Friday, November 30th
Jeff Horn (18-1-1, 12 KOs) v Anthony Mundine (48-8, 28 KOs), middleweights – Brisbane, Australia – ESPN+, 3:30 AM Eastern
Anthony Mundine has been the longtime commercial draw of Australian boxing. He’s a faded version of himself at 43 years old and is looking for one last shot at glory against the new king of Australian boxing in Jeff Horn. Realistically, this is a mismatch that will sell well and deliver both men good pay days. Horn is being pulled up here at the agreed catchweight of 156.5 lbs, but it really shouldn’t matter. It might not even be an advantage for Mundine if he struggles with the cut himself. This one will be in the early hours of the morning thanks to the time difference.
Fabio Turchi (15-0, 11 KOs) v Tony Conquest (18-2, 6 KOs), cruiserweights & Andrea Scarpa (23-4, 10 KOs) v Joe Hughes (16-3-1, 7 KOs), welterweights – Florence, Italy – DAZN
Eddie Hearn’s initial outing in Italy here should be broadcast on DAZN stateside too. They don’t have it on the schedule yet so I don’t have a time, but it will be around the time the UK shows usually start. To be frank I don’t have a lot of familiarity with these guys other than regional British talent Joe Hughes. The Italian scene is not particularly hot or developed. It seems like a bit of a left field decision for Hearn to get involved with it, but we will see how it plays out I guess.
Ricardo Espinoza (21-2, 18 KOs) v Yeison Vargas (17-0, 12 KOs), bantamweights & Derrieck Cuevas (18-0-1, 14 KOs) v Breidis Prescott (31-14, 22 KOs), welterweights – Hollywood, Florida – Telemundo, 11:35 PM Eastern
Florida based promoter All Star Boxing continues its TV deal with American Spanish language network Telemundo late Friday night. 21 year old bantamweight prospect Ricardo Espinoza gets the main event call against unbeaten Colombian Yeison Vargas. Last time out Espinoza came from absolutely no where to blow out fringe contender Daniel Lozano in two rounds. Now he is getting an unknown opponent in Vargas who has never fought outside of Colombia where it is easy to build a record. One time Amir Khan conqueror and long time trial horse Briedis Prescott is being trotted out to lose yet again in the co-main event against unbeaten Puerto Rican Derrieck Cuevas.
Saturday, December 1st
Adonis Stevenson (29-1-1, 24 KOs) v Oleksandr Gvozdyk (15-0, 12 KOs), WBC light heavyweight title – Montreal, Canada & Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (50-3-1, 32 KOs) v Alfredo Angulo (24-7, 20 KOs), super middleweights – Los Angeles, California – Showtime, 6:45 PM Eastern
This is the split site “pre-show” for the Showtime PPV headlined by the lineal heavyweight championship showdown between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. This whole thing is a weird decision to me. Stevenson-Gvozdyk is an outstanding light heavyweight title fight and the clear second best fight of the night. Why not include it on the PPV? Either way, I really look forward to seeing Stevenson dealing with a younger, more technical opponent in the supremely skilled Ukrainian. Before this fight in Montreal, however, we will start in Los Angeles to watch Julio Cesar Chavez Jr begin a comeback run against an undersized and entirely washed version of Alfredo Angulo. In summary, the show starts in L.A. at 6:45 on Showtime. It then moves to Montreal for the title fight before switching back to Los Angeles and onto PPV at 9 PM Eastern for the rest of the night.
Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) v Tyson Fury (27-0, 19 KOs), WBC heavyweight title & Jarrett Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs) v Jason Welborn (24-6, 7 KOs), WBA & IBF junior middleweight titles & Luis Ortiz (29-1, 25 KOs) v Travis Kauffman (32-2, 23 KOs), heavyweights & Joe Joyce (6-0, 6 KOs) v Joe Hanks (23-2, 15 KOs), heavyweights – Los Angeles, California – Showtime PPV, 9 PM Eastern
Pay Per View shows live and die on the merits of their main events. Thankfully, this is a great one. Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury became the man to defeat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, ending a long and dominant era for the all time great. On top of the world, Fury followed it up with a mental breakdown and by ballooning in weight. It looked like he might be done forever, but he has got himself back in shape mentally and physically by all reports. After two tune ups the enigmatic elite heavyweight is stepping up to the top of the division to meet WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder and his monstrous right hand. Deontay isn’t all that technical and can be outboxed for stretches. Is Tyson Fury the guy to do it over twelve rounds? Can he keep it mentally together to avoid the right hand for that long? That is the question. I can’t wait to find out. The PPV portion of the undercard is a trio of mismatches with Jarrett Hurd, Luis Ortiz, and Joe Joyce on the A-sides. I hope they have a plan for when these fights go quickly.
