Welterweight contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas, known as the “Mean Machine,” and Juan Carlos Abreu will meet in the co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on July 7, Top Rank announced on Wednesday.
Kavaliauskas and Abreu will meet in a scheduled 10-round bout for Kavaliauskas’ regional belt on the undercard of junior welterweight world titlist Jose Ramirez (22-0, 16 KOs) making his first defense against Danny O’Connor (30-3, 11 KOs) in a homecoming fight at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
The Ramirez-O’Connor and Kavaliauskas-Abreu fights will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET with the entire card to stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Oxnard, California-based Kavaliauskas (19-0, 16 KOs), 29, who was a two-time Olympian for Lithuania, is coming off his biggest victory, a sixth-round knockout of former secondary welterweight titlist David Avanesyan on Feb. 16 in another ESPN-televised bout.
Now he will take on Abreu (21-3-1, 19 KOs), 31, of the Dominican Republic, who has won two fights in a row and never been stopped.
“This is a great opportunity to show everyone watching on ESPN what the ‘Mean Machine’ is made of,” Kavaliauskas said. “I want a title shot soon, but I have to take care of business against Abreu to make my dreams a reality. It’s going to be a toe-to-toe battle, and I know I will be victorious.”
The undercard will also feature junior lightweight Andy Vences (20-0-1, 12 KOs), 27, of San Jose, California, against Frank De Alba (22-3-2, 9 KOs), 30, of Reading, Pennsylvania, in a 10-round bout.
Vences fought to a draw with fellow unbeaten up-and-comer Erick De Leon on March 10 on the Oscar Valdez-Scott Quigg undercard.
“I am excited to show what I’m capable of doing. I’m more anxious than anything to show everyone the improvements I’ve made,” Vences said. “I am fighting another southpaw, so I feel like I’m picking up where I left off. I have a lot of family and friends coming out to support me, which gives me extra motivation.”
Former heavyweight world title challengers Andy Ruiz (30-1, 20 KOs), 30, a Mexico native fighting out of Las Vegas, and the long-faded Kevin Johnson (32-9-1, 16 KOs), 38, of Neptune, New Jersey, will meet in a 10-rounder.
Ruiz dropped a tight majority decision to Joseph Parker for a vacant world title in December 2016 and didn’t fight again until March, when he blew out 2004 U.S. Olympian Devin Vargas in the first round.
In another bout, 18-year-old prospect Gabe Flores Jr. (8-0, 5 KOs), a recent high school graduate from Stockton, California, will face James De Herrera (4-3, 3 KOs), 27, of College Station, Texas, in a six-round lightweight bout.
Flores, who turned 18 in May, has not fought in his home state because he was too young to get a boxing license there. He is excited to fight in California for the first time.
“This is my first fight in California as a pro, and I can’t wait to entertain my people,” Flores said.
The card will also include 19-year-old power-punching prospect Joseph Adorno (7-0, 7 KOs), 19, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who will face Guadalupe De Leon (9-15-1, 5 KOs), 39, of Mission, Texas, in a six-round junior lightweight fight. Adorno has knocked out six opponents in the first round and one in the second round.