ProBox TV announced today that, in a rare non-Thursday offering, Arnold Khegai vs Joet Gonzalez will headline a Saturday, March 8th show at Long Beach’s Thunder Studios.
Ukraine’s Khegai (22-1-1, 14 KO) has kept largely under the radar since a 2020 loss to Stephen Fulton in a WBO super bantamweight eliminator, his biggest victory a split decision over Eduardo Baez on the Terence Crawford vs David Avanesyan undercard. Despite the lack of fanfare or major opposition, he sits at no. 2 in the sanctioning body’s featherweight rankings behind Bruce Carrington.
Gonzalez (26-4, 15 KO), whom Top Rank seems to have finally tired of sending into undeserved title fights, has alternated wins and losses since getting routed by Shakur Stevenson in 2019. He hasn’t seen action since September 2023, when he lost a competitive decision to Luis Alberto Lopez.
Honestly, solid main event, definitely up to ProBox’s standards. First real test for Khegai in some time and gives Gonzalez a chance to show what he’s got against opponents who aren’t the cream of the crop.
Also in action is light heavyweight Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KO), last seen falling to David Morrell Jr in August but showing solid resilience in the process. He meets France’s Mickael Diallo (21-1-2, 18 KO), a 33-year-old whose most noteworthy bout saw him drop a 10-round decision to Malik Zinad in 2023.
Top bantamweight prospect Katsuma Akitsugi (12-0, 3 KO) makes another appearance on the program as well, taking on Nicaragua’s Winston Guerrero (22-1, 13 KO).