Thurman, Matthysse and Figueroa to Headline Showtime Triple Header on April 26

Thurman, Matthysse and Figueroa to headline Showtime triple header on April 26 A triple header featuring three of the more exciting fighters will consummate a triple header on April 26 at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California as Keith Thurman will defend his welterweight belt against Julio Diaz, Omar Figueroa will take on Jerry Belmontes in a Lightweight title fight while Lucas Matthysse will take on John Molina Jr. in a Jr. Welterweight bout according to Dan Rafael of espn.com. The card will be broadcast on Showtime. “When you can see Thurman, Matthysse and Figueroa all on one night, it’s pretty exciting I think,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. “Julio Diaz will get up for this kind of fight,” Schaefer said. “You saw how he looked in England against Amir Khan. Julio Diaz always comes to fight, and he we’ll see what happens. All of the other top 147-pounders are fighting, so Keith is going to do this fight. We’ll give Julio Diaz one last chance and see what he can make of it. But for Keith, this is about him getting back in the ring without having to wait for some of those other guys while they are getting their fights done. “Being on air and fighting is the formula. You look at [middleweight titlist] Gennady Golovkin. He’s not fighting King Kong but he has stayed busy, and that is a key in this sport. If you stay busy, you stay relevant. If you wait for that big fight and sit out like some of these fighters have done, you become irrelevant. Keith is going to stay relevant. And one thing we all know about Julio Diaz is that this guy does not just come to pick up a paycheck. He comes to fight and he knows it’s a must-win fight.” “Matthysse wants to see how he still feels at 140 pounds. He might move up to 147 and try to inject himself into the Mayweather sweepstakes, but he’ll fight this fight and then make that decision,” Schaefer said. “In the meantime, we were looking for an opponent who comes to fight and with Molina we found that.” However, Figueroa reinjured his left hand a week before the fight and had to withdraw. According to Schaefer, the injury was not serious, only requiring a few weeks of rest. “Everything is OK with his hand,” Schaefer said. “He had it checked out. He is ready to go and excited to come back.” Belmontes, who had lost three out of four fights, is getting the title opportunity because he pulled an upset in his last fight, easily outpointing previously unbeaten contender Will Tomlinson of Australia in a 10-rounder on the Alvarez-Angulo card. “That was a great win for Belmontes,” Schaefer said. “Tomlinson was undefeated and ranked in the organizations and Belmontes beat him. That was a big win for him, and this is his reward.”.

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