Reset Bout, Between Jose Pedraza and Mikkel LesPierre, Screens TONIGHT on ESPN

THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The fight is ON.

Just had to make sure, because of how it went down last time. But Mikkel Lespierre versus Jose Pedraza will indeed proceed this evening.

Jose Pedraza and Mikkel Lespierre were supposed to fight already, but, stop me if you've heard this before, the coronavirus interrupted that plan.

The June 18 Top Rank match between the Puerto Rican Pedraza and the New Yorker Lespierre got scratched when the manager of LesPierre, Josie Taveras, tested coronavirus positive.

Out of an abundance of caution, even though Lespierre did NOT test positive during “The Bubble” quarantine in Las Vegas, officials installed another fight at the MGM as the main event status. And Pedraza and LesPierre stayed in shape, waited, and hoped the fight would get re-set quickly. Their hopes were answered–tonight (July 2), the junior welterweights will battle on ESPN.

Pedraza, who'd held the WBO 140 crown for a spell, is 26-3 and the favorite to get the W. He's been in tougher than Lespierre, who owns a 22-1-1 mark.

The 31 year old Pedraza has dropped step up fights, to Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Gervonte Davis, while Lespierre (atop this story, Mikey Williams picture from Wednesday weigh in), age 35, took a step-up L when he met then WBO 140 champ Maurice Hooker last March.

So far, so good….No late word that the C word is messing things up again. I won't remind you that the June 18 fight got cancelled the morning of the face-off. Keep fingers crossed.

Here are the matchups on the Top Rank fans-free promotion: