After the hectic week that just was, the upcoming week is a much calmer one for better and for worse. The highlight of the week is definitely Saturday’s World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight quarterfinal between Mairis Briedis and Mike Perez, but there are also PBC on FS1 card and a decent British domestic show to hold your attention this week.
Tuesday, September 26th
Leduan Barthelemy (13-0, 7 KOs) v Eduardo Ramirez (20-0-2, 7 KOs), featherweights & Alejandro Salinas (8-1, 8 KOs) v Duarn Vue (12-0-2, 4 KOs), junior lightweights & Bryan Figueroa (12-0, 5 KOs) v Ivan Jimenez (7-0-1, 4 KOs), lightweights – Las Vegas, Nevada – PBC on FS1, 9 PM Eastern
Not a bad ten round main event here, really. Leduan is the third and youngest of the Cuban Barthelemy brothers. As a prospect he has looked both good and vulnerable at different times. Eduadro Ramirez is a decent prospect on the Mexican domestic scene. This is a moderate step up for both fighters on paper. Bathelemy has not cut to featherweight in a few fights so we will see how that plays out too. The undercard is full of unknowns. Salinas/Vue is set for eight rounds while Figueroa/Jimenez is set for six
Friday, September 29th
John Vera (17-0, 10 KOs) v Sunday Ajuwa (13-2, 10 KOs), junior middleweights & Ray Ximenez (16-1, 4 KOs) v Rey Perez (21-8, 6 KOs), featherweights – Dallas, Texas – BeIN Sports, 9 PM Eastern
Vera is a minor prospect at best. This is a Roy Jones promoted card out of Texas. He has a TV deal with BeIN Sports for the next year and this kicks it off. These are all eight rounders.
Saturday, September 30th
Mairis Briedis (22-0, 18 KOs) v Mike Perez (22-2-1, 14 KOs), WBC Cruiserweight title/World Boxing Super Series quarterfinal & Krzysztof Glowacki (27-1, 17 KOs) v Leonardo Damian Bruzzese (18-3, 6 KOs), cruiserweights – Riga, Latvia – WorldBoxingSuperSeries.com
Former heavyweight contender Mike Perez gets his first test in his second fight down at cruiserweight, and it is a big one. Briedis is widely considered the number two fighter in the division behind Oleksandr Usyk and is a big favorite here. This is the fight of the week and will be streamed on the tournament’s website for US audiences. I am not sure what time yet. Glowacki, a recent former titleholder and tournament alternate, fights on the undercard.
Rocky Fielding (24-1, 13 KOs) v David Brophy (19-1-1, 3 KOs), British super middleweight title & Paul Butler (24-1, 13 KOs) v Stuart Hall (21-5-2, 7 KOs), bantamweights – Liverpool, England – Sky Sports (UK)
This is a decent British domestic card that has no real impact on the world scene. Fielding and Brophy is a well matched fight, really. Stuart Hall briefly had a belt almost five years ago now, but he was a really weak titleholder. Other British names like Sean Dodd, Ohara Davies, Anthony Fowler, and maybe Derek Chisora compete here as well.
Gary O’Sullivan (25-2, 17 KOs) v Nick Quigley (15-2, 3 KOs), middleweights & Recky Dulay (10-2, 7 KOs) v Dardan Zenunaj (13-3, 10 KOs), featherweights – Boston, Massachusetts – Golden Boy on ESPN – WatchESPN.com, 10 PM Eastern
I am not sure exactly what is happening here promotionally. This was announced as a Golden Boy on ESPN show, but it will only air on ESPN’s streaming service WatchESPN.com. Also, there is the minor detail that there are no Golden Boy fighters on this card either. Not one. It looks like Golden Boy is just loaning out one of their ESPN coverage dates to Murphys Boxing here. Either way, this is a terrible show in terms of relevance to anything. The main event might be a decent scrap though in terms of action.
