Pick it: Derek Chisora-Otto Wallin
When to watch: Saturday, February 8 at 1:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. GMT)
How to watch: DAZN and TNT Sports 1
Why to watch: Chisora is nearing retirement after 18 years as a professional boxer, nearly 50 bouts, and two shots at heavyweight titles. The 41-year-old Londoner can still make for fun fights, even if it’s worrisome to see him continue to take heavy blows after a career’s worth of them.
Chisora went to war with Joe Joyce in July 2024, when winning a unanimous decision and bringing his record to 35-13 (23 KOs). It was his second straight victory, after he was stopped by Tyson Fury in 10 rounds in late 2022, ending their unnecessary trilogy.
Chisora’s shared the ring with a number of other recognizable names. Most of them defeated him: Robert Helenius, Vitali Klitschko, David Haye, Kubrat Pulev, Dillian Whyte twice, Agit Kabayel, Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Parker twice.
But there also were wins over Malik Scott, Kevin Johnson, Carlos Takam, Artur Szpilka, David Price, and in a rematch against Pulev.
In Saturday’s show at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England, Chisora will take on Wallin, a 34-year-old originally from Sweden and now fighting out of New York City.
Wallin is 27-2 (15 KOs). His first loss came by unanimous decision against Fury in 2019 – a fight in which Wallin badly cut “The Gypsy King” and was one doctor’s stoppage away from derailing Fury’s rematch with Deontay Wilder. Six wins followed before Wallin was stopped by Anthony Joshua in five rounds in December 2023. In July, Wallin needed just 48 seconds to put away the 20-4 Onoriode Ehwarieme.
The undercard also features featherweight prospect Masood Abdulah against Zak Miller; junior welterweight prospect Jack Rafferty facing Reece MacMillan; and middleweight Nathan Heaney returning from his first pro loss by taking on Sofiane Khati. Queensberry Promotions also hope to replace the injured Willy Hutchinson with another opponent for Zach Parker.
Thursday, February 6: Arthur Biyarslanov-Mohamed Mimoune (ESPN+ and PunchingGrace.com)
The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. ET (11:30 p.m. GMT).
Biyarslanov, 17-0 (14 KOs), is a junior welterweight prospect originally from Russia who represented Canada in the 2016 Olympics. The 29-year-old fought four times in 2024, including a third-round TKO of the 10-0 Tamas Kiliti in September and a wide decision over the 35-20-1 Jonathan Jose Eniz in October.
Mimoune, 24-6 (5 KOs), is a 37-year-old from France living in Florida. He has lost three of his past five but scored a fifth-round TKO in his rematch with the 23-4-1 Tyrone McKenna in August.
The undercard at the Casino de Montreal also features a number of prospects in separate bouts, including heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov, light heavyweight Albert Ramirez, light heavyweight Mehmet Unal, and welterweight Christopher Guerrero.
Friday, February 7: Shakan Pitters-Daniel Blenda dos Santos (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. GMT).
The Park Community Arena in Sheffield, England, hosts this light heavyweight fight.
Pitters is a 35-year-old from Birmingham, England, who stands very tall for his weight class at 6ft 6ins. He is 19-2 (6 KOs), with both of those defeats coming against familiar names: a ninth-round TKO against Craig Richards in 2020 and a unanimous decision against Dan Azeez in 2022. Pitters last fought in September 2023, when he took a points win over the 8-115-1 Darryl Sharp.
Dos Santos is a 34-year-old from France who is listed at 6ft 3ins. He is 22-1 (10 KOs) and was stopped in four rounds by Joshua Buatsi in 2021. Since then Dos Santos has won seven in a row but only fought once in each of 2023 and 2024, including a unanimous decision in June over the 24-5-1 Thomas Faure.
The undercard features middleweight prospect Shakiel Thompson, 13-0 (9 KOs) and last seen stopping the 17-4-2 River Wilson-Bent in three rounds in September. An opponent for Thompson is still to be confirmed.
Saturday, February 8: Ramon Cardenas-Bryan Acosta (ProBoxTV.com)
The broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. ET (12:30 a.m. GMT).
These two junior featherweight contenders will headline at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas.
That’s where the 29-year-old Cardenas is from. He is 25-1 (14 KOs) – that lone loss coming via majority decision in 2017 to the 14-9-1 Danny Flores. The 13 consecutive victories Cardenas has picked up since – including a two-round KO of the 15-0 Rafael Pedroza in 2023 and a ninth-round KO of the 22-2-3 Jesus Ramirez Rubio in April 2024 – have helped land Cardenas in the ratings. He is ranked second by the WBA, eighth by the IBF and 10th by the WBO.
Acosta, a 26-year-old from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, is 21-0 (9 KOs) if you include his one IBA pro bout – listed separately on BoxRec. That IBA pro bout was his past ring appearance – an eighth-round stoppage of Alberto Ezequiel Melian in April. Acosta is rated ninth at junior featherweight by the WBA and 14th at featherweight by the IBF. He has never made the 122lbs weight limit before.
(Note: BoxingScene.com is owned by Garry Jonas, who owns ProBox TV.)
Saturday, February 8: Joey Turk-Jordan Carr (Combat Sports Now)
The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET (midnight GMT).
This main event at Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at The Priory is being marketed as a bridgerweight fight.
Turk is a 41-year-old from Pittsburgh who is 6-1-1 (2 KOs). He has beaten one opponent with a winning record. That opponent then defeated Turk in their rematch.
Carr is a 23-year-old from Beaver, Pennsylvania. He is 1-0 (0 KOs).
Saturday, February 8: Stanislavs Makarenko-Leon Kermas (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at noon ET (5 p.m. GMT).
Makarenko is a boxer and kickboxer from Riga, Latvia, which is where this fight is taking place. The 37-year-old last fought under the Queensberry Rules in 2020, when losing a decision that dropped his record to 4-13-2 (2 KOs). He has mostly fought between light heavyweight and cruiserweight.
Kermas is a 22-year-old from neighboring Estonia. BoxRec has no professional record for him and only lists 12 amateur fights with a record of 4-8 (0 KOs), though that may be incomplete.
Saturday, February 8: Christian Schembri-George Watson (TrillerTV.com)
The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. ET (7 p.m. GMT).
On a show that also features other combat sports, the main event in Pembroke, Malta, is a boxing match between Schembri and Watson.
Schembri, 25-11-1 (9 KOs), is a 32-year-old from Malta. He has fought mainly at middleweight and super middleweight.
Underscoring that this match is designed for Schembri to win: his opponent is Watson, 8-10-2 (1 KO), a 41-year-old from England who hasn’t boxed in more than a decade, and who has fought mostly at junior welterweight and welterweight.
Sunday, February 9: Tom Welland-Michael Ramabeletsa (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET (midnight GMT).
Welland, 6-0 (3 KOs), is a 20-year-old featherweight prospect from Wickford, England. In September he made quick work of the 8-23-2 Darwing Martinez.
Ramabeletsa, 18-21 (8 KOs) is a 43-year-old originally from South Africa and now living in Preston, England. He has lost four in a row and has not been very active, fighting once in 2020, not at all in 2021, and once in each 2022, 2023 and 2024.
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