Thomas Dulorme-Jamal James To Headline FOX Telecast July 25
By
Keith Idec
Published On Fri Jun 12, 2020, 02:06 PM EDT
Premier Boxing Champions will return to FOX on July 25 with a main event that was postponed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
BoxingScene.com has learned that welterweights Thomas Dulorme and Jamal James will meet that night in a 12-round fight for a vacant version of the WBA welterweight title. FOX is expected to televise the Dulorme-James match from a studio setting in the Los Angeles area, though the site hadn’t been solidified as of Friday.
Dulorme-James would be FOX’s first main event on free TV since Robert Helenius upset previously unbeaten heavyweight contender Adam Kownacki by fourth-round technical knockout March 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The welterweight contenders were supposed to headline a “FOX PBC Fight Night” broadcast April 11 from The Armory in Minneapolis, James’ hometown. The rescheduled James-Dulorme fight will not take place at that venue because coronavirus restrictions would prevent fans from attending.
James is training in Minneapolis. Dulorme is preparing for their fight in Indio, California.
The 31-year-old James (26-1, 12 KOs) and the 30-year-old Dulorme (25-3-1, 16 KOs), a Las Vegas resident raised in Puerto Rico, are expected to fight for the WBA’s interim 147-pound championship. The Philippines’ Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), who owns the WBA’s “super” welterweight title, is considered that sanctioning organization’s true champion in that division.
Russia’s Alexander Besputin (14-0, 9 KOs) won the WBA’s “world” welterweight title in his last fight, but he tested positive for a banned substance following his 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat of Russia’s Radzhab Butaev (12-1, 9 KOs) on November 30 at Casino de Monte Carlo in Monte Carlo. Besputin’s status as a champion is under review, according to the WBA.
James, meanwhile, will take a six-fight winning streak into his fight with Dulorme. The only loss of James’ 10-year pro career was a 10-round, unanimous-decision defeat to top contender Yordenis Ugas (25-4, 12 KOs) in August 2016.
Dulorme will fight for a world title for the second time in 11 years as a pro. Terence Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), a three-division champion who currently holds the WBO welterweight title, stopped Dulorme in the sixth round of their fight for Crawford’s WBO junior welterweight crown in April 2015.