Wednesday, December 17th
FOX Australia/Kayo Sports, 3:00 am ET, Tim Tszyu vs Anthony Velasquez. From Sydney, Australia. Also, Sam Goodman vs Tyler Blizzard, and Callum Peters vs Cody Beekin for a vacant Australian middleweight title. No TV option outside of Australia at this point, which isn’t unusual for this level of get-well activity. Given that I woke up today to hear there was a mass casualty shooting six miles away from where this fight is happening, I wouldn’t be shocked if the event is postponed.
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Matchroom Boxing. From London, England. A pair of English titles on the line in the two leading bouts. Giorgio Visoli and Joe Howarth vie for the vacant lightweight belt, while John Hedges defends the cruiserweight belt against former Jai Opetaia victim Ellis Zorro.
Thursday, December 18th
ProBoxTV, 6:30 pm ET, Ramon Cardenas vs Erik Robles. From Fort Lauderdale, one of Florida’s top six Fort cities! A deep lineup of the sort of fights that used to make Wednesday night must-watch TV. Joeshon James fights in the matchup fifth on the card! That’s a pretty decent slate of fights for a Thursday night!
Friday, December 19th
Netflix, 8:00 pm ET, Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul. From Miami, Florida, the place Most Valuable Promotions goes for their least sanctionable fights! Jake Paul was supposed to face Tank Davis there a month ago, after that fight moved from Atlanta over concerns Georgia might not sanction it. But, then Tank had the latest in a series of legal issues over violence against women. And that was unacceptable for Jake, who absolutely won’t give a “woman abuser” a platform. You can’t get sued for that sort of thing two weeks before a Jake Paul show. You CAN apparently get arrested for it not long before SIGNING a Jake Paul fight and still get a platform. And you can have a years long history of it, without that disqualifying you from Jake’s Platform status. Also, no need to ask how poorly tickets were selling for Tank vs Jake, thanksverymuch. This was about doing the right thing. Jake’s not just a moral exemplar, though… He’s a businessman. And rather than let a major Netflix payday evaporate, he booked Anthony Joshua instead! This one is an actual eight round heavyweight fight, and Joshua historically hasn’t been one to carry an opponent just to make them look good. Will Jake, who lost to Tommy Fury, rise to the occasion against the former unified heavyweight champion of the world? Or, will AJ give Jake the Ngannou treatment? We shall see! Excellent undercard, with Alycia Baumgardner, Caroline Dubois, and Cherneka Johnson all defending titles in support fights. Yoka Valle also appears, and Keno Marley (who fought in the 2024 Olympics under the name Keno Machado) makes his pro debut. Plus, Anderson Silva vs Tyrone Woodley for the Jakeheads who can’t tune in just for girls and/or actual boxers they’ve never heard of. BLH will have live updates.
Saturday, December 20th
DAZN, 10:00 am ET, WBC Boxing Grand Prix: Finals. From Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The final four fights of the tournament that began in April. Muhamet Qamili vs Brandon Mejia at featherweight, Carlos Utria vs Mujibillo Tursunov at super lightweight, Dylan Biggs vs Derek Pomerleau at middleweight, and Kevin Ramirez vs Ahmed Krnjic at heavyweight.
BBC3 (UK), 2:00 pm ET, Callum Simpson vs Troy Williamson. From Leeds, UK. A Boxxer show with British, Commonwealth, and European super middleweight titles on the line. Chief support was added to the card about a week ago: Blair Cobbs! He’ll take on undefeated Elliot Whale. Woo!
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Craig Richards vs Dan Azeez. From Accra, Ghana. A very nice little domestic main event, even if it’s 3,000 miles from England. Not much on the undercard you’ll recognize, unless you really know your African boxing. Nishant Dev is on deep prelims. And I thought I recognized Theo Allotey, but I was thinking of Patrick Allotey, who lost to Patrick Teixeira and Jaime Munguia years back. But, not every show of UK interest gets a Blair Cobbs to fill out the lineup, I suppose. And we’re all the poorer for it.
DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Salita Promotions. From Detroit, Michigan. Main event is Kaye Scott vs Olivia Curry, rematching their draw from three months ago. Tony Harrison appears in the chief support, and there are several other names (Diuhl Olguin! Michael Coffie!) that’ll catch the eye of a proper degenerate boxing obsessive.
