The anticipated heavyweight championship duel between Deontay Wilder and Eric Molina isn’t the only bout on Saturday’s Showtime Boxing card with title implications.
The winner between Redkach and Zlaticanin will get a crack at reigning WBC champ Jorge Linares later in the year. Redkach (18-0, 14 KOs, one ND), from California by way of the Ukraine, has feasted on a steady diet of regional fighters but he’s stepped up his level of competition in the past year. His best win to date was a 10-round unanimous decision over high-level contender Sergey Gulyakevich last June and most recently, a TKO after six against Yakubu Amidu in January.
For Zlaticanin (20-0, 13 KOs), he’s taken a similar career path. His greatest triumph inside the ring came last June as well, where he toppled the excellent Ricky Burns via split 12-round decision. He last fought in October where he scored a 10-round unanimous nod over Alex Bone.
Whoever prevails will get their hands on the best fighter either will have faced up to this point in Linares. A man with supreme talent who sometimes is inconsistent with his performance, Linares has turned things around and has won eight in a row. He looks like the Linares the world expected him to be, so either Zlaticanin or Redkach will have their hands full later this year.
In the co-feature of the Sho Extreme card, undefeated super welterweight contender Julian Williams (19-0-1, 11 KOs) will face off against Armenian Armen Ovsepyan (14-4, 11 KOs). If time permits, lightweight prospect Ahmed Elbiali (10-0, 9 KOs) will duke it out with Donta Woods (8-4, seven KOs).
The telecast on Sho Extreme will kick off at 7 p.m. ET (tape delayed on the West Coast). It will be held inside the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
The Wilder-Molina telecast will go live on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and will begin with the vacant IBF junior lightweight championship between unbeaten contender Jose Pedraza (19-0, 12 KOs) of Puerto Rico and Russia’s Andrey Klimov (19-1, nine KOs.)