We also have fights for Conlan, Dubois, and Hrgovic.
There have been a lot of fights booked over the past week or so, but none that have been particularly big. Let’s take a look at them one by one in a single, bulk post.
• Guerrero, Arreola, & Yarde – The pre-TV festivities on December 1st’s major Showtime PPV headlined by WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder against lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury have added a great deal of name value recently. Rapidly rising British light heavyweight prospect Anthony Yarde (17-0, 16 KOs) will compete on the show against a likely very soft opponent to be determined. More known to US fans will be the returns of both Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (33-6-1, 18 KOs) and fan favorite former heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (36-5-1, 31 KOs). Guerrero, who doesn’t have an opponent yet, last fought in July of 2017 in a blow out loss to Omar Figueroa Jr. Arreola will meet journeyman Maurenzo Smith (20-10-4, 13 KOs). He will be two and a half years out of the ring come fight night. Arreola’s last fight was his failed 2016 challenge of Deontay Wilder.
• Hrgovic-Perea – Filip Hrgovic (6-0, 5 KOs) is arguably the sport’s best heavyweight prospect right now. I do think there are a few candidates along side Filip, but at the same time I can’t argue with the assessment. He is a talented big man with a pro ready style. The Croatian will be returning December 8th at home in Zagreb against predictably overmatched Ytalo Perea (11-3-2, 7 KOs).
• Ali-Herrera – Recent former junior middleweight titleholder Sadam Ali (26-2, 14 KOs) is return to both the sport and the welterweight division following his thrashing at the hands of Jaime Munguia back in May. He will do so on December 15th’s Canelo-Fielding DAZN card against tricky veteran Mauricio Herrera (24-7, 7 KOs). Herrera has been a hard luck fighter who could and maybe should have a much better record following a series of controversial decisions against top fighters. He is 38 now, however, and has been out of the ring for over a year. Sadam Ali will be a heavy favorite.
• Garcia, Ortiz, & more – Sadam Ali was far from the only fighter added to the major DAZN show. Top prospects Lamont Roach, (17-0-1, 7 KOs), Ryan Garcia (16-0, 13 KOs), Vergil Ortiz Jr (11-0, 11 KOs), Bilal Akkway (18-0-1, 14 KOs), and Yves Ulysse Jr (16-1, 9 KOs) have all been given spots as well. Only Roach has an opponent as of yet in the form of Puerto Rican light puncher Alberto Mercado (15-1, 3 KOs). Garcia and Ortiz in particular are being targeted for some sort of “freeview” pre-show according to De La Hoya, but what that means remains vague. It could be a Ringtv.com stream before the start of the DAZN show.
• Rosales-Edwards – Cristofer Rosales (28-3, 19 KOs) will make the second defense of his flyweight belt on December 22nd against English challenger Charlie Edwards (13-1, 6 KOs). The fight will take place on the undercard of Matchroom Boxing’s show headlined by Whyte-Chisora II. Rosales initially picked up his title by upsetting Japanese slugger Daigo Higa back in April while Edwards will be getting his second opportunity at a belt in this fight.
• Conlan-Cunningham – 26 year old popular Irish prospect Michael Conlan (9-0, 6 KOs) will also compete on December 22nd. His fight will be on Frank Warren’s competing Warrington-Frampton bill, however. Regional veteran Jason Cunningham (24-5, 6 KOs) will be Conlan’s opponent. From a number of fights and quality of opponents perspective, Cunningham is a step up in experience for the two time Olympian. He has been soundly defeated by all top talents faced, however. Michael Conlan will likely have the same easy success. Top young heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois (9-0, 8 KOs) will appear on the show against an opponent not yet selected as well.
