combating for an additional for nearly as lengthy. They’ll meet in the end close to the ends of their careers. Khan is a former junior welterweight titleholder identified for his quickness and weak chin, which has failed him in 4 of his 5 losses. He was stopped by Breidis Prescott, Danny Garcia, Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. He has a powerful resume – with victories over Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana, Zab Judah, Luis Collazo and Devon Alexander – however he hasn’t had a big victory since he outpointed Chris Algieri in 2015. The 35-year-old from Bolton is coming off a fourth-round knockout of veteran Billy Dib in July 2019, which implies he could have been out of the ring for greater than 2½ years. Brook, additionally 35, was a borderline pound-for-pounder when he outpointed Shawn Porter to win a significant welterweight title in 2014 and made three profitable defenses. Nevertheless, that was adopted by back-to-back knockout losses to Gennadiy Golovkin at middleweight and Errol Spence Jr. again at welterweight in 2016 and 2017, after which he was by no means the identical. He final fought in November 2020, when Crawford stopped him in 4 rounds.

Jaime Munguia (38-0, 30 KOs) vs. D’Mitrius Ballard (21-0-1, 13 KOs)

• When: Saturday, Feb. 19
• Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (essential occasion later in present)
• The place: Plaza Monumental, Tijuana
• TV/Stream: DAZN
• Division: Middleweight
• Rounds: 12
• At stake: No titles
• Pound-for-pound rating: None
• Odds: NA
• Additionally on the cardboard: William Zepeda vs. Luis Viedas, lightweights; Rafael Espinoza vs. Alie Laurel, featherweights
• Prediction: Munguia KO 9
• Background: Munguia, the previous junior middleweight beltholder, is marching steadily towards a shot at a middleweight championship. The 25-year-old Mexican received his 154-pound title by stopping Sadam Ali in 2018 and making 5 profitable protection earlier than shifting as much as 160, at which he’s 4-0 towards good opposition. He’s coming off a wide-decision victory over veteran Gabriel Rosado this previous November. He’ll be combating in his hometown for the primary time since 2017. Ballard, 28, is a strong opponent. The product of the Washington, D.C. space was an newbie standout who fought within the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, turning professional the next yr. He’s unbeaten as a professional – with solely a draw towards Yamaguchi Falcao in 2019 – however has by no means confronted an opponent the caliber of Munguia as knowledgeable. Ballard is coming off a one-sided unanimous 10-round choice over Paul Valenzuela Jr. on the Munguia-Rosado card. He has fought outdoors the USA solely as soon as, in Canada in 2016.

Additionally combating this weekend: Light-weight prospect Jamaine Ortiz (14-0-1, 8 KOs) will face Nahir Albright (14-1, 7 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout Friday in Orlando, Florida, on Showtime. Additionally, Saturday in Ekaterina, Russia, former three-division titleholder Jorge Linares (47-6, 29 KOs) will tackle Zaur Abdullaev (14-1, 8 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round combat.

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