Easter Jr, Barthelemy square off in title fight
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Former lightweight world titleholders Robert Easter Jr. and Rances Barthelemy will face off for the vacant World Boxing Association World Lightweight Title on April 27 in the main event of a Showtime-televised tripleheader (10 p.m. ET) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Premier Boxing Champions announced on Friday in a story to ESPN.
Vasiliy Lomachenko, is the unified lightweight world champion, holds the main WBA belt, but Easter and Barthelemy are in action for the regular title.
Easter (21-1, 14 KOs) ofToledo, Ohio, had won a vacant lightweight title in 2016 against Richard Commey and had made three successful defenses before being knocked down and beaten in a title unification fight against Mikey Garcia last July.
“I’ve wanted to fight Barthelemy since he had the lightweight title and vacated it, and now I have the chance,” Easter said. “He has an awkward style and I’m up for that challenge. I am still coming in as the taller fighter with a reach advantage and I’ll use it to make this fight go how I want it to. He is a former world champion and he is coming to bring it just like I am.”
Barthelemy (27-1, 14 KOs) fighting out of Las Vegas, won a vacant lightweight title in 2015 and made one successful defense before moving up weight classes to junior welterweight in 2017 to win a controversial decision over Kiryl Relikh in a title elimination fight. They met in an immediate rematch last March for a vacant junior welterweight title and Barthelemy lost a lopsided decision. He bounced back with a third-round knockout of Robert Frankel in December and is returning to lightweight for the fight with Easter.
“I’m looking forward to a great fight against Robert Easter Jr.,” Barthelemy said. “I know I have what it takes to beat him and capture another title and become a three-time world champ. My best performances have come at 135 pounds. Both of us are former world champions who are hungry and will give the fans a sensational night of boxing. I’ve never lost at lightweight and that will continue on April 27.”
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Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
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