Junior lightweights Andrew Cancio and Dardan Zenunaj will meet in a 10-round bout that will headline the Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN card on Aug. 17, Golden Boy Promotions announced on Thursday.
The card, which will air on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes beginning at 11 p.m. ET, will take place at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
Cancio (18-4-2, 14 KOs), 29, of Blythe, California, who recently re-signed with Golden Boy, is aiming for a second victory in a row following a ninth-round knockout loss to former featherweight world title challenger Joseph Diaz Jr. in September 2016.
“I’m very excited to be fighting at Fantasy Springs Casino again,” Cancio said. “It’s not far from my hometown in Blythe, California, and it’s great to know that my family and friends will be able to attend and support me. Fighting on ESPN again is a huge advantage for my career and a terrific opportunity to showcase my skills. I know how tough Dardan Zenunaj is and it’s another big challenge for me, but I’ll be very well prepared for victory on Aug. 17.”
Zenunaj (14-4, 11 KOs), 30, a Kosovo native fighting out of Los Angeles, is looking to rebound from a sixth-round technical decision loss to Carlos Morales in December. The fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards when Morales could not continue when he was cut over the right eye by an accidental head butt.
“I’m happy for this opportunity,” Zenunaj said. “Cancio is a warrior and I’m a warrior, so everyone knows this will be a war. They know this will be bloody. My goal, other than to be world champion, is to be in a (Arturo) Gatti-(Micky) Ward kind of fight. This will be the epic war that will propel my career to the big stage.”
In the co-feature, Yoshihiro Kamegai (27-4-2, 24 KOs), 35, of Japan, will fight for the first time since losing a lopsided unanimous decision challenging then-junior middleweight world titleholder Miguel Cotto last August. Kamegai, who has been in several action-packed fights, will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-round junior middleweight fight.
In other fights: junior lightweight Rommel Caballero (1-0-1), 19, of Coachella, California, will face Jahaziel Vazquez (2-7, 1 KO), 28, of Mexico, in a four- or six-round bout and bantamweight Anthony Reyes (2-0, 2 KOs), 19, also from Coachella, will face an opponent to be determined in a four-round fight.