(March 21, 2023) — Two international fight cards will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ this week. The action starts Thursday, as super middleweight knockout artist Christian Mbilli takes on two-time Ecuadorian Olympian Carlos Gongora in a 10-round main event from the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Canada.
The ESPN+ action continues Friday from the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy, as undefeated 168-pound contender Ivan Zucco faces off against London’s Germaine Brown in a 10-round bout.
Mbilli-Gongora and undercard bouts will stream live on ESPN+ on Thursday starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
Zucco-Brown and undercard contests will stream live on ESPN+ on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
Mbilli (22-0, 20 KOs) is a 2016 French Olympian who is inching closer to a world title opportunity. The 27-year-old is coming off an impressive 2022 in which he scored knockout wins over former title challenger Nadjib Mohammedi and DeAndre Ware, along with a decision victory last December over Vaughn Alexander. Gongora (21-1, 16 KOs) represented Ecuador in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before turning pro in 2015. In 2020, he scored an upset knockout victory over Ali Akhmedov. He then stopped Christopher Pearson in 2021 before losing a close decision to Lerrone Richards. The 33-year-old southpaw is coming off a fourth-round TKO over Oscar Riojas last August.
In other streaming action from Montreal:
Canadian Olympian Simon Kean (22-1, 21 KOs) faces his stiffest challenge yet against two-time world title challenger Eric Molina (29-8, 21 KOs). Kean was 15-0 with 14 knockouts before an upset loss to Dillon Carman in 2018. He avenged that loss the following year as part of a seven-fight knockout win streak.
Junior welterweight Steve Claggett (33-7-2, 23 KOs) will attempt to score his fifth straight KO victory in a 10-round tilt against Mexico’s Rafael Guzman Lugo (26-2-2, 16 KOs).
Undefeated lightweight Luis Santana (8-0, 2 KOs) returns to the ring in an eight-round fight against Francisco Arturo Ramirez Martinez (11-4, 6 KOs) of Veracruz, Mexico.
In a battle of undefeated junior lightweights, Canada’s Leila Beaudoin (8-0, 1 KO) will collide against Mexico’s Laura Avendano Mondragon (6-0, 2 KOs) in a six-rounder.
Zucco (16-0, 14 KOs) is a 27-year-old southpaw who debuted in the paid ranks in 2017. He beat then undefeated Luca Capuano in 2021 via sixth-round knockout to capture his first regional title. In his last fight, he stopped Marko Nikolic in the second round to capture the WBC International super middleweight title. His last six opponents have not gone the distance. Brown (12-1, 3 KOs) is a 28-year-old native of London who captured a British title in 2022 with a decision win over Charlie Schofield. In his last outing, he lost the belt to Zak Chelli in what has been his only loss so far.
In other streaming action from Milan
Francesco Russo (12-2, 10 KOs) will put his Italian junior middleweight title on the line in a 10-rounder against Christian Mazzon (9-4, 3 KOs).
Maxim Prodan (20-2-1, 15 KOs) will see action in an eight-round welterweight tilt against Mirko Marchetti (8-4).
Undefeated Italian prospect Giovanni Sarchioto (6-0, 6 KOs) will participate in an eight-round middleweight contest against France’s Houcine Moulahi (4-13-2, 2 KOs).
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