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Steve KimESPN
Former light heavyweight titleholder Eleider Alvarez (25-1, 13 KOs) faces Joe Smith Jr. (25-3, 20 KOs) Saturday night in a WBO eliminator in the main event of a Top Rank card at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. ET).
The winner will face the winner of the second eliminator between Maxim Vlasov and Umar Salamov, scheduled for later this year, for the right to fight for the vacant WBO world title.
In the co-main event, former middleweight titlist Rob Brant (25-2, 17 KOs) returns for the first time in over a year to face Vitalii Kopylenko (28-2, 16 KOs) in a 10-round battle.
Brant won the WBA middleweight title against Ryota Murata in 2018 but lost it in a rematch with Murata nine months later.
Also on the card, Julian Rodriguez 19-0, 12 KOs) takes on Anthony Laureano (13-0, 4 KOs) in a battle of unbeaten junior welterweights.
Super middleweight sensation and former UFC fighter Clay Collard (8-2-3, 3 KOs) goes for his third consecutive victory inside the bubble when he takes on Maurice Williams (7-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-round fight, and unbeaten junior middleweight Wendy Toussaint (11-0, 5 KOs) faces Isiah Jones (9-2, 3 KOs) in an eight-round bout.
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis.
Fight in progress: Israel Mercado vs. Adrian Valdovinos, 6 rounds, lightweights
Results
Toussaint wins decision, stays unbeaten
In the opening bout of the night, Wendy Toussaint (12-0, 5 KOs) remained undefeated by outpointing Isiah Jones (9-3, 3 KOs) over eight rounds by the scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.
There wasn’t much sustained action in this match. Jones circle the ring for much of the bout, while the taller Toussaint controlled the center of the ring. Jones rarely let his hands go, and Toussaint became more assertive and started to land long right hands and the occasional left hook in the middle rounds.
It felt more like a sparring session, but Toussaint pressed the action and landed the large majority of meaningful punches to earn the victory.
Still to come:
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Eleider Alvarez vs. Joe Smith Jr., 12 rounds, WBO light heavyweight eliminator
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Rob Brant vs. Vitaliy Kopylenko, 10 rounds, middleweights
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Julian Rodriguez vs. Anthony Laureano, 10 rounds, junior welterweight
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Maurice Williams vs. Clay Collard, 8 rounds, super middleweights
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Duke Ragan vs. Luis Alvarado, 4 rounds, featherweights
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Abel Soriano vs. Robert Rodriguez, 6 rounds, junior featherweights