El Paso’s Han likely Holm’s next opponent (if she wins)

Albuquerque’s Holly Holm, boxer turned MMA fighter turned boxer, likely will know by late Saturday night who her next opponent will be.

Holm (34-2-3, nine knockouts) is expected to be a guest at Saturday’s Most Valuable Promotions card in Orlando, Florida. On that card, El Paso’s Stephanie Han (10-0, three KOs) is scheduled to defend her WBA lightweight title against Colombia’s Paulina Angel (7-1-2, three KOs).

Holm returned to boxing after a 12-year hiatus in June, defeating Mexico’s Yolanda Vega by lopsided, unanimous decision in Anaheim, California. Holm and Han are under contract to MVP, headed by influencer/boxer/promoter Jake Paul. It’s clear that MVP’s plan is to have Han, in the likely event she wins on Saturday, defend her title against Holm later this year — perhaps in November, either in Albuquerque or El Paso.

Possible venues: the Pit or the Don Haskins Center.

Han is trained by Las Cruces’ Louie Burke, who also trained Han’s sister Jennifer and her brother Abraham, both retired.

BACK IN THE RANKINGS: Holm is listed as the No. 5 contender in the latest WBA lightweight rankings, facilitating the hoped-for challenge for Han’s title belt.

Holm also ranked the No. 6 contender in the IBF rankings. Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira, the IBF lightweight champion, had been teased as Han’s possible opponent on Saturday before Angel came into the picture.

MOREU TO MEXICO: Albuquerque’s Yoruba Moreu Jr., fresh off his pro-debut victory by second-round TKO over Ndira Spearman in Nashville, Tennessee on Aug. 2, is headed for Baja California.

Moreu is matched against Bernardo Solis Gamez (2-1, no KOs) in a four-round featherweight bout in Rosarito, some 20 miles south of Tijuana.

Solis, of Ensenada, Baja California, should provide more of a test than did Spearman, who brought a 1-16 record into the ring in Nashville. Moreu, a highly successful amateur, floored Spearman five times in the first round and twice in the second before the fight was stopped.

The Aug. 30 event’s co-promoter, Tomas Ali Urbaneja Goitia, stages events regularly at the Auditorio Ernesto Rufo in Rosarito.

GRACHEV, TOO: Russian-born Albuquerque heavyweight Leonid Grachev (5-0-2, three KOs) is scheduled to face Tijuana’s Isaac Jesús Juárez Garcia (1-2-1, no KOs) on the Aug. 30 card in Rosarito.

Jacob Maes, who manages Moreu’s career, put Grachev in touch with the promoter.

Because of injuries and fights that fell through, Grachev hasn’t fought since November 2023.