It has been a busy week for fights being booked. We now have a November 18th date for the return of Carl Frampton in Belfast with two world title fights in support. We also have a pair of HBO co-main events, a rematch of a controversial decision, and the return of David Lemieux in an HBO date as well.
First, on October 21st, extremely talented and just as inactive former US Olympian Demetrius Andrade (24-0, 17 KOs) will make his middleweight against little known Alantez Fox (23-0-1, 11 KOs). This is the first fight in an extended HBO contact for Andrade and he is likely moving up to enter the GGG/Canelo/Jacobs/Lemieux crowd that the premium network is amassing at the weight. This will be the co-main event to Jezreel Corrales’s junior lightweight title defense against Puerto Rican prospect Alberto Machado.
On the undercard of HBO’s November 4th Dmitry Bivol/Trent Broadhurst title fight in Monte Carlo will be the rematch between Jamie McDonnell (29-2-1, 13 KO) and Liborio Solis (22-5-1, 11 KO) nearly a year after their controversial first fight. This fight doesn’t look like it is going to make the American television broadcast, but it will be on Sky Sports in the UK along with fights from Scott Quigg (33-1-2, 24 KOs) and Derek Chisora against unknowns Oleg Yefimovych (29-2-1, 16 KOs) at featherweight and Agit Kabayel (16-0, 12 KOs) at heavyweight respectively.
Also on HBO, the November 11th Daniel Jacobs versus Luis Arias card now has its co-main event in a heavyweight slugfest between Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (19-0-1, 17 KOs) and Polish gatekeeper Mariusz Wach (33-2, 17 KOs). Clearly this is a network audition for Miller. It also isn’t a bad fight for where he is in his career, but by traditional HBO standards it is a weak fight.
Finally, on November 18th, two division world titlist Carl Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) will at last (hopefully) return from his first defeat in January. He was supposed to do so in July, but that contest fell through at the last minute. We do not have an opponent yet, but we do know that the card will be supported by title defenses from WBO bantamweight titleholder Zolani Tete (25-3, 20 KOs) and IBF super flyweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas (27-1-1, 18 KOs). Tete still needs an opponent as well, but Ancajas will be in against Northern Irish contender Jamie Conlan (19-0, 11 KOs).
