When is Rafael Espinoza vs. Arnold Khegai?
Rafael Espinoza vs. Arnold Khegai is on Saturday, November 15. The broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. GMT).
What channel is Rafael Espinoza vs. Arnold Khegai on?
Rafael Espinoza vs. Arnold Khegai will stream on the Top Rank Classics channel available on the Roku Channel, Tubi and Vizio apps.
Where is Rafael Espinoza vs. Arnold Khegai?
The fight is taking place at Arena Coliseo in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Who is Rafael Espinoza?
Rafael Espinoza, 27-0 (23 KOs), is the WBO featherweight titleholder. The 31-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, has one of the more ridiculous statures in boxing, standing 6-foot-1 and competing at 126lbs.
While it was believed that Espinoza would be moving up to junior lightweight, he has not yet sought those four additional pounds of relief on the scales. And so this will be his fourth title defense at featherweight.
Espinoza won the WBO belt from Robeisy Ramirez via majority decision in late 2023, dominated Sergio Chirino with three knockdowns and a fourth-round TKO in June 2024, took out Ramirez in the sixth round of their rematch last December, and scored a seventh-round stoppage of Edward Vazquez this May on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. William Scull.
If he remains at featherweight, then Espinoza’s fellow titleholders are Angelo Leo (IBF), Nick Ball (whom the WBA has ordered to defend against Brandon Figueroa), and Stephen Fulton (the WBC titleholder whose next fight is next month against O’Shaquie Foster for that organization’s belt at 130lbs. The top six contenders currently ranked by the WBO are Luis Nery, Figueroa, Elijah Pierce, Kenji Fujita, Ryuto Owan and Omar Trinidad.
Who is Arnold Khegai?
Arnold Khegai, 23-2-1 (14 KOs), is a 33-year-old featherweight from Ukraine who now lives in Los Angeles, California.
Khegai turned pro a decade ago, splitting his time between the junior featherweight and featherweight divisions. He had a few appearances on ShoBox, and by the start of 2020 was in with Stephen Fulton on a Showtime undercard. That fight ended with Fulton’s hands raised as the unanimous decision winner, and the Philadelphian would go on to capture a world title at 122lbs in his very next bout.
As for Khegai, it was time to rebuild. He won six straight in five countries, which landed Khegai a match this past March against longtime contender Joet Gonzalez. Gonzalez took the split nod. Khegai returned in September with an eight-round decision over Liborio Solis, a former junior bantamweight titleholder well beyond his ideal weight and well past his prime.
Khegai is ranked ninth by the WBO. The odds are against him, given both his own track record and that of Espinoza. But Khegai also must know that he needs a victory, or at least a good performance in defeat, in order to maintain some semblance of relevance in the sport.
What other fights are on the undercard of Rafael Espinoza vs. Arnold Khegai?
The undercard includes an IBF elimination bout between junior welterweights Lindolfo Delgado, 23-0 (16 KOs), and Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela, 31-4-1 (17 KOs). Delgado, ranked third, is coming off a majority decision victory in April against the 17-1-1 Elvis Rodriguez. Valenzuela, ranked fourth, is two bouts removed from getting stopped in the eighth round by Subriel Matias in March. The IBF has its top two spots vacant, and its world titleholder at 140lbs is Richardson Hitchins.
Also on this show, heavyweight prospect “Ravishing” Richard Torrez Jr., 13-0 (11 KOs), will face Tomas Salek, 23-7 (14 KOs); and junior welterweight prospect Emiliano Vargas, 15-0 (13 KOs), will take on Jonathan Montrel, 19-3 (13 KOs).
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
