By: William Holmes
On Saturday night the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City will be the host site for a Top Rank Promotions boxing card. This event will be televised live on ESPN starting at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The co-feature of the evening will be a bout between former world champion Jessie Magdaleno and the unbeaten Sakaria Lukas in the featherweight division. The main event will be between US prospect Shakur Stevenson and Miguel Marriaga. Stevenson’s WBO Featherweight title will be no the line.
The undercard will feature boxers such as Edgar Berlanga, John Bauza, Frederic Julian and Matthew Gonzalez.
The following is a preview of the co-main event and main event of the evening.
Jessie Magdaleno (27-1) vs. Sakaria Lukas (23-0); Featherweights
Magdaleno is a former champion, who only experienced one loss in his career to Isaac Dogboe in 2018. He looks to get back into the title picture with a win over the inexperienced Sakaria Lukas.
Magdaleno has eighteen stoppage victories, two more than Lukas. Both boxers have been fairly active in the past three years. Magdaleno fought twice in 2019, once in 2018, and once in 2017. Lukas fought twice in 2019 and three times in 2017.
Magdaleno has a big edge in age over Lukas. He is still in his athletic prime at 28 years old. Lukas is thirty five years old.
Magdaleno also has a significant edge in level of opposition faced. He has defeated the likes of Rafael Rivera, Rico Ramos, Nonito Donaire, Rey Perez, Erik Ruiz, and Roberto Castaneda.
Lukas has no notable wins. In fact, this appears to be his first fight in the United States and only his second fight outside of Namibia. His most notable wins were against Nbodana Ncube, Tello Dithebe, Mudde Ntambi, and Oscar Chauke.
Magdaleno also has the edge in amateur experience. He’s a former US National Golden Gloves Champion. He also comes from a boxing family as his brothers Diego and Marco also box. Lukas has no notable amateur experience.
This is a fight that Magdaleno should win convincingly and impressively. A win by Lukas would be considered a massive upset.
A fight against Stevenson could be on the horizon for Magdaleno if both are victorious on Saturday.
Shakur Stevenson (13-0) vs. Miguel Marriaga (29-3); WBO Featherweight Title
Shakur Stevenson is one of Top Rank Promotions’ most prized prospects. In only his twelfth fight he was able to win the WBO Featherweight title against Joet Gonzalez.
His opponent, Miguel Marriaga, came up short in his three other title shots.
Stevenson and Marriaga are about the same height, and Stevenson will have about a one inch reach advantage over Marriaga. Stevenson is also eleven years younger than Marriaga.
Marriaga does have some knockout power, as he has twenty five stoppage victories on his resume. Stevenson has stopped seven of his opponents.
Marriaga’s losses came to Vasiliy Lomachemko, Oscar Valdez, and Nicholas Walters. All three of these losses came in title matches. He has defeated the likes of Alfredo Mejia Vargas, Ruben Cervera, Guy Robb, Adones Aguelo, and Christopher Martin.
Stevenson has defeated the likes of Alberto Guevara, Christopher Diaz, Jessie Rosales, Viorel Simion, Carlos Ruiz, and Roxberg Riley.
Stevenson has been extremely active in the past two years. He fought four times in 2019 and five times in 2018. Marriaga fought twice in 2019, 2018, and in 2017.
Stevenson also has an edge in amateur experience. He was an Olympic Silver Medalist for the United States while Marriaga has no notable amateur accomplishments.
This is a fight that Stevenson should win convincingly. A much more compelling fight between Stevenson and Magdaleno appear to be on the horizon.