by Cliff Rold

Pick It: TBRB #1 at 147 Errol Spence vs. #C at 140/#2 at 135 Mikey Garcia (Saturday, Fox PPV, 9 PM EST)

The maiden voyage for the newest member of club pay-per-view is a solid top to bottom card with a fascinating main event. 29-year old IBF welterweight titlist Errol Spence (24-0, 21 KO) of Dallas and southern California’s 31-year old WBC lightweight titlist Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KO) are looking for their breakthrough moment to the next level of stardom.

Spence has home court in the house Jerry Jones built. Garcia is moving up to his fifth weight class. Garcia has a deeper resume. Spence looks like he could be the best welterweight in the world but his resume is still evolving. If the talent is equal, size usually matters. Is it equal? We’ll find out Saturday night. Pre-fight kicks off at 7:30 PM EST on FS1.

Additional Shows to Watch For

Friday – DAZN (7 PM EST): #3 Farmer vs. Carroll

The busy schedule of Philadelphia’s 28-year old IBF 130 lb. titlist Tevin Farmer (28-4-1, 6 KO) keeps rolling along as he attempts his third defense since winning a vacant belt last August. Farmer faces 26-year old Irish battler Jono Carroll (16-0-1, 3 KO) in a fight where either man getting knocked out might count as an upset. In support, 32-year old Irish Olympian and IBF/WBA lightweight titlist Katie Taylor (12-0, 5 KO) will attempt to add a third belt to her name when she faces 36-year old WBO titlist Rose Volante (14-0, 8 KO) of Brazil.

Friday – TyC (10 PM PM EST): Roman vs. Perez

36-year old IBF bantamweight titlist Maria Roman (13-4-1, 0 KO) of Argentina attempts her fifth title defense in the main event. 25-year old challenger Valeria Perez (12-5, 2 KO) of Mexico enters on a modest two-fight win streak and has never been stooped. Roman lost four in a row after winning her pro debut and hasn’t lost since.

Friday – Telemundo (11:35 PM EST): Juarez vs. Andrade

Welterweights take center stage in the late night hours. With two fighters coming off a loss, one would hope both let it all hang out. 33-year old Diego Cruz (18-6-2, 14 KO) of Mexico hasn’t posted a win since 2016 but he’s never been stopped. Neither has Mexico’s Maurico Pintor (20-3-1, 13 KO), and two of his losses are by split decision. Luck goes a long way. Who will make their luck here?

Saturday – AsianBoxing.Info (3 AM EST): #1 Tanaka vs. #6 at 108 Taguchi

Don’t be shocked if this sneaks in as the fight of the week. 23-year old Kosei Tanaka (12-0, 7 KO) weight won his third WBO belt in his third weight class, flyweight, last time out. It was the BoxingScene Fight of the Year for 2017 and that war with Sho Kimura has a chance to be equaled here. 32-year old former Ring magazine and unified Jr. flyweight titlist Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3-2, 12 KO) enters off a violently entertaining defeat to Hekkie Budler with one more chance at gold. Taguchi has never been stopped and was the first man to take Naoya Inoue (something only two fighters have done to date). This fight is the goods.

Sunday – ESPN+ (6 PM PM EST): Conlan vs. Hernandez

Northern Ireland’s 27-year old Olympic son Michael Conlan (10-0, 6 KO) is moving along at featherweight. The WBA already has him at number nine so a title shot isn’t likely to be all that far away. He’ll be making his fifth Madison Square Garden start against 25-year old Mexican Ruben Hernandez (24-3-2, 10 KO). Hernandez has been stopped only once and enters 2-0-1 in his last three starts.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com