Brandun Lee vs Will Madera
Brandun Lee, one of the sport’s most exciting prospects and biggest punchers, will take on Will Madera in a 10-round super lightweight bout Saturday, August 20 live on SHOWTIME from Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. in a Premier Boxing Champions event. The newly added bout will serve as the opener to a loaded four-fight SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast that now begins live on SHOWTIME at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Additionally, SHOWTIME SPORTS will offer live streaming coverage of unbeaten Cuban heavyweight standout Lenier Peró battling Joel Caudle in an eight-round bout and undefeated middleweight Fiodor Czerkaszyn taking on Gilbert Venegas Jr. in an eight-round duel via the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page prior to the start of the televised quadrupleheader. The SHOWTIME BOXING COUNTDOWN streaming show begins at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and will be called by SHOBOX® analyst and MORNING KOMBAT host Brian Campbell alongside former unified welterweight world champion Keith “One Time” Thurman joining as guest analyst.
The televised card is topped by all-action former world champion Omar “Panterita” Figueroa in a super lightweight showdown with last-minute stand-in Sergey Lipinets, after four-division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner withdrew citing mental health issues. Plus, top 140-pounders Alberto Puello and Batyr Akhmedov square off for the vacant WBA Super Lightweight World Championship in the co-main event and WBA Super Featherweight World Champion Roger Gutierrez defends his title against unbeaten Hector Garcia.
Lee vs Madera
Lee (25-0, 22 KOs) of La Quinta, Calif., has stopped 15 of his last 16 opponents and is one of the sport’s most fearsome punchers. Showing both one-punch power and the ability to outbox his rivals, Lee, 23, recently dominated tough veteran Zachary Ochoa in April and has quickly established himself as a force at 140 pounds. Trained by his father Bobby, Lee has kept up a busy schedule, fighting four times in 2020, three times in 2021 and now twice in 2022. He was also an accomplished amateur, going an estimated 195 amateur fights with only five losses and capturing gold at the prestigious 2015 U.S. Junior National Championships at 145 pounds. Lee predicted a resounding victory on August 20.
"Madera is a technical fighter that will do whatever he wants if you allow him to, so it’s important that I check him right away," said Lee. "I have been in training camp for 12 weeks now as I was going to fight on August 6th, but the show got cancelled. I've run more miles, sparred more rounds, and put in more hours in the gym than I ever have before. I’m looking forward to stepping into the ring next week and giving the people what they want: knockouts! I'll be 26-0 at the end of the night, mark my words."
Madera (17-1-3, 10 KOs), from Albany, N.Y., is a come-forward, aggressive fighter who has faced high-level competition in his career. In his last bout, Madera, 31, scored perhaps his biggest win when he stopped then 19-1 Jamshidbek Najmitdinov after the fifth round in October 2021. Madera owns a decision win over Thomas Mattice in February 2019 and a split-decision draw against Wesley Ferrer in 2017. Both Mattice and Ferrer entered their fights against Madera undefeated. In total, Madera has conquered three undefeated opponents since turning pro in 2013.
“I’d like to thank SHOWTIME for this opportunity,” said Madera. “I was training very hard for August 6th against Brandun Lee and am very happy we were able to reschedule the bout. Remember that people may doubt you at times, but never doubt yourself. If you work and strive for greatness, you will be rewarded. Big thank you to my team for the opportunity.”
Peró vs Caudle
A 2016 Olympian for his native Cuba, the 6-4 Peró (7-0, 4 KOs) made a successful stateside debut in January, earning a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Geovany Bruzon at Hard Rock Live. Now fighting out of Miami, the 29-year-old has fought professionally since 2019 and won five Cuban national championships throughout a stellar amateur career. He will take on Raleigh, N.C.’s Caudle (9-6-2, 6 KOs), who most recently earned a stoppage victory over then unbeaten Robert Sabbagh in February. That win snapped a five-bout losing streak for the 32-year-old, with those defeats coming against unbeaten foes.
Czerkaszyn vs Venegas Jr.
The 26-year-old Czerkaszyn (19-0, 12 KOs) will make his stateside debut on August 20 after adding three victories to his tally in 2021. Originally from Ukraine and now fighting out of Warsaw, Poland, Czerkaszyn turned pro in 2015 and owns three 10-round unanimous decisions on his record, hardly losing a round throughout the contests. He takes on Venegas Jr. (11-1, 7 KOs), an East Moline, Ill. native who last fought in April 2019 when he knocked out Adam Ealoms in round four. His lone defeat came in a 2018 showdown against veteran Kendo Castaneda, which he lost by decision after 10 rounds.
Rest of the Action
The stacked off-TV undercard will see three-time U.S. Olympian Rau’shee Warren (19-3, 5 KOs) takes on Francisco Portillo (17-11-2, 10 KOs) in an eight-round bantamweight affair. In addition, super lightweight contender Ismael Barroso (23-3-2, 21 KOs) competes in an eight-round fight against Fernando Saucedo (63-9-3, 10 KOs).
Rounding out the action is rising light heavyweight prospect Atif Oberlton (5-0, 5 KOs) in a six-round showdown against Orlando’s Robert Burwell (9-6, 3 KOs) and super welterweight Evan Holyfield (9-1, 6 KOs), the son of former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield, in an eight-round fight taking on Jurmain McDonald (7-6, 3 KOs) in a rematch of their May encounter in which McDonald KO’d Holyfield.
