Aug. 8: Los Angeles (Fox/Fox Deportes/FS1) Title fight: Jamal James vs. Thomas Dulorme, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA interim welterweight title Title fight: David Morrell vs. Lennox Allen, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA interim super middleweight title Omar Juarez vs. Willie Shaw, 8 rounds, junior welterweights Mykal Fox vs. Lucas Santamaria, 10 rounds, welterweights Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Chris Rollins, 6 rounds, junior middleweights Luis Peña vs. Michael Coffie, 8 rounds, heavyweights
FOX, 8:00 pm ET, Jamal James vs Thomas Dulorme, David Morrell Jr vs Lennox Allen, Omar Juarez vs Willie Shaw. Boxing returns to FOX with not the highest-profile fights in the world, but boxing just being back on FOX means way more eyeballs. James-Dulorme is for a dumb interim WBA belt at 147, both guys looking to break through for something bigger. Morrell is a 22-year-old Cuban that PBC like a lot, and he’s fighting for a dumb interim WBA belt at 168 in his third pro bout. Juarez is a very good 21-year-old prospect at 140.
WTF happened with this card? Was it mislabeled on directv as starting at 7 on FS1 or is it being replayed?
I feel like I am watching a bad sitcom with a laugh track. The manufactured crowd noise is dumb and distracting.
At long last, we have a fight. Teofimo Lopez has agreed to terms with Top Rank for a lightweight championship unification bout with Vasiliy Lomachenko that will headline an ESPN platform in October, sources tell The Athletic. The fight, which was slated for Oct. 3, will take place on a later Saturday in the month at the “bubble” inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas, per sources. For weeks, Lopez’s manager, David McWater, and Top Rank, have negotiated after the rising star rebuffed an initial offer of $1.25 million. Now, he could earn $1.5 million, per sources. Lomachenko, who agreed to a package worth $3.5 million last week, agreed to reduce his purse to $3.25 million to facilitate the fight. Top Rank officials weren’t immediately available to comment. The event, which will decide supremacy at 135 pounds, stands as one of the biggest of 2020. It was earmarked for ESPN Pay-Per-View pre-pandemic, but recently, there has been growing optimism the bout will land on ESPN. If it does, it figures to generate massive ratings for the network. Seldom has a fight this significant landed on ESPN since Top Rank signed an exclusive rights deal with the platform in 2017. Lomachenko, 32, is considered the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by many. Lopez, 23, is regarded as one of the best young fighters in the game. He won his first title with a second-round knockout of Richard Commey in December, and now steps way up in class against a future hall-of-fame fighter.
David Benavidez comes in 3 lbs overweight for his headlining fight tomorrow on Showtime. Fight still on, but he lost the title on the scale. Remember he lost the same title back in 2018 for cocaine.
Carl Frampton vs. Darren Traynor, 10 rounds, junior lightweights Michael Conlan vs. Sofiane Takoucht, 10 rounds, featherweights Archie Sharp vs. Jeff Ofori, 10 rounds, junior lightweights Dennis McCann vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior featherweights Troy Williamson vs. Harry Scarff, 10 rounds, for Williamson's IBF European junior middleweight title Paddy Donovan vs. TBA, 6 rounds, welterweights
ESPN, 4:00 pm ET, Carl Frampton vs Darren Traynor, Michael Conlan vs Sofiane Takoucht. Frampton and Conlan are both in stay-busy fights to get going again, which under the circumstances is fine. Conlan is ranked at 122 now by the WBO, a blatantly political move, as this is a featherweight fight and he is a featherweight. Frampton’s opponent, who replaces Vahram Vardanyan (visa issues) is in on short notice, but was training, and it’s not like Vardanyan was some great opponent, either, so whatever. If you’re wondering why these fights, of all fights, are getting a rare Saturday afternoon ESPN slot, my guess is it’s because Conlan did excellent ratings last time he was on an ESPN show and everyone wants to see if he might be a legitimate TV draw. He won’t do here what he did opening that Crawford-Kavaliauskas card (where he drew the night’s best rating, absurdly rare for a non-main event to do so), but he might still deliver above what others could. The 33-year-old Frampton, a former titleholder at 122 and 126 and now looking to compete at 130, will be fighting at 135 today against short notice opponent Darren Traynor. It’s not expected to be much for Frampton to worry about, but you never know, especially with him fighting at 135, which is absolutely not his weight.
Starts in about an hour Aug. 15: Uncasville, Connecticut (Showtime) Title fight: David Benavidez vs. Roamer Alexis Angulo, 12 rounds, for Benavidez's WBC super middleweight title Title fight: Rolando Romero vs. Jackson Marinez, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBA interim lightweight title Michel Rivera vs. Marcos Villasana Jr., 12 rounds, lightweights Otto Wallin vs. Travis Kauffman, 10 rounds, heavyweights Carlos Negron vs. Jonathan Rice, 8 rounds, heavyweights
Literally the reason I thought it was going to go the other way. I thought there is no way that card is for Romero. No way I thought to myself.
Tomorrow’s the first big fight weekend of the restart. 3 different cards, all with big names and two with excellent matchups.
Aug. 22: Las Vegas (ESPN+) Eleider Alvarez vs. Joe Smith Jr., 12 rounds, WBO light heavyweight eliminator Rob Brant vs. Vitaliy Kopylenko, 10 rounds, middleweights Julian Rodriguez vs. Anthony Laureano, 10 rounds, junior welterweight Maurice Williams vs. Clay Collard, 8 rounds, super middleweights Duke Ragan vs. Luis Alvarado, 4 rounds, featherweights Abel Soriano vs. Robert Rodriguez, 6 rounds, junior featherweights Israel Mercado vs. Adrian Valdovinos, 6 rounds, lightweights Wendy Toussaint vs. Isiah Jones, 8 rounds, junior middleweights Aug. 22: Los Angeles (Fox/Fox Deportes) Shawn Porter vs. Sebastian Formella, 12 rounds, WBC/IBF welterweight eliminator Sebastian Fundora vs. Nathaniel Gallimore, 10 rounds, junior middleweights Livan Navarro vs. Justin DeLoach, 10 rounds, welterweights Josec Ruiz vs. Justin Pauldo, 6 rounds, junior welterweights Edward Ortiz vs. Antonio Todd, 8 rounds, super middleweights Joey Spencer vs. Shawn West, 6 rounds, junior middleweights Aug. 22: Brentwood, Essex, England (DAZN) Title fight: Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin, 12 rounds, for Whyte's WBC interim heavyweight title Title fight: Katie Taylor vs. Delfine Persoon, 10 rounds, for Taylor's WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF lightweight titles Jack Cullen vs. Zak Chelli, 10 rounds, super middleweights Luther Clay vs. Chris Kongo, 10 rounds, welterweights
Sergio Martinez apparently fought tonight and won via KO-7. I’ve got no interest in watching Maravilla try and fight again.
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin, Katie Taylor vs Delfine Persoon 2, Luther Clay vs Chris Kongo, Jack Cullen vs Zak Chelli. The show also airs on Sky Box Office in the United Kingdom. Whyte-Povetkin is a good heavyweight matchup, really the most significant matchup we’ve had since boxing’s June return, and Taylor-Persoon 2 is a rematch of a great fight. The other fights are well-matched on paper, particularly Clay-Kongo. Whyte, 32, needs to win to keep his status as WBC mandatory challenger, while Povetkin, 40, can’t win that spot outright, but he’d definitely put himself in the mix for another big fight if he can pull what would be something of an upset today.