Two weeks after Andres Gutierrez inexplicably came in 11 pounds overweight for an ESPN+ main event versus Oscar Valdez, there were no issues at the scale Friday afternoon for Top Rank’s card Saturday night in New York.
Terence Crawford, Egidjius Kavaliauskas, Richard Commey, Teofimo Lopez, Michael Conlan and Vladimir Nikitin made weight for the three fights ESPN will air from Madison Square Garden.
The 32-year-old Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) stepped on the New York State Athletic Commission’s scale at 147 pounds for his 12-round, 147-pound title fight versus Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs). Lithuania’s Kavaliauskas, 31, officially weighed 146½ pounds.
Crawford, a three-division champion from Omaha, Nebraska, will make the third defense of the WBO welterweight title he won by stopping Australia’s Jeff Horn in June 2018 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Crawford consistently is listed as at least a 16-1 favorite to beat Kavaliauskas.
The 32-year-old Commey (29-2, 26 KOs), a native of Ghana who resides in the Bronx, came in at 134¼ pounds for his IBF lightweight title defense against Lopez (14-0, 11 KOs). Brooklyn’s Lopez, 22, also got on the NYSAC’s scale at 134¼ pounds.
Handicappers have installed Lopez as slightly more than a 2-1 favorite to win the IBF 135-pound crown from Commey, the toughest opponent of Lopez’s three-year career. The Commey-Lopez winner likely will face Vasiliy Lomachenko in his following fight.
Ukraine’s Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) owns the WBA and WBO lightweight titles. He also is the WBC’s franchise champion in the lightweight division.
Northern Ireland’s Conlan (12-0, 7 KOs) officially weighed 125½ pounds for his grudge match with Nikitin (3-0). Russia’s Nikitin weighed in exactly at the featherweight limit of 126 pounds for the first 10-rounder of his pro career.
Conlan, 28, will attempt to avenge his infamous Olympic loss to Nikitin three years ago. Belfast’s Conlan clearly out-pointed Nikitin, 29, in their bantamweight quarterfinal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Conlan responded to losing on points by sticking up his middle finger at the judges before leaving the ring.
Conlan-Nikitin will begin ESPN’s three-bout broadcast at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Below are weights for the four undercard fights ESPN+ will start streaming at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.
Edgar Berlanga (12-0, 12 KOs), Brooklyn, 164½ pounds vs. Cesar Nunez (16-1-1, 8 KOs), Pamplona, Spain, 164½ pounds, 10 rounds, super middleweights.
Josue Vargas (15-1, 9 KOs), Bronx, New York, 139½ pounds vs. Noel Murphy (14-1-1, 2 KOs), Woodlawn, New York, 138¼ pounds, 10 rounds, junior welterweights.
Julian Rodriguez (18-0, 12 KOs), Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, 141½ pounds vs. Manuel Mendez (16-6-3, 11 KOs), Colton, California, 140½ pounds, 10 rounds, welterweights.
George Kambosos Jr. (17-0, 10 KOs), Sydney, Australia, 134 pounds vs. Mickey Bey (23-2-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC), Cleveland, 132½ pounds, 10 rounds, lightweights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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