Esquiva Falcao headlines Teofimo Lopez-Masayoshi Nakatani undercard

By Badlefthook.com

Falcao came within a point of beating Ryota Murata in the 2012 Olympic gold medal matchBy Patrick L. Stumberg

The July 19 Top Rank on ESPN+ doubleheader led by Teofimo Lopez vs. Masayoshi Nakatani has received additional undercard support in the form of 2012 Olympic middleweight silver medalist Esquiva Falcao, rising super featherweight Tyler McCreary, and Tennessean middleweight Tyler “Herc” Howard.

Falcao (23-0, 15 KO), whose brother Yamaguchi suffered a surprise upset to Christopher Pearson in May, faces Mexico’s Jesus Antonio Gutierrez (25-3-2, 12 KO), who notably dropped Gabriel Rosado en route to a narrow decision loss in 2016. “La Joya” did, however, get knocked into Bolivian by Canadian puncher Steven Butler last November in his most recent bout.

Not a can, but not the sort of opponent you want to see facing a member of three sanctioning bodies’ top 10s. Can’t really fault their caution after what happened to Yamaguchi, though.

Super featherweight McCreary (15-0-1, 7 KO) fights recent Shakur Stevenson victim Jessie Cris Rosales (22-2-1, 10 KO). Considering Rosales is a lifelong featherweight who also got pasted by Jhonny Gonzalez three fights back, McCreary shouldn’t have many issues, even if he is coming off of a majority draw against a man who’d lost 11 of his last 14.

Howard (17-0, 11 KO), whose BoxRec profile pic is 100% just his driver’s license photo, squares off against Philadelphia’s Jamaal Davis (18-14-1, 11 KO). Davis has fought and lost to a delightful variety of notable names, including Peter Quillin, Joel Julio, Gabriel Rosado, and most recently Tyrone Brunson.

As an aside, I like how Falcao is a “middleweight contender” and McCreary is an “unbeaten super featherweight” while Howard is just a “middleweight.”

The main broadcast features both the aforementioned main event and a 140-pound IBF eliminator between unbeatens Maxim Dadashev and Subriel Matias.