After the deadest week on the sport’s calendar since the holiday season, we have an upcoming week fully loaded with fight cards. There are two televised shows in the UK, a Golden Boy on ESPN, major shows from both PBC and Top Rank on Saturday night, plus even more beyond that.
Wednesday, June 6th
Luke Watkins (13-0, 9 KOs) v Lawrence Okolie (8-0, 6 KOs), cruiserweights & Reece Bellotti (12-0, 11 KOs) v Ryan Doyle (16-2-1, 8 KOs), featherweights & Ted Cheeseman (13-0, 8 KOs) v Paul Upton (15-0, 3 KOs), junior middleweights – London, England – Sky Action (UK), 2 PM Eastern
Top British promoter Eddie Hearn trots out some of his better prospects on this second tier show in London. 2016 Olympian and major prospect Lawrence Okolie goes for his first regional title in the main event against unbeaten Luke Watkins while Reece Bellotti and Ted Cheeseman will also be in action in easier fights. Olympic gold medalist and amateur superstar Daniyar Yeleussinov will have his second pro fight on this show too. Unfortunately there is little hope of US television here, but you know how to watch these by now. Thankfully once Hearn’s deal with soon to be launched streaming deal with DAZN gets going later this year there will finally be a US outlet for these shows, but until then we stream another way.
Friday, June 8th
Mike Lee (20-0, 11 KOs) v Jose Hernandez (19-3-1, 9 KOs), light heavyweights & Tervel Pulev (10-0, 9 KOs) v Armando Ancona (8-7-2, 5 KOs), heavyweights – Rosemont, Illinois – CBS Sports Network, 9 PM Eastern
Mike Lee! He went to Notre Dame! He was in Subway commercials! He fights! Exclamation points! Yeah. If any of that sounds interesting to you, watch. If not, don’t. Lee is a regional fighter heavily protected because he draws well and probably can’t win above this level. So this is where fights.
Diego De La Hoya (20-0, 9 KOs) v Jose Salgado (36-4-2, 29 KOs), super bantamweights & Travell Mazion (12-0, 11 KOs) v Daquan Arnett (17-1, 8 KOs), junior welterweights – Verona, New York – Golden Boy on ESPN – ESPN2, 9 PM Eastern
This is the local Boxing Hall of Fame weekend card this year in upstate NY. Diego De La Hoya gets the main event call as he stays busy in search of his first title shot. Salgado has some power, but he’s also fallen short against top level fighters every time he has stepped up. Diego impressed me last time against Randy Caballero so I suspect the same will happen here. WatchESPN.com has additional undercard fights starting at 7:15 too. They don’t hold anything great on paper, but they are there for junkies like us in need of a fix.
Saturday, June 9th
Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KOs) v Maurice Hooker (22-0-3, 16 KOs), WBO junior welterweight title & Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) v Sefer Seferi (23-1, 21 KOs), heavyweights – Manchester, England – BT Sport (UK), 2 PM Eastern
Of course, the real draw here is the return of former heavyweight champion and British megastar Tyson Fury to active competition following his extended absence from the sport. Terry Flanagan v Maurice Hooker is a pretty weak vacant junior welterweight title fight, but it won’t matter much in terms of the draw with Fury on the card. As of now there is no US coverage for this card, but I wouldn’t be shocked if ESPN+ picked up last minute either.
Update: Good news, everyone! Literally minutes after I wrote this, Showtime announced it has picked up the American streaming rights to these two fights. They will begin at 4:30 PM Eastern and air on both Showtime’s Facebook page and Youtube channel.
Jeff Horn (18-0, 12 KOs) v Terence Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), WBO welterweights title & Jose Pedraza (23-1, 12 KOs) v Antonio Moran (23-2, 16 KOs), lightweights – Las Vegas, Nevada – Top Rank on ESPN – ESPN+, 9:30 PM Eastern
Pound for pound elite fighter and former undisputed junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford makes his welterweight debut in the biggest fight of the weekend on Saturday. He will take on Australian WBO titleholder Jeff Horn on ESPN’s $5 per month streaming service, ESPN+. I feel for Horn here. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his performance against Pacquiao because he probably shouldn’t have gotten the decision, but he did make it a close and competitive fight most of the way. Pacquiao is faded, but still a top five welterweight. To me that proves Horn is a world level fighter. Yet, Terence “Bud” Crawford might just be one of those all time, generational talents that just rises above and destroys guys that are even on that high level. I don’t think this ends well for Jeff Horn. Former junior lightweight titleholder Jose Pedraza makes his Top Rank debut in the co-main event. The rest of the undercard airs live, also on ESPN+, and starts at 6 PM Eastern. Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson will headline that portion of the show, but really the whole thing is worth a watch as it features another major prospect in Gabriel Flores Jr, a contender in Jose Benavidez, and a real interesting crossroads fight between prospect Maxim Dadashev and fringe contender Darleys Perez.
Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) v Abner Mares (31-2-1, 15 KOs), featherweights & Jermell Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) v Austin Trout (31-4, 17 KOs), junior middleweights – Los Angeles, California – Showtime, 10 PM Eastern
Showtime brings a world title doubleheader in conjunction with PBC on Saturday night. The main event is a rematch of Leo Santa Cruz’s pretty clear 2015 win over Mares. It was a good scrap, but not necessarily one I thought really demanded a rematch as Santa Cruz was clearly the better fighter by the final bell. Here we are though. At least it should be an action oriented contest again. Charlo v Trout in the co-main event is a fresher matchup. Jermell has been on a power surge during the best run in his career, but Austin Trout gave his twin brother Jermall a lot of trouble in a close fight and Jermall has long been considered the superior Charlo. This is a really good measuring stick for Jermell.
Sunday, June 10th
Travis Kauffman (31-2-3, 23 KOs) v Scott Alexander (14-2-2, 8 KOs), heavyweights & Gerald Washington (18-2-1, 12 KOs) v John Wesley Nofire (20-1, 16 KOs), heavyweights & Michael Hunter (13-1, 8 KOs) v Iago Kiladze (26-2, 18 KOs), heavyweights – Lancaster, Pennsylvania – PBC on FS1, 8:30 PM Eastern
The loaded week ends with a dud on Sunday thanks to this PBC on FS1 heavyweight tripleheader. I am really not sure why PBC is still trying to make Travis Kaufman happen. He’s a competent fighter, sure, but he isn’t going to get anything done at world level. I don’t even think he beats the other two PBC heavyweights on the card in Gerald Washington and Michael Hunter. Hunter is a natural cruiserweight fighting up in weight here which might be the only real interesting tidbit on this show. All three fights are mismatches on paper and none of the A-sides are future heavyweight titleholders in any realistic future reality. I am not sure why this card exists, but it does. At least it is on early.
