With Deontay Wilder’s smashing of Bermane Stiverne in their rematch in the history books, it is time to move on to the next slate of fights in the sport. This week brings a ShoBox on Friday night, two prominent UK cards, an Eddie Hearn card in the States, and a Top Rank on ESPN to tie it all together. We have a moderately busy week incoming.
Friday, November 10th
Luis Rosa (23-0, 11 KOs) v Yuandale Evans (19-1, 14 KOs), featherweights & Radzhab Butaev (7-0, 6 KOs) v Janer Gonzalez (19-0-1, 15 KOs), junior middleweights & Junior Fa (12-0, 7 KOs) v Fred Latham (9-0-2, 5 KOs), & heavyweights & Charles Conwell (5-0, 5 KOs) v Roque Zapata (4-1-3), junior middleweights – Ohio – Showtime – ShoBox, 11 PM Eastern
Not a bad ShoBox at all here. Rosa is a minor prospect while Evans was once also one before being blown out by Javier Fortuna and becoming pretty inactive. Butaev is a Russian prospect I will be getting my first look at here. Fa was a local amateur rival of Joseph Parker and Charles Conwell was a 2016 Olympian for the US finally getting a bit of exposure. This is more interesting than a lot of ShoBox branded cards.
Saturday, November 11th
Liam Williams (16-1-1, 11 KOs) v Liam Smith (25-1-1, 14 KOs), junior middleweights & Thomas Patrick Ward (21-0, 2 KOs) v Sean Davis (13-1), super bantamweights & Nathan Gorman (10-0, 8 KOs) v Mohamed Soltby (13-0, 8 KOs), heavyweights – England – BoxNation (UK), 2 PM Eastern
This fight is a rematch of their April bout in which Liam Williams was winning before being controversially stopped on cuts late. Despite the controversy and the fact that Liam Smith missed weight, it was a decent scrap the first time. We will see how the rematch plays out. Ward and Davis have two knockout wins combined over 35 pro bouts in the co-main event. Take that how you will. Domestic heavyweight prospect Nathan Gorman will also compete on the show.
Josh Taylor (10-0, 9 KOs) v Miguel Vazquez (39-5, 15 KOs), junior welterweights – Scotland – Channel 5 (UK), 4:45 PM Eastern
Scottish super prospect Josh Taylor is taking his second consecutive tough on paper contest here. Last time out he dominated fellow unbeaten British prospect Ohara Davies, but this time he has experienced former lightweight titleholder Miguel Vasquez instead. Vasquez is a super negative fighter that causes everyone to look bad, so Taylor will have to avoid that fate at the same time as trying to win. There are no notable undercard fights here.
Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) v Luis Arias (18-0, 9 KOs), middleweights & Jarrell Miller (19-0-1, 11 KOs) v Mariusz Wach (33-2, 17 KOs), heavyweights & Cletus Seldin (20-0, 16 KOs) v Roberto Ortiz (35-1-2, 26 KOs), welterweights – New York – HBO, 10 PM Eastern
This card is Matchroom USA’s promotional debut. Daniel Jacobs is a well known top three middleweight, but Luis Arias himself is also a good fighter. He probably isn’t good enough to win, but this isn’t a terrible stay busy fight for Jacobs. It is overall a really weak card for the traditional HBO brand, however. We are in a new era for the former boxing giant though. Wach should be an okay test for Miller in the co-main event while the opener promises action, but neither Seldin or Ortiz are likely to become top contenders in my view.
Jose Carlos Ramirez (20-0, 15 KOs) v Mike Reed (23-0, 12 KOs), junior welterweights & Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) v Enrico Koelling (23-1, 6 KOs), IBF light heavyweight title – California – Top Rank on ESPN, 10:30 PM Eastern
This is a still a quality two fight show despite losing its original Jessie Magdanelo title defense of a main event. Ramirez is the home fighter here and is expected to draw the crowd so that fight gets the nod to close the show. It is exceptionally well matched too. One of these two will emerge a real contender at 140 lbs. Beterbiev is getting a light touch to put a light heavyweight strap on him, but hey at least he is fighting.
