Mike Coppinger of ESPN reports that Cody Crowley will take on little-known Gabriel Maestre in the main event of an August 7 PBC on Fox card. The co-main features a much more compelling fight between rising contender Eimantas Stanionis and hard-nosed veteran Luis Collazo. Kicking off the event is the return of former super-lightweight and welterweight champion, Devon Alexander, as he takes on Lucas Santamaria.
The headliner here is a bit of a head-scratcher, even though it’s not that far off from some of PBC on FOX’s recent offerings. The Canadian-born Crowley (17-0, 9 KO), who made his name as Floyd Mayweather’s sparring partner, is not that well known even among hardcore boxing fans. His 34-year-old Venezuelan opponent Gabriel Maestre (3-0, 3 KO) is being moved quickly, not surprisingly given his extensive amateur background and advanced age.
Maestre is a two-time Olympian who represented his country in the London 2012 and Rio 2016 games, losing in the quarter-finals to Kazakh opponents. He won Bronze medals in the 2013 World Championships and the 2019 Pan American games, and Gold in the 2015 Pan American and 2018 South American Games. His first professional fight came against a 20-0 opponent, and his second saw him stopping Diego Chaves in the fourth round.
Stylistically this should be an entertaining enough fight. Crowley is a pressure fighter, who relies on his volume to outpoint his opponents. Maestre is the puncher of the two, and should be the favourite here.
The chief support bout in this night of welterweight action will showcase Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KO) as he squares off with Luis Collazo (39-8, 20 KO). Stanionis most recently took a decision victory over Thomas Dulorme, while Collazo has been out of the ring since losing a technical decision to Kudratillo Abdukakhorov in October 2019. It remains to be seen if this version of Collazo will be a step-up for Stanionis.
In the opener, Devon Alexander (27-6-1, 14 KO) makes his return against Lucas Santamaria (11-2-1, 7 KO) after a two-year absence. Alexander has had a long and distinguished career, but his speed and reflexes have diminished over time. It’ll be nice to see him in action again, although one wonders if coming back at this point is really what’s best. However, Santamaria isn’t a big puncher so hopefully Alexander will be able to come through this test unscathed.
Santamaria is looking to return to winning ways after losing to undefeated Paul Kroll (8-0, 6 KO) in his last time out. Prior to that outing, he defeated Mykal Fox in an impressive effort. Adding a victory over a name like Alexendar would be a huge boon to his resume.