Top Rank announces Sept. 12 card featuring Kavaliauskas vs. Zewski

Terence Crawford punches Egidijus Kavaliauskas. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Terence Crawford punches Egidijus Kavaliauskas. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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Top Rank announces a fight card on Sept. 12 featuring welterweights Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Mikael Zewski and Miguel Marriaga vs. Joet Gonzalez.

Top Rank announced plans to stage a fight card on Saturday, Sept. 12, headlining welterweights Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Mikael Zewski.

Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs), 32, of Lithuania, nicknamed “Mean Machine,” made a name for himself in December of 2019 when he took the fight to WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in the early rounds of their bout.

Kavaliauskas landed cleanly and gave Crawford more trouble than most expected, but the undefeated Crawford broke him down over time, stopping him in the 9th round. It was Kavaliauskas’s first loss.

Zewski (34-1, 23 KOs), 31, of Canada, has a clean record but his résumé lacks notable names. A win against Kavaliauskas would give his status quite a boost.

“Mean Machine proved he’s a top welterweight with his performance against Terence Crawford,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum via a press release. “He’s itching to get back into championship contention, and Zewski should give him a tough challenge.”

Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Mikael Zewski is the main event, but Miguel Marriaga vs. Joet Gonzalez might steal the show.

Including Kavaliauskas vs. Zewski, there are a total of seven fights listed for the event, according to Boxrec.com. The main undercard consists of featherweights Miguel Marriaga vs. Joet Gonzalez.

Marriaga (29-3, 25 KOs), 33, of Colombia, has challenged for world titles on three occasions but lost each attempt. He was supposed to fight in July against Mark John Yap, but the contest was canceled after Yap badly missed weight.

Gonzalez (23-1, 14 KOs), 26, of Los Angeles, California, lost his last match against Shakur Stevenson in a WBO title shot. Stevenson won a lopsided decision, but Gonzalez has an abundance of potential.

“Marriaga is a very tough fighter,” said Gonzalez. “He’s been in the ring with Nicholas Walters, Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko, so this will give everyone a good indication of where I stand in the division.”

The entire show goes down on Saturday, Sept. 12, on ESPN+. Coverage of the undercards begins at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the two primary bouts mentioned should start at 10 p.m ET.

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