The rematch between Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez headlines a very busy week of boxing action!
Tuesday, Dec. 3
TrillerTV+, 8:00 pm ET, CountryBox: Where Music Meets Boxing. Kish Moody is the music. And, if you’re looking for a justifiable reason to shout WATER BAG! at your TV? Curtis Harper is among the boxing.
Saturday, Dec. 7
DAZN, 1:00 pm ET, Mahmoud Charr vs Kubrat Pulev. Let’s just establish straightaway that, yes, these men are a combined 83 years old. That is true. BUT, they’re heavyweights, which is the most forgiving division for the geriatric pugilist. And, they should be pretty evenly matched. Is it weird I’m actually a little hyped to see these two old guys get after it? Undercard is what you’d expect for a show out of Bulgaria, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing worth watching. Paris Stavropoulos is there, and he’s Greek! Also, a 4-0 Ukrainian-Serbian middleweight named Gleb Bakshi fights a 10 rounder as the chief support. Maybe he’s the one that will finally save the 160 lbs. division! BLH will have live updates
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Ben Crocker vs Stelios Papadopoulos 2. A day of abundance for the Greek boxing fan! Papadopoulous (no relation to Alex Karras’s fictional character from the 1980s sitcom Webster) looks for revenge after losing an 8 rounder to Crocker back in April by just one point on the referee’s decision. This rematch is scheduled for 10 rounds, and has a lower level IBF ornament on the line.
TNT Sports (UK), 2:00 pm ET, Magnificent 7 London. Part of me wishes Queensberry did wrestling, too, so that Frank Warren could just name every one of those events “The Seven Slam-urai.” Nice little domestic card, though: Brad Pauls vs Denzel Bentley, Sam Noakes vs Ryan Walsh, Solomon Dacres vs David Adeleye, plus Lawrence Okolie and Sean Nokes deeper on the card. No US television at the moment.
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, GBM Boxing. Your main event has Danny Quartermaine defending his IBF and WBO European titles against Jack Bateson.
ProBox, 3:30 pm ET, War in Waterford. The latest Conlan Boxing show to broadcast through ProBox here in the States. Dylan Moran vs Tyrone McKenna tops the card.
ESPN+, 5:30 pm ET, Top Rank Boxing prelims. Assuming the ESPN main portion has only Navarrete vs Valdez 2 and Espinoza vs Ramirez 2, the best fight on these prelims is Lindolfo Delgado vs Jackson Marinez. Giovani Santillan and Richard Torrez also appear.
PPV, 6:30 pm ET, Ryan Rozicki vs. Yamil Peralta 2. A rematch of a controversial 2022 decision, and this time for an interim WBC cruiserweight title. Rozicki won the first matchup by split decision, Peralta’s team disputed the result, it was apparently changed to a No Contest, but it’s still on the books as Peralta’s only pro loss. This one’s in Nova Scotia, where I don’t recall seeing a lot of championship boxing before now. It’ll cost you $34 American, $45.79 Canadian, $52.97 Australian, $57.01 New Zealand. Or, €32.09 if you’re in Europe, £27.88 if you’ve Brexited Europe, R$168.84 if you’re Brazilian, ₹2,827.26 if you’re paying in Rupees, or MX$593.71 if you’re paying in Pesos. You have plenty of payment options, is what I’m telling you.
DAZN, 7:00 pm ET, Liam Paro vs Richardson Hitchins. The good: Paro went into the lion’s den with one of boxing’s biggest boogeymen in Subriel Matias, and beat him on unanimous scorecards to claim the IBF title. The bad: Richie Hitchie fights with the sort of foul-heavy, clinching and stalling style that makes me wish I’d gotten into Pickleball or Shuffleboard instead. Oh, and if you’ve forgotten how Paro took control of the Matias fight? Paro clinched, hugged, and repeatedly fouled him. So… All indicators suggest a miserable slog. I’ll have the assignment, because Scott Christ apparently hates me. But, hey, at least we get a Redneck Brawl next weekend! The undercard does have Yankiel Rivera, who is a fun watch. You also get Marc Castro and Henry Lebron. BLH will have live updates
ESPN/ESPN+, 10:30 pm ET, Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez 2. A night of rematches! Navarrete won a unanimous decision in the first matchup back in August 2023. He’s had a tough run since then, drawing with Robson Conceicao and losing a step up to 135 lbs. against Denys Berinchyk, but still holds the WBO 130 lbs. title. Valdez finished Liam Wilson in the 7th round back in March to claim an interim WBO belt. The first edition was a banger, and hopes are high for another action fight. Your chief support is a rematch between Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez, the first edition of which came last December, and was arguably even better than Navarrete vs Valdez 1. Be aware: The main card is officially scheduled for 10:30 pm ET, but follows the Sun Belt conference championship game. So, unless the Thundering Herd and the Ragin’ Cajuns handle their business very promptly, this one is almost sure to start late. BLH will have live team coverage
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