Thursday, June 24
Fox Sports Net, 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Frankie Gomez vs. Geoffrey Gaya, Gary Russell Jr. vs. Rodrigo Aranda, Jessie Vargas vs. Ernesto Zavala. On yet another installment of Golden Boy's Fight Night Club, we get to see three of the promoter's blue chip prospects in action. That is, where people get to see it, since the card will be preempted by soccer in most places. Gomez, only 18 years old, was one of the top amateurs in the country when he signed to go pro a few months back instead of waiting for the Olympics. Russell did get his chance at Olympic glory, but didn't get to fight after he failed to make weight. Vargas is a 10-0 welterweight prospect taking a big step up against a 25 fight veteran.
Friday, June 25
Dahlia TV (Italy), 3:00 p.m. Eastern - Daniele Petrucci vs. Jorge Daniel Miranda. This one is for a minor IBF welterweight title. Petrucci has run up an undefeated record mostly fighting creampuffs, and Miranda is tough but has lost his fair share of bouts to decent opposition.
Sky Sports 2 (UK), 5:30 p.m. Eastern - Tyson Fury vs. John McDermott II. Young Mr. Fury built up a big reputation early in his career for having a huge mouth, taking on tough competition, and most importantly, punching himself in the face with an uppercut during a fight. Last year, Fury defeated McDermott via some extremely shady judging by referee Terry O'Connor. This one will be for the vacant English heavyweight title, and a more convincing win could launch him into some bigger fights. Tom Dallas, Larry Olubamiwo and David Price are all on the undercard, so expect to see some highlights of their fights as well. Bad Left Hook will provide live round by round coverage of this fight.
Telefutura, 11:30 p.m. Eastern - Oscar Leon vs. Pablo Cesar Cano - Cano is an undefeated Mexican lightweight prospect who's taking a small step up against former title challenger Leon, who has lost eight of his last nine, all to decent competition.
Saturday, June 26
Top Rank PPV ($39.95), Azteca (Mexico), 9:00 p.m. Eastern - Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. John Duddy, Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Adailton De Jesus, Raul Martinez vs. Gabriel Elozondo, Salvador Sanchez Jr. vs. Tomas Villa. They might sell this card for people to watch someone lose, but this is about as weak as it gets for Top Rank. Chavez and Duddy are both good clubfighters who have been made to seem a lot more than they are by good promoting and careful matchmaking. The fight could be exciting, but each of their last fights on major cards have been duds, plus Chavez is coming off a suspension for a failed drug test. Barrera is beyond toast at this point, but shouldn't have a problem with De Jesus, who was blown out by Yuriorkis Gamboa in a round in Gamboa's seventh pro fight. Former title challenger Martinez is trying to build himself back up, but Elozondo is winless in his last three fights against so-so competition. Sanchez Jr. is closer to Chavez Jr. than he is to his famous uncle, but at least Villa is known for making good fights.
Televisa (Mexico), 10:00 p.m. Eastern - Eduardo Escobedo vs. Aristides Perez, Juan Carlos Salgado vs. Guadalupe Rosales. Escobedo and Perez will be fighting for one of those silly silver titles. Escobedo is most famous for stinking it up against Daniel Ponce de Leon a couple years back, but he's been on a roll since then. Perez was decimated by Humberto Soto on Mexican Independence Day last year, but is about what you'd expect of a late replacement. Salgado tries to bounce back after losing his title to Takashi Uchiyama earlier in the year.
Elsewhere in the world of boxing...
- In Ireland on Saturday, Brian Peters will be showcasing three prominent Cuban fighters. Heavyweight prospect Mike Perez, super middleweight prospect Luis Garcia and super bantamweight prospect Alexei Acosta are all blue chippers, and are all facing experienced veterans. Last time out, Peters actually had Perez fight two different guys on the same night. A great article on these kids is at the Sunday Tribune, following their journey from Cuba to Ireland. Andy Murray will be rounding out the bill.
- Taking smaller fights this weekend: Edwin Rodriguez, Isiah Thomas, Alexander Ustinov, Viktor Plotnikov, Mike Oliver, Tony Grano, Terence Crawford, LaJuan Simon, Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr., and Jose Benavidez Jr.