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Wilder-Povetkin, Haye-Gjergjaj, Lara-Martirosyan, more: Boxing fight times and TV schedule for May 17-21

It's a big slate for heavyweights, even if the biggest fight doesn't happen, and there's plenty more going on in a busy week in boxing.

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Tuesday, May 17

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FS1, 9:00 p.m. ET, Murat Gassiev vs Jordan Shimmell, Wes Nofire vs Joey Abell. Gassiev-Shimmell is an IBF cruiserweight eliminator, and a pretty bad one at that. Shimmell was outclassed by Isiah Thomas last year, and we just saw Isiah Thomas turn in a miserable performance this weekend against Michael Hunter. Gassiev is a legit prospect and the favorite here. Nofire is a big, untested heavyweight who takes on familiar trial horse Abell, whose fights almost always end earlier -- he's got 29 knockouts in 31 wins, and has been stopped in seven of his nine losses. BLH will have live coverage.

Friday, May 20

Canal+ (FRA), 2:50 p.m. ET, Yunier Dorticos vs Youri Kalenga. This fight is for the "vacant" WBA "world" title. Denis Lebedev fights on Saturday, and is the WBA "super world" champion, but the WBA feels they need another "world champion." So much for Gilberto Jr's big promises to knock that crap off. Anyway, belt aside, this is a decent matchup at worst. Kalenga is a contender, and Dorticos might be -- he's never been tested. This is a big step up for the Cuban. BLH will try to have live coverage.

Estrella TV/RingTVLive.com, 10:00 p.m. ET, Eddie Gomez vs John Karl Sosa, Fidel Maldonado Jr vs Art Hovhannisyan. Gomez, once a hyped Golden Boy prospect, has stepped back a bit following an upset loss to Francisco Santana in 2014. He's won two straight against lesser competition. Sosa is coming off of a TKO-6 loss to Alan Sanchez. Maldonado-Hovhannisyan is a decent mid-level matchup. Hovhannisyan hasn't fought since July 2014. BLH will have live coverage.

CBS Sports Network, 11:00 p.m. ET, Hanzel Martinez vs Isaac Nettey, Emmanuel Robles vs Gerardo Cuevas. Martinez is Antonio Margarito's brother-in-law. He got a little hype from that connection a few years back, but a pair of losses shut that down pretty quickly. This is a typical CBSSN card.

Saturday, May 21

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Sky Sports 3 (UK) / PPV (AUS/NZ), 6:00 a.m. ET, Joseph Parker vs Carlos Takam. Nice to see Sky pick this fight up in the UK, as it's an IBF eliminator for Anthony Joshua's title, and the winner could well be a legitimate threat. (Yes, Kubrat Pulev also won some form of eliminator, maybe, kinda. We'll see.) And anything else aside, this is a good matchup between a prospect of note in Parker and a veteran contender in Takam. Mostly, for me, to be honest, it's nice that Sky picked up the fight because AUS/NZ streams are tough to find. BLH will have live coverage.

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BoxNation (UK), 2:00 p.m. ET, Deontay Wilder vs Alexander Povetkin, Denis Lebedev vs Victor Ramirez. If this main event happens, that is. If it does not, the card may still go ahead without it -- Lebedev vs Ramirez is a cruiserweight unification bout, and there are several other notable fighters (Dmitry Kudrayshov, Rakhim Chakhkiev, Dmitry Bivol, Umar Salamov) in action, too. It's still a pretty decent show even without the big fight, but, well, that's the big fight people wanted to see. The U.S. broadcast, with just Wilder-Povetkin, would start at 4:00 p.m. ET on Showtime. Note: The WBC postponed Wilder-Povetkin on Sunday.

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Dave (UK), 3:00 p.m. ET, David Haye vs Arnold Gjergjaj, Shannon Briggs vs TBA. Haye and Briggs are set to meet if both win their fights, which is ... uh, well, whatever. Briggs was supposedly going to face Alexander Dimitrenko, but Dimitrenko's team now say he was never contacted about the fight, so that's not happening, it would appear. Haye figures to be in no tougher here than he was against Mark de Mori, but we'll see. BLH will have live coverage.

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SHO, 9:00 p.m. ET, Erislandy Lara vs Vanes Martirosyan, Jermall Charlo vs Austin Trout, Jermell Charlo vs John Jackson. This 154-pound tripleheader is a good one, with three world title fights. Well, it's a good one in terms of it being significant. The in-ring action may be another story. The first Lara-Martirosyan fight in 2012 was not a beauty, to say the least, ending in a technical draw after nine rounds. This is for Lara's WBA title. Jermall Charlo will defend his IBF belt against former titleholder Austin Trout, and Jermell Charlo faces John Jackson for the vacant WBC title. BLH will have live coverage.

UniMás, 11:00 p.m. ET, Ray Beltran vs Ivan Najera, Alex Saucedo vs Claudinei Lacerda. Decent Solo Boxeo Tecate offering, with Beltran back in action following a suspension for a failed drug test, and hoping to salvage what's left of his career. He's a good fighter, but he also turns 34 in July. His window may well have closed. Najera has lost two straight. Saucedo is a solid welterweight prospect.

CBS Sports Network, 11:00 p.m. ET, Arif Magomedov vs Andrew Hernandez, John Vera vs Joey Ruelas. Another pretty typical CBSSN card. Magomedov is a middleweight prospect from Russia facing a guy who has carved out a career as a prospect checker in Andrew Hernandez.

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