Alberto Machado vs Yuandale Evans set for October 27

In a fight that was expected and is now official, Alberto Machado will defend the WBA “world” super featherweight title on the Jacobs-Derevyanchenko card on October 27, facing former prospect Yuandale Evans on the HBO broadcast.

Machado (20-0, 16 KO) made his HBO debut last year, breaking out with a comeback KO of Jezreel Corrales on October 21, winning the belt. He made his first defense on HBO on July 21 of this year, dominating an overmatched Rafael Mensah.

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican southpaw now sizes up Evans (20-1, 14 KO), a 29-year-old fighter out of Cleveland who was once a hot prospect. That train stopped in 2012, when he was thrashed in two minutes by Javier Fortuna.

Evans didn’t fight again until 2015, and he’s gone 4-0 since then. His first two fights back were against sub-.500 fighters, but he’s shown something in his last two, wins over Billel Dib and the previously unbeaten Luis Rosa. He was once thought to be a genuine talent, so this might be more interesting a matchup than some people will go in believing.