Pacquiao-Bradley 2 PPV undercard is set

Pacquiao-Bradley 2 PPV undercard is set

The pay-per-view portion of the Apr. 12 undercard to Manny Pacquiao‘s chance at redemption against Timothy Bradley has been set according to promoter Top Rank. The HBO-PPV televised card will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will be Pacquiao’s first fight in Las Vegas and the US since his humbling knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012.

In the co-featured bout, WBA junior welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev will defend his title against unbeaten contender Jessie Vargas in a twelve-round bout. Lightweight contender and longtime Pacquiao sparring partner Raymundo Beltran will try and stay in the mix for a title shot as he meets former junior lightweight titlist Roman Martinez in an intriguing crossroads bout. Opening the pay-per-view is WBA junior lightweight interim titlist Bryan Vasquez defending against the 21-year old Jose Felix Jr., who has notched a couple of solid wins as an unbeaten young professional.

Allakhverdiev (19-0, 9 knockouts) was set to make his major US television debut last March on the HBO undercard of the rematch between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado. Allakhverdiev was forced out due to injury, and young lightweight Terence Crawford stepped in to dominate Breidis Prescott, igniting his currently rising star.

Vargas (23-0, 9 KOs) made his HBO debut a few weeks prior to Rios-Alvarado, outpointing fellow unbeaten Wale Omotoso in an entertaining and hard-fought bout. Vargas has been waiting his turn patiently and was a possible standby opponent had the Bradley-Marquez fight fell apart late last year. Now he has a chance to pick up a belt and a bargaining chip as he looks for a big fight this year.

Beltran (28-6-1, 17 KOs) hasn’t fought since a widely controversial draw against WBO titlist Ricky Burns back in September. Beltran broke Burns’ jaw in the fight and had him hurt on several occasions but was unable to pick up the decision on his opponent’s home turf. Beltran is hoping that a win could be enough to get him a shot at the winner between Burns and Terence Crawford, which takes place Mar. 1.

Martinez (27-2-2, 16 KOs) is moving up in weight after getting stopped by Mikey Garcia at 130 pounds his last time out. Martinez was a former two-time champion at the weight who was usually able to take his opponents the distance and wind up holding onto his title after a razor thin decision. Martinez fights at 135 pounds for the first time.

Vasquez (32-1, 17 KOs) will be getting his first American TV exposure after fighting mostly in his home of Costa Rica. In his lone big step up, he was stopped in eight by the real WBA champion, Takashi Uchiyama.

Felix Jr. (26-0-1, 21 KOs) became a solid contender after an upset decision over Luis Cruz in a September 2012 ESPN2-televised bout. The 21-year old has stayed in the mix with stay busy wins on small shows and untelevised undercards but will get a chance to climb the ladder with a win.

Top Rank has put together a decent undercard after a few underwhelming ones as of late. This is pretty competitive and matches up well against the Golden Boy Promotions card headlined by Canelo Alvarez against Alfredo Angulo on Mar. 8 at the same venue.