Lenny Zappavigna and IK Yang to fight IBF 140-pound eliminator

Australia’s Lenny Zappavigna and China’s IK Yang had already been announced to be meeting in a 10-round junior welterweight bout on the Crawford-Postol undercard on July 23 in Las Vegas, but ESPN.com reports that the fight has been changed to a 12-round bout and an IBF eliminator, with the winner receiving the No. 2 slot in the IBF rankings.

Zappavigna (34-2, 24 KO) and Yang (19-1, 14 KO) aren’t really considered serious contenders in the division, but that’s boxing for you.

Zappavigna, 28, commonly known as “Lenny Zappa,” has won nine straight fights of little substance following back-to-back losses to Miguel Vazquez and Ammeth Diaz in 2011, the former a fight for Vazquez’s IBF lightweight title.

Yang, 31, is coming off of a clear loss to Cesar Cuenca last July in Macau, a fight that was for the vacant IBF junior welterweight belt. Since then, Cuenca has lost the title to Eduard Troyanovsky, who also won a rematch in April.

Zappavigna-Yang will be part of the preliminary card, before the HBO pay-per-view broadcast starts.