By Chris Cella
Following the success of Fight Night on NBC’s inaugural afternoon show last December, this Saturday, live from the renowned Madison Square Garden, boxing will again take place as heavyweights Tyson Fury and Steve Cunningham will throw hands to determine the #2 heavyweight contender in the world. But to build the excitement for the heavyweight showdown to revel who will be one step closer to becoming the mandatory challenger for heavyweight sensation Wladimir Klitschko, the undercard features various prospects and up-and-coming talent looking to emerge on the scene at the Mecca of the boxing world.
Headlining the stacked undercard is an eight round bout in the middleweight division featuring Brooklyn native Curtis “Showtime” Stevens (23-3, 17 KO) against Derrick “Superman” Findley (20-0, 13 KO). In his last outing in January, Stevens came out of the gate like a bull, making easy work out of Elvin Ayala in the first round and capturing the vacant NABF middleweight title. This will only be Findley’s fourth fight since January of 2010, but following his dominating win three months ago, the middleweight will look to return to consistent action in route to fighting for a world championship. Since 2010 Findley has gone 3-6 and has become an opponent for up-and-coming talent; Saturday afternoon he will be looking to play spoiler against the Brooklynite trying to reestablish himself.
The next featured bout on the undercard is undefeated lightweight Karl “Dynamite” Dargan (12-0, 6 KO) fighting Edward Valdez (12-9-2, 9 KO). The 27-year-old Dargan has quietly stayed undefeated through his five plus year career fighting less than formidable opponents, and has the chance to catch the eye of the boxing world fighting at MSG. Despite Valdez’s less than impressive record of 12-9, he has won 9 fights by way of KO and has won 7 of his last 8 bouts. Fighting in front of his hometown fans against a Philadelphia rival, he will be looking to thwart Dargan’s hopes of exiting NYC with his undefeated record intact.
Also highlighting the undercard are cruiserweights Sevdail “The Illyrian” Sherifi (9-1-2, 8 KO) vs. Josh “The Juice” Harris (8-6-1, 6 KO); heavyweights Adam Kownacki (4-0, 4 KO) vs. Calbert Lewis (0-2); and Hughie Fury (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Alex Rozman (1-0, 1 KO).
The action begins live on NBC this Saturday, April 20 at 4 p.m. Eastern.