-
Steve KimESPN
Nine months after suffering the only loss of his career, Egidijus Kavaliauskas returns to the ring to face Mikael Zewski in a 10-round welterweight battle that headlines a Top Rank card at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Saturday (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. ET).
Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) had won six of his past 10 fights by stoppage until he was stopped by Terence Crawford in the ninth round challenging for the WBO world title, but not before a great third round where he almost dropped Crawford.
Kavaliauskas wants another shot at the title and the first step is to beat Zewski.
“I want to face the best opponents at welterweight,” Kavaliauskas said during a news conference Thursday. “My goal is to become mandatory and fight for another world title. I would like to fight the top names at 147.
“If I get the opportunity to fight Crawford, I would do it all over again. I want to face him again. I know he is beatable. Everyone is. I liked how the fight started but not how it ended. I lost focus in the middle of the fight. At the end of the day, that fight gave me more confidence. I was definitely in the fight. It made me a better fighter. I corrected the mistakes I did make, and now I’m coming stronger.”
Zewski (34-1, 23 KOs) hasn’t lost in over five years and is going for this ninth consecutive victory. He also wants to get closer to his first title opportunity.
“I would love to fight the top guy in the division,” Zewski said. “That’s Terence Crawford, but I’m not really thinking about that right now. The guy that I have to beat right now is Kavaliauskas, and I have my total focus on him. I’m not looking at the future. ‘Mean Machine’ is the present and I’m going to beat him.”
In the co-main event, power puncher Miguel Marriaga (29-3, 25 KOs) faces Joet Gonzalez (23-1, 14 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout.
Marriaga’s three losses where in title fights against Nicholas Walters in 2015, and Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2017.
Gonzalez lost a unanimous decision against Shakur Stevenson last October, the first blemish of his career.
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis.
Eric Puente vs. Luis Norambuena, 4 rounds, lightweights
Fight in progress …
Still to come:
-
Egidijus Kavaliauskas vs. Mikael Zewski, 10 rounds, welterweights
-
Miguel Marriaga vs. Joet Gonzalez, 10 rounds, featherweights
-
Aleem Jumakhonov vs. Jorge Ramos, 8 rounds, featherweights
-
Manuel Flores vs. Jonathan Rodriguez, 6 rounds, bantamweights
-
Anthony Chavez vs. Adan Gonzalez, 6 rounds, junior lightweights