By Matt Lieberman: Next month’s Triller pay-per-view card headlined by IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos Jr has been moved off of June 5th to June 19th at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. The card will kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The undercard is still be filled out, but for now, there are three fights, but nothing that really jumps out at you.
Teofimo vs. Kambosos Jr undercard for June 19th:
- Franchon Crews-Dezurn vs. Elin Cederroos
- Michael Hunter vs. Mike Wilson
- Andy Vences vs. Jono Carroll
No reason was given for the move of the four-fight card, but it’s believed that it was done so that it wouldn’t conflict with the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Logan Paul exhibition match that is scheduled on Sunday, June 6th on Showtime pay-per-view.
“This is truly a historic moment having both the male and female undisputed title fights on the same card,” said Peter Kahn, Chief Boxing Officer, Triller Fight Club.
Given the main event between Teofimo and Kamboso Jr isn’t a PPV-worthy fight in the view of many boxing fans, the undercard will need to be beefed up.
It’s a nice addition by Triller adding Michael Hunter to the card, but his opponent leaves a lot to be desired. The undercard will need some major additions to create interest from fans to pay to see this event.
Adding music artists to provide entertainment for the boxing fans isn’t something that will likely move the needle in terms of the buy rate for the Teofimo – Kambosos Jr event.
If that’s that’s the rationale for Triller moving the Teofimo vs. Kambosos Jr card; they probably should have considered moving it to July because the boxing fans that have paid $50 to watch Mayweather-Paul might not be eager to pay an additional $50 to see Teo fight the little known Australian fighter.
Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs) will be taking on Mike Wilson (21-1, 10 KOs) in a WBA title eliminator to select a mandatory for champion Anthony Joshua.
Hunter, 33, surprised boxing fans this week by rejecting an IBF title eliminator match against Filip Hrgovic on DAZN.
That fight would have made Hunter mandatory for Joshua’s IBF belt, but it was also one that he would have been an underdog. But by taking on 38-year-old former cruiserweight Mike Wilson, Hunter increases his chances of winning to earn the mandatory with the WBA.
It’s a smart move by Hunter because if he beats Wilson, all he needs to do is wait for him to make life-changing money facing the winner of the two Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fights next year.
Moving the Teofimo – Kambosos Jr card to June 19th will place it on the same night as these fights:
- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs. Anderson Silva – FITE TV
- Naoya Inoue vs. Michael Dasmarinas – ESPN
- Jermall Charlo vs. Juan Macias Montiel – Showtime
- Jaime Munguia vs. Maciej Sulecki – DAZN
With that kind of competition, it would be prudent for the Teofimo – Kambosos Jr card to be moved to another date because it’s not a big enough fight to out-compete all of those events.