Boxing TV Schedule: Marcos Maidana, Jorge Arce in Action This Weekend (Sept. 23-25)

Marcos Maidana leads the names in action this weekend, but there are plenty of fights out there on Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday. Nothing major in the U.S. this weekend.

Thursday, September 22

Sky Sports (U.K.), 1 p.m. EDT, Ringside. For those who don't know, this is a weekly boxing talk show on Sky that I kept meaning to include in the schedule. It's a good show, so if you're around Thursday afternoon and have nothing to do, give it a shot.

Friday, September 23

TV Pública (Argentina), 9 p.m. EDT, Marcos Maidana vs Petr Petrov. Maidana (30-2, 27 KO) is taking this stay-busy fight because of his canceled August 27 date with Robert Guerrero. Petrov (29-2-2, 13 KO) is no real threat to Maidana, but then neither was DeMarcus Corley, and neither was Erik Morales. As good and tough as Maidana is, he has some inconsistency that could make him oddly vulnerable here. He probably won't lose, but if he doesn't tear Petrov to pieces, don't be surprised.

Telefutura, 11:30 p.m. EDT, Vincente Escobedo vs Rocky Juarez. This week's Solo Boxeo Tecate features a couple of veterans in the main event, with Escobedo (23-3, 14 KO) trying to hang on to his relevance as a back-end contender, while Juarez (28-8-1, 20 KO) has fallen well out of the conversation and is at this point nothing more than a gatekeeper. Dating back to 2006, Juarez has gone 3-7-1 in his last 11, and he's lost four straight with a draw behind them that should have been a loss to Chris John. Bad Left Hook will have live round-by-round coverage.

Telemundo, 11:35 p.m. EDT, Michael Franco vs Orlando Cruz. Franco (19-0, 12 KO) is a 24-year-old super bantamweight prospect fighting out of Riverside, Calif., and will be taking on Cruz (16-2-1, 7 KO) in a decent step up. Cruz, now 30, hasn't fought since back-to-back stoppage losses in Sept. 2009 and Feb. 2010 to Cornelius Lock and Daniel Ponce de Leon.

Saturday, September 24

Sky Sports 3 (U.K.), 3 p.m. EDT, Gary Sykes vs Gary Buckland II. The first time these two met, it was a 45-second stoppage in a Prizefighter tournament, with Buckland coming out the winner. Sykes (19-1, 5 KO) holds the British super featherweight title, which wasn't on the line in the Prizefighter tournament. Buckland (23-2, 8 KO) wound up winning that November 2010 Prizefighter, but hasn't capitalized on it, going 2-0 this year against cans. Bad Left Hook will have live round-by-round coverage.

Sport 1 (Germany), 4 p.m. EDT, Alexander Dimitrenko vs Michael Sprott. Dimitrenko (31-1, 21 KO) defends his European title against shot veteran Sprott (36-16, 17 KO) in a fight that will do nothing for Dimitrenko should he win as expected. Sprott is 36 years old, worn out, and hasn't won a fight scheduled for more than four rounds since 2009, and hasn't won a fight scheduled for more than six rounds since 2007. The undercard will feature top cruiserweight prospect Rakhim Chakhkiev vs Michael Simms, heavyweight prospect Denis Boytsov vs Matthew Greer, and Juan Carlos Gomez vs Darnell "Ding-a-Ling Man" Wilson, who has lost six straight.

TV Azteca (Mexico), 9:30 p.m. EDT / Fox Sports Net / Fox Deportes (U.S.), 10 p.m. EDT, Jorge Arce vs Simphiwe Nongqayi II, Raul Martinez vs Rodrigo Guerrero II. A pair of interesting rematches on this edition of Top Rank Live in the States, with Arce in a non-title bout against the last mean to beat him, and Martinez and Guerrero going for a vacant belt after their close, hotly-contested first fight. Arce (57-6-2, 44 KO) is coming off of his best win in years, defeating Wilfredo Vazquez Jr on the Pacquiao vs Mosley card. But the last time he faced Nongqayi (16-1-1, 6 KO), he wasn't just defeated, but he was schooled by the South African, losing at home in Mexico on Independence Day weekend 2009. Martinez (28-1, 16 KO) hasn't fought since his November 2010 win over Guerrero (15-3-1, 10 KO), who has himself fought just one easy fight in April in the meantime.

Televisa (Mexico), 10 p.m. EDT, Dante Jardon vs Ricky Sismundo, Oscar Ibarra vs Sylvester Lopez. Ibarra is a super flyweight fringe contender, while Jardon (18-1, 16 KO) is a fan favorite because he's, well, "Crazy," as his nickname indicates. He's a fun fighter.

Televisa (Mexico), 10 p.m. EDT, Daiki Kameda vs Raul Hidalgo, Jose Salgado vs Isaac Quaye. Kameda (21-2, 13 KO) is looking to pick up a minor title at 115 pounds. The former flyweight titlist moved up to around the bantamweight limit for his last two, but is settling back down at super flyweight.

Sunday, September 25

Rossiya 2 (Russia), 1:50 p.m. EDT, Dmitry Pirog vs Gennady Martirosyan. Pirog, the WBO middleweight titleholder, is fighting neither the best guy named Gennady or the best buy named Martirosyan in his general weight region, but he's fighting at least. If we can swing it, there might be live coverage of this one.