Golden Boy’s March 19th Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Michael McKinson show has both a broadcast opener and a complete undercard. Rebuilding prospect Bektemir Melikuziev returns to action against David Zegarra ahead of Alexis Rocha’s co-feature clash with Blair Cobbs
Uzbekistan’s Melikuziev (8-1, 6 KO) competes for the second time since a disastrous knockout loss to Gabriel Rosado last June, a fight he was dominating and looked on track to end inside the distance before walking into a monstrous right hand. He got back in the win column against Sergei Ekimov on last December’s Madrimov-Soro card.
Zegarra (34-7, 21 KO) has dropped four straight, including stoppage losses to Stefan Haertel, David Lemieux, and Ali Akhmedov. Perhaps most damningly, he won only three rounds against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in his most recent effort.
The fight will be at light heavyweight, much like Melikuziev’s bout with Ekimov. It’s unclear whether the 25-year-old is moving full-time to 175.
The YouTube prelims feature Alex rincon, (9-0, 6 KO), Ramla Ali, and Azat Hovhannisyan (20-3, 16 KO) among others.