Saturday, Dec. 13
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Josh Warrington vs Mauricio Lara. Warrington has given up his IBF featherweight title after trouble making a unification with Xu Can, which probably has multiple layers. The IBF could have just approved it, but at the same time the WBA refuses to “promote” Xu to “super world” status, which is how their guys can do unification, instead leaving the light on for Leo Santa Cruz, who hasn’t fought in the division in two years and even won their “super world” belt at 130 in Nov. 2019. Speaking of PBC, Warrington-Lara is good enough to be a FOX main event, but that’s about it. Lara has a run of wins going but against nobody, and on paper he is not in Warrington’s league. Leigh Wood and Reece Mould will fight for the vacant British title at 126, while Zelfa Barrett takes on veteran Kiko Martinez at 130, plus prospects. BLH will have live coverage.
ESPN+, 7:00 pm ET, Adam Lopez vs Jason Sanchez, Jared Anderson vs Kingsley Ibeh. There will be much more on the three-hour Smith-Vlasov prelims, too. Lopez-Sanchez could be a terrific scrap, and Anderson-Ibeh is a nice move for Anderson, Top Rank’s big American heavyweight prospect. Ibeh gave Guido Vianello a real fight on Oct. 3, earning a draw he easily could have won against another legit prospect, and was a “Bubble” favorite fighting on three TR cards last year.
DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Joseph Diaz Jr vs Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov, Patrick Teixeira vs Brian Castano. As mentioned before, I really like this main event, and I also like the co-feature, world title bouts at 130 and 154, respectively. Diaz-Rakhimov is one I just have a really good feeling about, and Teixeira-Castano should be really spirited, too. There’s decent stuff on the rest of this card, as well, with Ronny Rios taking on Oscar Negrete at 122, Jason Quigley vs Shane Mosley Jr at 160, and returns for Bektemir Melikuziev and Azat Hovhannisyan. BLH will have live coverage.
ESPN, 10:00 pm ET, Joe Smith Jr vs Maxim Vlasov, Richard Commey vs Jackson Marinez. Another good pair of matchups, with Smith-Vlasov for the vacant WBO title at light heavyweight, and Commey-Marinez a meeting of talented fighters in search of a win in a really good lightweight division. Smith shot to some fame back in 2017, of course, but he has not won a world title, so this is a big fight for him, and Vlasov could be a tough matchup if he can use his length and height and activity to his advantage. Commey is a former 135 titleholder, hasn’t fought since Teofimo Lopez obliterated him in Dec. 2019, while Marinez is coming off of a hugely disputed loss to Rolando Romero. BLH will have live coverage.