Thursday, March 4
UFC Fight Pass, 8:00 pm ET, John Vera vs Cleotis Pendarvis. RJJ Boxing show from Mississippi. Vera is once-beaten at middleweight, but he’s 31 and you wouldn’t really call him a prospect. Pendarvis has lost his last three fights, he’s been around for years at a certain level. There are some prospects on the card, though, including 21-year-old junior welterweight Michael Williams Jr, who I think has the skills to possibly go somewhere, someone to keep an eye on.
NBCSN, 9:00 pm ET, Serhii Bohachuk vs Brandon Adams, Danielito Zorrilla vs Ruslan Madiyev. Ring City USA returns, with the series making its way to Puerto Rico for three shows in March, starting with this one. Bohachuk-Adams was meant to happen in December but didn’t, and now we’ve got it rescheduled. It’s a good test for Bohachuk, who has been trouncing everyone he’s fought so far. Adams is a solid pro, a good fighter. BLH will have live coverage.
Friday, March 5
ESPN+, 2:40 pm ET, Tony Yoka vs Joel Djeko, Estelle Yoka Mossely vs Verena Kaiser. 2016 Olympic gold medalists Yoka and Yoka Mossely return in Nantes, France. Yoka-Djeko is for the vacant European heavyweight title. We’ll be here, what the hell? It’s a good start time and makes for a day of boxing. BLH will have live coverage.
PPV, 9:00 pm ET, Claressa Shields vs Marie-Eve Dicaire. This one is available through tradition InDemand PPV through TV/satellite services, and also through FITE TV, both options $29.99. The self-proclaimed “GWOAT” returns! Why PPV? Because there aren’t any networks looking to pay what they want for the fight. This isn’t really a bad matchup in terms of who’s fighting. It’s as good as Shields is going to do other than going back to 160 to fight Savannah Marshall. Dicaire has held the IBF 154-pound belt since 2018 and that along with the WBC, WBA, and WBO belts will be on the line, so Shields is looking to go undisputed at 154 after doing so at 160. The question is what she does after that, if she succeeds as most will expect. Shields is quickly running out of things to actually do in boxing, in all honesty, which makes her signing to do MMA at some point this year more understandable. I suppose she could call out 39-year-old Holly Holm to jump up a couple weight classes and come out of boxing retirement. (Holm will be a commentator on the show.) This show’s undercard is, to put it nicely, not particularly noteworthy. But I’ll be watching, and we’ll be here with live coverage. BLH will have live coverage.