Super middleweight world titlist Jose Uzcategui is due to face mandatory challenger Caleb Plant, but with Plant sidelined with a hand injury that forced the fight to be postponed, Uzcategui is set for a non-title bout.
Uzcategui will face Ezequiel Maderna in a scheduled 10-round fight that will headline the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Sept. 28 (7:30 p.m. ET with main card beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET) at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Top Rank announced on Monday.
In the co-feature, Jerwin Ancajas will defend his junior bantamweight world title for the sixth time when he faces Alejandro Santiago.
Uzcategui (27-2, 23 KOs), 27, a Venezuela native fighting out of Mexico, won an interim world title when he knocked out Andre Dirrell on March 3 in a rematch of Uzcategui’s controversial disqualification in their first fight in May 2017.
Uzcategui was elevated to a full titlist when James DeGale opted to vacate the 168-pound belt to pursue another fight rather than face Uzcategui.
The Uzcategui-Plant fight was supposed to take place this summer but that was before Plant (17-0, 10 KOs) broke his hand training for the bout. That left Uzcategui to opt for a non-title bout rather than sit idle.
“This is my first fight since winning the world title, and I will be representing my country (Venezuela) and my beloved Tijuana, Mexico, with pride and guts,” Uzcategui said. “I will show the world and my opponent why I’m the best super middleweight in the world right now.”
Maderna (26-4, 16 KOs), 31, of Argentina, who has won two fights in a row, has lost to the best opponents he has faced, including a fourth-round knockout to Artur Beterbiev, who went on to win a light heavyweight world title, in 2016 and Edwin Rodriguez, who outpointed Maderna over 10 rounds in 2013.
Ancajas (30-1-1, 20 KOs), 26, a southpaw from the Philippines, who is co-promoted by Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, is coming off a unanimous decision against countryman Jonas Sultan in a May 26 title defense. Ancajas figures to be a fan favorite in Oakland as there is a large Filipino community in the Bay Area.
“I am very excited to defend my title in Oakland in front of the great fans there, and I look forward to a great challenge from Santiago,” Ancajas said. “There is a large Filipino community in Northern California, so I expect an incredible atmosphere inside the Oracle Arena.”
Santiago (16-2-4, 7 KOs), 22, of Mexico, is getting the 115-pound title shot with little in the way of a resume. He has never faced a notable opponent and is coming off a draw with Jose Martinez on March 24.
The undercard will also feature the return of Jessie Magdaleno (25-1, 18 KOs), who will square off with fellow former junior featherweight world titlist Rico Ramos (29-5, 14 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout.
Magdaleno, 26, of Las Vegas, will be in the ring for the first time since losing his 122-pound world title by 11th-round knockout to Isaac Dogboe in one of the year’s most action-packed fights. Ramos, 31, of Pico Rivera, California, has won five fights in a row since being knocked out in the third round by Claudio Marrero in 2015.
“I want to be a world champion again. I have that fire and that fuel, and I am ready to do whatever it takes to get back there,” said Madgaleno, who is moving up one weight class. “I have new trainers, Ismael Salas and Jorge Capetillo, and I feel like it’s been a great move. I feel like I Iacked movement in my last fight, and I felt like I needed to get back to the way I was when I won the world title against Nonito Donaire. Everyone will see a renewed Jessie Magdaleno when I fight Rico Ramos.”
In another undercard fight, bantamweight Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer Jr. (17-1-1, 9 KOs), 24, of Chicago, who signed with Top Rank last week, will make his debut for the company in a scheduled 10-round fight against Giovanni Delgado (16-7, 9 KOs), 27, of Mexico.
The undercard will also include Filipino featherweight contender Genesis Servania (31-1, 14 KOs), 27, who will be looking for a third win in a row since a decision loss to world titlist Oscar Valdez in a slugfest last September, and 18-year-old featherweight prospect Christopher Zavala (1-0), of Long Beach, California, in a four-rounder. Their opponents have not been determined.