ESPN+ and DAZN hold all the cards this weekend.
Saturday, October 6th
Jack Catterall (22-0, 12 KOs) v Ohara Davies (18-1, 14 KOs), junior welterweights & Daniel Dubois (8-0, 8 KOs) v Kevin Johnson (32-10-1, 16 KOs), heavyweights – Leicester, England – Box Nation (UK), ESPN+ (US), 3:30 PM Eastern
ESPN+’s afternoon show is a Frank Warren bill from across the Atlantic. Rising prospect and emerging contender Jack Catterall meets former top prospect and controversial figure Ohara Davies in the main event. This is a really interesting fight that both men really need to win, especially Davies. He can’t get routed here again like he did against Scottish super prospect Josh Taylor. 21 year old heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois takes a bit of a step up in the co-main event as well. Kevin Johnson was never the contender he was briefly promoted as a decade ago, but he is a quality journeyman who does pull off an upset here and there at a sort of high regional level. He’s certainly the best opponent of the young heavyweight’s career. At the same time if Dubois is going to have a fast rise at a young age then he needs to handle Johnson comfortably.
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41 KOs) v Iran Diaz (14-2-3, 6 KOs), WBC super flyweight title – Bangkok, Thailand – ONE app, 5:30 PM Eastern
ONE Championship, historically known as One FC to MMA fans, is the lead fight promotion in Southeast Asia. It commonly mixes fight sports between MMA, kickboxing, and Muay Thai, but this is the first time it will feature a major boxing match. It’s a decent one in the main event too. The rise of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai has been well documented stateside. This will be his second fight in a row back in Thailand and thankfully this time the opponent is a little live in there. Iran Diaz is probably overmatched here anyway, but he’s picked up a couple decent wins against former top fighters Hernan Marquez and Luis Concepcion to earn a bigger opportunity. Note a few things about this unusually placed fight. First, it is available on the ONE app for free which lists the show starting at 5:30 PM Eastern. I have no idea how long it will take to get to the main event and you’re not getting any boxing until then. Two, this is taking place in the traditional One FC five sided ring. Yes, a legit world title fight is going to happen in a five sided ring. That’s new.
Jessie Vargas (28-2-1, 10 KOs) v Thomas Dulorme (24-3, 16 KOs), welterweights & Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) v Callum Johnson (17-0, 12 KOs), IBF light heavyweight title & Daniel Roman (25-2-1, 9 KOs) v Gavin McDonnell (20-1-2, 5 KOs), WBA super bantamweight title & Jarrell Miller (21-0-1, 18 KOs) v Tomasz Adamek (53-5, 31 KOs), heavyweights – Chicago, Illinois – DAZN, 6 PM Eastern
Matchroom Boxing has its first US show under its DAZN deal on Saturday. Though it kind of feels like it is absent a true main event, it is still a solid lineup loaded with good names. Jessie Vargas, fresh off of being robbed of a win in his draw win Adrien Broner, gets main event billing in a minor step down against Puerto Rican fringe contender Thomas Dulorme. It is Artur Beterbiev and Danny Roman that bring the world titles though, both against solid British level fighters that will probably struggle at this level. Both Callum Johnson and Gavin McDonnell are getting huge opportunities here to prove otherwise. Finally, the main card opener is a bit of an alarming mismatch. Jarrell Miller is a rising, 300 lb heavyweight contender while Tomasz Adamek is a well past his prime, 41 year old undersized heavyweight who once upon a time could comfortably make 175. Maybe the longtime Pole contender will surprise us, but on paper this is pretty irresponsible matchmaking. DAZN lists the show starting at 6 PM Eastern, but I’m assuming given the early time that the show will include the earlier prelims too and it’ll be a couple hours before we get to the bigger names.
Luis Nery (26-0, 10 KOs) v Jason Canoy (27-8-2, 19 KOs), bantamweights – Tijuana, Mexico – Azteca (MX), ESPN+ (USA)
Controversial but arguable top bantamweight Luis Nery returns from his suspension for missing weight following previously having failed a drug test for his two, for better or worse career defining wins over longtime divisional king Shinsuke Yamanaka. He’s back soft, but the opponent isn’t what is notable. Can he actually make bantamweight without resorting to illegal means? If so, the 23 year old has looked like a monster so far at 118 and I would expect that to stay the same. I’d feel way more comfortable about him if he’d move up to super bantamweight though. Unfortunately, I don’t have a time for this one as of yet. These ten to be on late though, so I’m guess 10 or 11 PM Eastern.
Sunday, October 7th
Naoya Inoue (16-0, 14 KOs) v Juan Carlos Payano (20-1, 9 KOs), bantamweights & Kiryl Relikh (22-2, 19 KOs) v Eduard Troyanovsky (27-1, 24 KOs), WBA junior welterweight title & Ken Shiro (13-0, 7 KOs) v Milan Melindo (37-3, 13 KOs), WBC light flyweight title – DAZN, early Sunday morning
The World Boxing Super Series season two tournaments kick off in the early hours of Sunday morning Eastern time in Japan. Pound for pound elite Naoya “Monster” Inoue takes his second fight at bantamweight in the quarterfinals against top contender Juan Carlos Payano. That’s a great test, even if its world title is bogus. It doesn’t matter for once though because the winner of the tournament will emerge with three real ones at the end anyway. Kiryl Relikh and Eduard Troyanovsky start the junior welterweight bracket too while also competing for Relikh’s belt. Finally, top junior flyweight Ken Shiro makes a great defense against true top contender Milan Melindo on the same show. Hopefully we get that fight too because it is excellent on paper, but it isn’t 100% clear on whether or not DAZN’s deal with the WBSS would include a high profile prelim outside of the tournaments like this one. I suspect it will, but I can’t promise anything. I also don’t know the exact time. It’ll be around 5 AM Eastern his history holds though. DAZN will have a replay up to watch later too, thankfully. I do wish they’d get better about updating their schedule too.
