Rising Star Brian Norman Jr. Defends WBO Welterweight Title Against Derrieck Cuevas, Live From Fontainebleau Las Vegas

Brian Norman Jr. is defending his first WBO welterweight title against #13 Derrieck Cuevas this Saturday, March 29th, live on ESPN at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, in Las Vegas.

(Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)

Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) is finally defending his WBO 147-lb belt after sitting for the last 10 months since his tenth round knockout victory over Giovani Santillan on May 18th last year.

Brian Jr. wanted to face IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in a unification fight, but his promoters couldn’t agree to the money that Norman Jr. and his dad wanted. That match will eventually happen because Boots still wants to try and capture all the belts at 147 before moving up to 154.

Obviously, that’s not happening if Ennis’ promoter doesn’t want to invest the money to get him the unification fights he needs. Being tight-fisted won’t work. He might as well move up to 154 now if the negotiations play out the same way next time Ennis’ promoters begin talks with Norman Jr.

If that fight had happened, Norman Jr. would have preferred to face a bigger name than the fringe contender Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs).

Location & Time

Norman Jr. vs. Cuevaas will take place at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The time of the event is 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT, live on ESPN and ESPN+.

The Puerto Rican Cuevas is an 11-year pro with wins over Briedis Prescott, Ed Paredes, and Alberto Mosquera. This is a big step up in competition for him. It’s going to be interesting to see if he can handle the power of Norman Jr. without wilting.

Cuevas suffered his only career defeat against journeyman Damian Ezequiel Bonelli, losing by a six-round split decision on December 4, 2020. Since that defeat, Cuevas has won his last four fights.

Complete card

Mikaela Mayer vs. Sandy Ryan
Brian Norman Jr. vs. Derrieck Cuevas
Bruce Carrington vs. Enrique Vivas
Delante Johnson vs. Kendo Castaneda
Emiliano Vargas vs. Giovannie Gonzalez
Emmanuel Chance vs. Miguel Guzman
Dedrick Crocklem vs. Dionne Ruvalcaba

“They say, ‘A star is about to be born on March 29th,’” said Brian Norman Jr. to Top Rank Boxing about himself. “I’ve been quiet a little bit too long. I got to change a little bit. You’re mentality changes when you become a champion. That’s a definite real deal. I agree to that.

“I already believed in myself beforehand, but it’s just amplified because I knew I had a whole lot more going into that fight [Giovani Santillan]. I was running too much the week of the fight. So, I had no legs in the fight. I just know in training camp that I had a whole lot more potential,” Norman continued. “I was 23 at the time. I’m still young, 24 right now, in my prime. The sky’s the limit.”

“So, where we’re from, people were ducking him. They’re still ducking him. We’re talking about sparring,” said Brian Norman Sr., the dad for Brian Jr. “They wouldn’t work with him. We had to go to the fight table up to the time of the fight, and have fighters walk away and give excuse for why they didn’t have headgear. ‘We got a headgear.’ ‘We don’t have a cup.’ ‘We have a cup.’ Everything we do, we try to do it on the highest level.”