AN appetising super-welterweight matchup between Yoenis Tellez and Abass Baraou, along with two world title offerings, has been added to a stacked card promoted by Jake Paul.
The Most Valuable Promotions event, which is headlined by Yankiel Rivera vs Angelino Cordova, will take place in Orlando, Florida, on August 23.
Looking to steal the show, however, is WBA interim titlist Tellez, 10-0 (7 KOs), whose last outing saw him comprehensively outpoint former world champion Julian Williams in March.
Yet despite his notable victory, the 25-year-old – who is the mandatory challenger for Terence Crawford’s black and gold strap at 154lbs – must now wait a short while longer before securing his shot at world honours.
Hoping to scupper the talented Cuban’s title charge, meanwhile, is Baraou, 16-1 (9 KOs), who has not fought since his unanimous decision victory over Macaulay McGowan in June of last year.
Prior to that, the 30-year-old’s only other meaningful win – following his split decision defeat to Jack Culcay in 2020, that is – saw him outpoint Sam Eggington for the European title.
But now, with Crawford expected to be stripped of his WBA strap before long, Tellez and Baraou have both earned themselves a particularly fruitful opportunity.
Along with that announcement came confirmation that Stephanie Han will defend her WBA lightweight title against Paulina Angel, while Jasmine Artiga, the sanctioning body’s super-flyweight champion, has landed herself an undercard slot against Linn Sandstrom.
It was already announced, too, that former Teofimo Lopez opponents Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett will lock horns in a bid to rejoin the world scene at 140lbs.
