This week brings a really big Showtime fight, a more prominent than normal PBC on FS1, a Frampton show in the UK, and more. Why some of this could not have been spread out to last week’s empty slate, I do not know. As always, I will include a comprehensive list of US televised shows, try and probably fail to do the same for the UK, as well as to include all title fights worldwide.
Friday, July 28th
Zou Shiming (9-1, 2 KOs) v Sho Kimura (14-1-2, 7 KOs), WBO flyweight title – China
This is your standard Zou Shiming fight. He is in against someone he can beat with his limited abilities as a pro, someone who does not deserve a world title shot. Yet, it is a real world title fight so here we are. In truth, Shiming is probably good for the sport anyway as he has the ability to inspire the massive population of China to invest in the sport down the line. There is no TV for this fight outside of China, nor are there any undercard matches worth your attention.
David Carmona (20-4-5, 8 KOs) v Jose Martinez (19-0-1, 12 KOs), super flyweights – Florida – Telemundo, 11:35 Eastern
Curiously, no undercard is listed for this bout so it might just be a one fight show. Either way, by the standards of Telemundo, it isn’t bad. Carmona is stepping down from the division’s highest levels here. In his last two fights he has met Naoya Inoue and Carlos Cuadras. He fought well in both relative to expectations. He didn’t get stopped or even completely shut out against Inoue, who has been absolutely dominant, and he won enough rounds against Cuadras to nearly steal the fight. Carmona remains a fringe, but real player in an absolutely loaded division. Here he meets an unbeaten and largely untested Puerto Rican prospect.
Saturday, July 29th
Cristian Mijares (56-8-2, 26 KOs) v Rafael Hernandez (21-7-2, 16 KOs), super featherweights – Mexico – CBS Sports Network, 10 PM
Former multiple time and unified super flyweight titlist Cristian Mijares has never won a belt above 115 lbs, but here he is fighting again at 130 lbs. Yet, he is 7-0 since his one sided, shut out loss to Leo Santa Cruz a little over three years ago. He also holds the WBC silver belt at featherweight which is supposed to lead to title shots. We don’t need to see him in against Gary Russell Jr, but this is another more than winnable fight for Mijares. Hernandez is a career journeyman with his wins largely coming against club level fighters. Every time he fights someone with a true positive record, he loses wide, often by stoppage. There will be an undercard here, but it is just Mexican level fighters going at it. Could be fun, but as is almost always the case with CBS Sports Network, this is definitely a skippable card on a busy Saturday.
Carl Frampton (21-1, 14 KOs) v Andres Gutierrez (35-1-1, 25 KOs), WBC featherweight eliminator – Northern Ireland – Channel 5 (UK), 10:10 local time
Now here is a way to settle on who should fight for Gary Russell Jr’s belt. Frampton has other, easier money making options than Russell should he win this fight, but everyone would want to see that fight and Frampton would be officially in line to fight for his belt. Gutierrez is coming off a close decision loss to Cristian Mijares two fights ago, past Mijares’s prime and well above his ideal weight. It stands to reason here that Frampton should roll in this eliminator by wide scores, if not by stoppage, but he is a real top of the line fighter so that alone makes this worth watching. There are no prominent undercard fights. Americans will be forced to stream this. That times translates to 5:10 Eastern.
Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) v Adrien Broner (33-2, 24 KOs), junior welterweights & Jermall Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) v Jorge Sebastian Heiland (29-4-2, 16 KOs), WBC middleweight eliminator – New York – Showtime, 9 PM Eastern – BoxNation (UK)
The main event needs no introduction here as it is a minor super fight of sorts. Without question, it is the fight of the week and this is the one must watch show if you are a fan of the sport at all. Almost all would agree that Garcia is the better fighter, but Broner is supremely talented, might be forced to be in shape by a $500k contracted penalty if he misses weight, and is pulling Garcia up in weight here.
Charlo/Heiland is for a shot at the WBC belt held by Golovkin. Should GGG prevail over Canelo and there be no rematch, I imagine GGG/Charlo would happen. Should Canelo win, he isn’t likely to accept the WBC belt and therefore the winner of this eliminator would be half of a vacant title bout. Don’t sleep on Heiland though. While Charlo is rightfully the favorite, his Argentinian opponent did smash out Matthew Macklin in the road a couple years ago.
Frustratingly, a pair of excellent fights in a super flyweight match between Rau’Shee Warren and McJoe Arroyo as well as a heavyweight bout between Jarrell Miller and Gerald Washington are not being given the Showtime Extreme preliminary broadcast they deserve. Katie Taylor’s US debut could be shown as well.
Sadam Ali (24-1, 14 KOs) v Johan Perez (22-3-2, 15 KOs), welterweights & Eddie Gomez (20-2, 11 KOs) v Alejandro Barrera (28-3, 18 KOs), welterweights – Arizona – ESPN2, Midnight Eastern
Yes, this airs on the East Coast technically on Sunday, but whatever. If you need more of a fix following the Showtime show, here you are. Otherwise, record it and watch it Sunday. Ali is still an intriguing prospect despite being smashed out by a particularly inspired Jessie Vargas performance. He is 2-0 since then and is making his real TV return here. Perez has wins over an aged Paul Spadafora, Kenny Galarza, Yoshihiro Kamegai, and only narrowly lost to Mauricio Herrera so he is no push over, but he doesn’t have Ali’s talent either. The undercard is a fight that is happening with no real relevance to the division. Typical Golden Boy on ESPN stuff here.
Sunday, July 30th
Victor Ortiz (31-6-2, 24 KOs) v Saul Corral (25-9, 16 KOs), welterweights & Justin DeLoach (17-1, 9 KOs) v Fernando Guerrero (28-4, 20 KOs), junior middleweights – California – Fox Sports 1, 7 PM Eastern
Note not only the Sunday date, but the early start time. This is a blatant attempt to give Ortiz a win here so he can be fed back to another PBC welterweight at some point. He is not a top tier fighter, but he will absolutely smash Corral. The co-feature is better. Justin DeLoach is one of my favorite prospects. A fluke of an early career KO loss has kept him flying under the radar, but he is a real good one. Fernando Guerrero is a skilled, but very fragile step up for DeLoach.
