A month after its reveal and a month before the show, O’Shaquie Foster vs Abraham Nova now has a supporting cast. Top Rank has unveiled the other two legs of its February 16 ESPN tripleheader at The Theater, plus preliminary ESPN+ programming.
The co-feature fight pits rising super featherweight Andrés Cortés (20-0, 11 KO) against Puerto Rico’s Bryan Chevalier (20-1-1, 16 KO). Cortés is on a nice little streak, capped by a 2023 in which he shut out Luis Meléndez before stopping Xavier Martínez five months later. Chevalier does not have such a substantial body of work; He has won 12 in a row, but the most notable was the one that was soon derailed by Luis Lebron and what remains of César Juárez.
Cortes said: “I can’t wait to perform on the big stage of the Madison Square Garden Theatre. This is a great opportunity and I will let the junior lightweight division know. I want a world title shot, but I must perform well against a tough opponent like Chevalier to make that goal a reality. 2024 is the year I will bring a world title to Las Vegas.”
Chevalier said: “Andrés Cortés is a great fighter. Boxing fans will really enjoy a great fight that night. Expect to see in me a warrior who will do everything possible to emerge victorious. That night, everyone in the boxing world will know who Bryan Chevalier is.”
The main card opener sees Tim Bradley’s Specialest Boy, Bruce Carrington (10-0, 6 KOs), fight Bernard Torres (18-1, 8 KOs). Carrington went 5-0 with three knockouts in 2023, notably handing Jason Sanchez the first knockout loss of his career, and appears to be on the same level of competition with Torres.
“It’s always very special to fight at The Garden in front of my hometown fans, and I look forward to putting on a show for my people and everyone watching on ESPN,” Carrington said. “I went from prospect to contender, and this is the year everyone sees my full arsenal.”
Torres did not receive a date nor did he appear in the Tweet announcing Carrington’s presence, which says something about his perceived chances.
Guido Vianello (11-1-1, 9 KO) continues his comeback journey against Moses Johnson (11-1-2, 8 KO) in the preliminaries, which will also see Delante “Tiger” Johnson (11-0, 5 KO) ) Try to steady the ship against Paulo Galdino (13-7-2, 9 KO) after a couple of near misses to finish 2023. Ofacio Falcón (10-0, 6 KO), Euri Cedeño (7-0-1, 6 KO), and Isaah Flaherty (6-0, 3 KO) also see action.
