By Francisco Salazar
It almost did not happen.
Boxing fans were going to be left out from watching the rematch between Jesus Soto-Karass and Yoshihiro Kamegai, one of the most anticipated fights of 2016.
Enter Peter Nelson, the Executive Vice President of HBO Sports, who did not want boxing fans to be left out of watching.
Nelson wants to see the best fights possible, so he says, which echoes what boxing fans want and seem to be deprived of in this calendar year.
Nelson announced the anticipated rematch between the two junior middleweights would air live on HBO on Sep. 10.
The 10 round bout will take place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
The rematch between will be included on the HBO 'World Championship Boxing' telecast, which will precede the 12 round bout junior bantamweight bout between WBC titleholder Carlos Cuadras and Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez.
HBO will also air same-day coverage of the middleweight world title bout between Gennady Golovkin and Kell Brook.
The first fight between Soto-Karass and Kamegai was an back-and-forth affair that occurred on Apr. 15 at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles. Both fighters had their moments in the fight, producing solid ebb-and-flow exchanges throughout the 10 round bout.
Soto-Karass and Kamegai fought to a split decision draw.
For the most part, the 33-year-old Soto-Karass makes for solid and entertaining fights. Kamegai's aggressive style seems to compliment that of Soto-Karass, and because of demand from fight fans, a rematch between the two was inevitable.
While the fight between Soto-Karass and Kamegai was added to the Sep. 10, it originally was not included in the HBO broadcast.
There was disappointment from fight fans on social media, which meant the only way to watch the fight would have been in person in Inglewood. But Nelson interjected.
"We spoke to Tom Loeffler, along with Mr. (Akihiko) Honda and after much discussion, we agreed to add this fight to the broadcast," Nelson told BoxingScene.com. "The first fight speaks for itself how exciting it was and what we believe will be an anticipated rematch."
Honda runs Teiken Promotions.
Soto-Karass (28-10-4, 18 KOs), who resides in Los Angeles suburb of North Hollywood, is winless in his last three fights, including the draw with Kamegai.
Kamegai (26-3-2, 23 KOs) has two other notable fights, both decision losses to Robert Guerrero and Alfonso Gomez.
"As I've said before, we want to match the best fights possible," said Nelson at Monday's press conference in Inglewood to the announce the fight. "This fight is no different."
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
