Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall renew hostilities this week, plus Paige VanZant’s boxing debut and more.
Wednesday, May 22
ProBox TV, 8:00 pm ET, Batyrzhan Jukembayev vs Ivan Redkach
A ProBox show and not a particularly enticing one on paper. Redkach hasn’t done anything of note since his awful showings against Danny Garcia and Regis Prograis in 2020-21, fighting just once since, a win last July in Costa Rica against a club veteran. Jukembayev has won four in a row since being stopped by Subriel Matias in 2021, which is obviously nothing to be ashamed of. Matias stops everyone.
Thursday, May 23
DAZN, 7:00 pm ET, Jermaine Franklin vs Devin Vargas
I bet when you were promised 150 fight nights a year from DAZN, you really hoped one of them would be main evented by Devin Vargas in 2024.
Friday, May 24
Peacock, 2:00 pm ET, Lukasz Rozanski vs Lawrence Okolie
BLH will have live coverage. Bridgerweight! Bridgerweight! Bridgerweight! Bridgerweight! Rozanski has home advantage in Poland because nobody in the UK wants to pay to see Okolie fight, which is fair if you’ve ever seen Okolie fight, and we all have, 20 times as a pro at this point. It is not enjoyable. Also airing on Sky Sports in the UK.
Saturday, May 25
DAZN, Noon ET, Bader Al-Dherat vs Orlando Mosquera
A show from Abu Dhabi. This is another of the promised 150 fight nights a year from your DAZN subscription. The deal is starting to sound a little iffy, huh?
ESPN+, 2:00 pm ET, Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall 2
BLH will have live coverage. Despite this being promoted by Matchroom, it’s an ESPN+ show in the States because of Taylor’s Top Rank ties. The main event has history and promotional fire but you have to wonder if maybe it’s coming too late to be what it could have been. Then again it’s not like the first fight was good, it was just controversial. Cheavon Clarke faces Ellis Zorro for the British cruiserweight title plus returns for Gary Cully and Paddy Donovan against Francesco Patera and Lewis Ritson, respectively.
DAZN, 7:00 pm ET, Elle Brooke vs Paige VanZant
A Misfits show from Houston. This is VanZant’s official boxing debut after kinda flaming out in both UFC and BKFC. It’s a five-round main event for Brooke’s whateverweight title, does anyone care about the specifics? I mean anyone reading this right now.
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