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Junior featherweight world titleholder Jessie Magdaleno’s mandatory defense against Cesar Juarez will headline a Top Rank/ESPN tripleheader on Nov. 11 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
The card, announced Thursday, will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET, and will stream live on the ESPN App.
In the co-feature, Jose Ramirez, a big ticket-seller from nearby Avenal, will take on Mike Reed, of Waldorf, Maryland, in a battle of unbeaten junior welterweights.
The opening bout will feature Artur Beterbiev squaring off with Enrico Koelling in a light heavyweight world title elimination fight.
The card, which will benefit the California Latino Water Coalition that Ramirez has been raising money for years, was initially penciled in for Oct. 31, but a potential network scheduling issue forced the move to Nov. 11, which was originally penciled in for the rematch between welterweight titlist Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao. However, Pacquiao elected to put the fight off until at least early 2018.
“A great fight inside and outside the ring,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “Jessie and Jose are going to light it up on Nov. 11 because that’s the only way they know how to perform. Fresno is one of my favorite places to watch a fight because the fans are so great. And you can’t fight for a better cause than for the water rights of the Central Valley farmers. They are America!”
Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs), 25, of Las Vegas, will be making his second title defense. He captured the 122-pound belt by controversial decision against Nonito Donaire in November 2016 and made his first defense by second-round knockout of Adeilson Dos Santos on April 22.
“Now that my first title defense is under my belt, I am even more inspired to work hard every day and remain a world champion,” Magdaleno said. “Juarez is not only my mandatory challenger, he is the next obstacle in establishing my legacy in the sport. I don’t go around obstacles. I go through them.”
Juarez (20-5, 15 KOs), 26, of Mexico, will be getting his second world title opportunity. He lost a highly competitive and hard-fought decision to Donaire in December 2015.
Ramirez (20-0, 15 KOs), 25, was a 2012 U.S. Olympian and has become a major attraction in his home region. In his past fight at the Save Mart Center, Ramirez drew a sellout crowd of 13,700 for his sixth-round knockout victory against Issouf Kinda.
“I’m ready to show the world how hard I have worked and trained for this moment,” Ramirez said. “And to do it at home for my city — to bring awareness to our immigration issues and to get the Temperance Flat dam built for water storage — makes it that much more important to me.”
The 24-year-old Reed (23-0, 12 KO) is taking a step up in competition against Ramirez, an opponent he has been telling Top Rank officials for years that he wanted to fight.
In July, Top Rank won a purse bid for $315,000 for the right to promote Beterbiev-Koelling, even though it doesn’t promote either fighter. Top Rank, however, is likely to sign Beterbiev, who recently split from promoter Yvon Michel.
Russian-born, Montreal-based Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs), 32, one of boxing’s most devastating punchers and a two-time Olympian, and Germany’s Koelling (23-1, 6 KOs), 27, will fight for the right to become one of unified 175-pound world titleholder Andre Ward’s mandatory challengers.
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