Mike Plania: record, next fight and profile →
Another Filipino underdog will fight on a Top Rank closed door event, at the MGM Grand's Conference Center in Las Vegas on July 2. After countryman Mike Plania’s sensational win over Joshua Greer, Mark Bernaldez (20-3, 14 KOs) will face an undefeated foe in heavily favored Albert Bell (16-0, 5 KOs).
Mike Plania upset one of the highest-ranked bantamweight contenders in boxing Tuesday night. Plania’s representatives believe it’d be best, however, if the Filipino fighter uses the most noteworthy win of his five-year career to land a junior featherweight title shot. The 23-year-old Plania officially weighed 119½ pounds for his 10-round, majority-decision upset of Joshua Greer Jr. at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Mike Plania’s perception of how Joshua Greer Jr. viewed him entering their fight Tuesday night gave the then-unknown underdog even more motivation to pull off an upset. Greer picked Plania over other opponents previously presented to him. Then, when Greer brought his trademark pillow to their weigh-in Monday and predicted Plania would go “Night Night,” that inspired Plania even more before their 10-round, 120-pound bout in Las Vegas.
That’s an increase from Thursday night’s ESPN show, which was watched by a peak audience of 392,000 and an average audience of 311,000. ESPN’s broadcast June 9, which featured unbeaten WBO featherweight champ Shakur Stevenson in a one-sided main event, produced the basic cable network’s largest viewership of three June shows thus far (peak: 609,000; average: 397,000).
Chicago’s Greer was dropped midway through the opening round again towards the end of round six, both times courtesy of left hooks. A strong finish came far too late, as it merely pulled him even on the 94-94 scorecard turned in by judge Dave Moretti. Greer lost 97-91 and 96-92 on the scorecards of judges Patricia Morse Jarman and Tim Cheatham, respectively, thus snapping a 19-fight win streak dating back more than four years.
Plania, Greer Fight Photos Gallery - MGM Grand Conference Center - In a super bantamweight fight, Mike Plania (24-1, 12 KOs) scored two knockdowns and won a ten round majority decision over Joshua Greer (22-2-1, 12 KOs), who is the top rated contender under the WBO at bantamweight. (photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Mike Plania, Joshua Greer Official Scorecards - MGM Grand Conference Center - In a super bantamweight fight, Mike Plania (24-1, 12 KOs) scored two knockdowns and won a ten round majority decision over Joshua Greer (22-2-1, 12 KOs), who is the top rated contender under the WBO at bantamweight.
By Keith Idec - Mike Plania proved his handlers correct Tuesday night in Las Vegas. The previously unknown underdog upset Joshua Greer Jr. by majority decision in the main event of a five-fight card ESPN televised from MGM Grand Conference Center. The patient, powerful Plania dropped Greer with left hooks in the first and sixth rounds, and the Filipino...
Greer, Plania Scorecard BoxingScene Live - Don’t blink. Top Rank on ESPN’s summer schedule resumes with a trio of shows, commencing Tuesday, June 16, with the return of bantamweight contender Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer Jr. in a 10-rounder against 23-year-old Filipino upstart Mike Plania at the MGM Grand Conference Center – Grand Ballroom in Las Vegas. (photos by Mikey Williams)
Inspired by Manny Pacquiao, a 9-year-old Mike Plania entered a boxing gym for the first time in 2006 in Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City. Plania has met Pacquiao several times since then and remains very much motivated by what the Filipino icon has accomplished both in and out of the boxing ring. On Tuesday night, the Philippines’ Plania will introduce himself to boxing fans worldwide when he appears in his first televised main event – a 10-round, 120-pound fight against Chicago’s Joshua Greer Jr.