With the first Showtime card since the pandemic comes a return to the past.

As previously reported by BoxingScene.com’s Manouk Akopyan, unbeaten junior featherweight contenders Stephen Fulton (18-0, 8KOs) and Angelo Leo (19-0, 9KOs) will collide for the vacant WBO 122-pound title. Their bout tops a planned August 1 tripleheader airing live on Showtime from Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Opening the telecast is a rematch between light heavyweight prospects Joseph George and Marcos Escudero, coming more than eight months after their 10-round nail biter last November. The bout and its placement on the card was confirmed by Sampson Lewkowicz, Escudero’s promoter who also confirmed that the event will air live on TyC Sports in Escudero's native Argentina.

George (10-0, 6KOs)—a 30-year old light heavyweight from Houston—prevailed by split decision in their ShoBox-featured matchup of unbeaten prospects last November. Escudero (10-1, 9KOs), a 27-year old Lewkowicz-guided product from Buenos Aires scored six straight knockouts prior to going 10 rounds for the first time in his career and also in suffering his lone career defeat.

Headlining the card, Fulton and Leo vie for the vacant WBO junior featherweight title recently abandoned by Emanuel Navarrete, who is now competing at featherweight.

Philadelphia’s Fulton is among the few notable fighters in the sport enjoying a second ring appearance in a 2020 that has been crippled by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The rising contender claimed a 12-round decision over Japan’s Arnold Khegai this past January, which also aired on Showtime.

His showdown versus Las Vegas’ Leo will mark Fulton’s third straight against an unbeaten opponent. Leo is coming off of a career-best win, stopping former interim titlist Cesar Juarez in the 11th round of their title eliminator last December in Atlanta, Georgia.

One more bout will be featured on the card, representing the evening’s chief support although sources have informed BoxingScene.com that such fight has yet to be confirmed as this goes to publish.

Rumors have swirled of a WBA “interim” bantamweight title fight between Philippines’ Reymart Gaballo (23-0, 20KOs) and former titlist Juan Carlos Payano (21-3, 9KOs)—a Dominican southpaw based out of Miami—filling that slot, although BoxingScene.com has learned that such a proposed fight is no longer under consideration for this show.

The August 1 show will mark the first Showtime-televised card since March 13, having aired a ShoBox telecast from a crowdless Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota. The previously sold-out show was forced to go without fans in attendance in order to proceed with the event just as the coronavirus pandemic began to wreak havoc in the United States.

Tentative plans call for Showtime to set up shop in a controlled environment at Mohegan Sun for the foreseeable future. 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox