This weekend's rounds
QUICK THOUGHTS: A look ahead to a busy weekend of boxing
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The next full edition of Double Dutch - featuring a piece exploring Floyd Mayweather’s first pay-per-view headliner, the 2005 showdown with the legendary Arturo Gatti, and the art of exploiting your opportunities in the boxing business - will be dropping soon. In the meantime, a quick preview of this coming weekend’s boxing schedule, which features cards from the three biggest promoters in the UK and a potentially outstanding WBC welterweight title fight…
Dillian Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin AND Zach Parker vs John Ryder
26th November 2022
Promoter: Matchroom; Frank Warren | TV: DAZN (UK & US); BT Sport (UK)
Two boxing events taking over London’s major indoor arenas on the SAME night, during the World Cup? Given the current perception of the sport and the lack of buzz generally in the UK…are they mad?! Whether it is due to stubbornness, astute business acumen or just wanting to one-up their chief adversary, Matchroom and Queensberry deliver competing cards this Saturday. Still, I can’t help hypothesising that combining the two (maybe even with the best of BOXXER’s event the next night) would have made a show genuinely worth getting excited about.
On the Matchroom side at Wembley Arena, Dillian Whyte makes his first appearance since suffering a resounding, deflating defeat to Tyson Fury this past summer, facing off with Jermaine Franklin. An American heavyweight contender with a 21-0 record but with a resume so under the radar that Franklin, as of this writing, is yet to have a Wikipedia page; once seen as a potentially top-level American in boxing’s glamour division, a combination of some questionable decisions going his way and an extended period out of the ring until recently have considerably slowed his roll. This is a big chance for Franklin, and who knows how much Whyte has left this stage - but if he’s got something in the tank (and doesn’t adopt bizarre tactics such as he did at Wembley Stadium against Fury) then it should be enough.
Over at the O2 Arena, Frank Warren’s headliner appears to have the potential to offer considerably more on the night. Zach Parker and John Ryder (himself a long-term Matchroom talent) compete for the vacant WBO interim super middleweight title. Despite the fact that it’s not too easy to envisage Canelo Alvarez giving the winner a crack at the WBO’s genuine 168-pound world crown any time soon, this is a really good matchup of two talented fighters at different points of their journey. Parker - who seems to have been some sort of top WBO contender for aeons now but has still to have his breakout moment - was left high and dry when Demetrius Andrade played silly buggers when the pair had a final eliminator called by the WBO, so it is heartening to see him get a chance here. In contrast, Ryder, who in my opinion was robbed of the WBA super middleweight title against Callum Smith in his career-best 2019 performance and has since racked up a notable win over Daniel Jacobs, is probably (at 34 years old, six years Parker’s senior) be getting his last shot at possible world title glory. It’s a winnable fight for both, and not easy to call.
If the best of both cards were combined, there’s probably enough for an engaging undercard offering as well. At the Matchroom Wembley show, Fabio Wardley and Nathan Gorman meet in an intriguing clash for the British heavyweight title, a huge opportunity for Wardley and perhaps a final chance for Gorman to fulfil what had appeared to be his early potential. Exactly the kind of fight we should be seeing for the British title. Craig Richards was also set to return from defeat to Joshua Buatsi earlier this year to face Richard Bolotniks, but due to the former falling ill that now won’t be happening, which shallows out the Matchroom card further.
There are still fights scheduled for young Matchroom hopes Cheavon Clarke and Sandy Ryan. Also on the show will be the promotional debuts of former Team GB standouts Mark Dickinson and (2020 Olympic silver medallist) Pat McCormack, who have both jumped to Eddie Hearn’s outfit from the seemingly rudderless and TV partner-less Probellum. Quite where the Richard Schaefer-led Probellum - which attempted to make a big splash over the last year with numerous notable signings but lost their broadcast deal with Eurosport and any semblance of momentum in record time due to undeniable links to the very-much-wanted (and reportedly hiding out in Qatar) Daniel Kinahan - goes from here is anyone’s guess, but things aren’t looking great right now.
Over at the O2, Warren and Queensberry have Hamzah Sheeraz, now in the top 15 of the WBC since claiming their silver middleweight title but still looking to repair his image amongst some after his hugely controversial December 2021 fight with Bradley Skeete, looking to add the vacant Commonwealth 160-pound belt against the somewhat-touted River Wilson-Bent. Two more of Frank’s top prospects, Dennis McCann and Sam Noakes, also fight for Commonwealth gold at super bantamweight and lightweight respectively. Queensberry probably has the stronger undercard overall, but a mix of both in the same location would be the ideal scenario, as implausible and fanciful as that might seem.
The question at hand seems to be whether there is sufficient interest and hype in British boxing currently to make it sensible to run two London shows of this scale on the same night, or whether this has an air of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
ALSO THIS WEEKEND: A rare Sunday afternoon show becomes the third major UK event in under 24 hours as BOXXER (Sunday 27th; live on Sky in the UK) head to Alexandra Palace to showcase Adam Azim - perhaps the hottest prospect in all of British boxing - in a step up against Rylan Charlton, a decent-sized name with a fan-friendly style. Expect this to be another highlight reel performance from Azim, who headlines in just his seventh pro bout as Sky continues to get behind a fighter with a frankly enormous potential upside. The undercard includes Lerrone Richards - who not long ago was a fringe world contender and IBO champion, and who remains top 10-ranked by at least some of the major sanctioning bodies - somewhat strangely going back to regional level face English super middleweight champion Zak Chelli, and a fight for the vacant British cruiserweight crown between Mikael Lawal and David Jamieson. Nothing mind-blowing but not bad for a Sunday afternoon…The night before, over in the States, a new WBC light welterweight champion will be crowned from a really excellent match-up between Jose Zepeda and Regis Prograis in Carson, California. With two top-level talents in the division, this could be a barnburner to rival former WBA champion Prograis’ incredible showdown with Josh Taylor back in October 2019, a very close decision which remains Prograis’ only defeat. Although his career has meandered somewhat since then, his chance has arrived again and in Zepeda he has an excellent dance partner. If Prograis is able to demonstrate his skills effectively, he should have enough for a points win or late stoppage, but Zepeda - who narrowly lost a challenge for the same WBC belt to José Ramírez three years ago - is coming in with a better and more consistent form, and is a legitimate top contender. Very well poised. This show is being promoted by Marv Nation, who came out of nowhere to win the purse bids with an offer that more than doubled the second-highest bidder despite promoting neither fighter and having never promoted a fight close to this level. They don’t have a major broadcast partner so this will be available on pay-per-view via FITE TV, and it seems unlikely this will get the large audience it deserves.