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Wednesday, Nov. 11
ESPN+, 2:00 pm ET, Tursynbay Kulakhmet vs Macaulay McGowan. This MTK Global card was supposed to be led by a better main event between Lee McGregor and European bantamweight champ Karim Guerfi, but McGregor tested positive for COVID so that has to be rescheduled. Kulakhmet is a 26-year-old junior middleweight from Kazakhstan who turned pro on Aug. 23, and this will be a 10-round bout with McGowan, who is 25 and originally from Manchester. Any real interest in this passed when Guerfi-McGregor was postponed, in all honesty. We might have live coverage, might not. Depends on my schedule, really. BLH may have live coverage.
Friday, Nov. 13
BT Sport (UK), 2:00 pm ET, Mark Heffron vs Denzel Bentley. This is another Warren card that appears to have not been picked up by ESPN+; they used to get all the Warren cards, but since the return from COVID lockdowns they have been picking and choosing. It’s a shame they didn’t get this one, because Heffron-Bentley is a good fight for the vacant British title at 160. I don’t know the economics of things, but one gets the impression that some of the Warren cards are a little too pricey for what ESPN+ actually gets in viewers. MTK seem to maybe have a better, cheaper deal, and probably more directly through Top Rank for their ESPN+ cards, because a lot of MTK cards fuckin’ nobody is gonna watch are still on ESPN+ all the time. Anyway, I’m going to try to get live coverage for this show, but it will depend on, you know, “availability.” BLH may have live coverage.
BKTV, 8:00 pm ET, BKFC 14: Luis Palomino vs Jim Alers, Dat Nguyen vs Reggie Barnett. BKFC is back! Toe the line, fools! Both of these fights should be bangers. The 154-pound title is on the line in Palomino-Alers, and Nguyen-Barnett is for an interim 135-pound title after champ Johnny Bedford had to pull out of his defense with Nguyen. If you remember Nguyen’s name and you don’t mean the ex-NFL linebacker, it’s because Dat was something of a standout on undercards and sort of B-level shows for a while some years back. He’s now 38, and bare knuckle seems to really, really suit the Vietnamese-American fighter. He’s always had a lot of charisma and been fun to watch. There will be a lot more on the show. I’ll be here, as I truly enjoy BKFC, and I hope some of you join in. BLH will have live coverage.
Saturday, Nov. 14
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Katie Taylor vs Miriam Gutierrez, Terri Harper vs Katharina Thanderz, Rachel Ball vs Jorgelina Guanini. Three women’s titles on the line here. Taylor defends the undisputed lightweight crown, Harper her WBC 130-pound title, and Ball and Guanini are fighting for the vacant WBA 118-pound belt. We’ll also see super middleweights John Docherty and Jack Cullen in a 10-round bout. BLH will have live coverage.
ESPN+, 7:00 pm ET, Crawford-Brook prelims. Joshua Greer Jr will be back against Edwin Rodriguez, top 140-pound prospect Elvis Rodriguez is back again, and more Top Rank prospects like Tyler Howard, Raymond Muratalla, and Duke Ragan. BLH will have live coverage.
FS1, 8:00 pm ET, Amilcar Vidal vs Edward Ortiz, Efetobor Apochi vs Joe Jones, Henry Arredondo vs Eros Correa. Set the DVR or something, sure, this isn’t unusual or bad for an FS1 show, it just is what it is and obviously this is not where anyone’s focus is going to be on Saturday. We won’t have live coverage.
ESPN, 10:00 pm ET, Terence Crawford vs Kell Brook, Joshua Franco vs Andrew Moloney 2. Crawford-Brook has at least a little intrigue going in, if you want to be optimistic, and why not? We just came off of watching a night where the headline fights were Haney-Gamboa and Ortiz-Flores, Crawford-Brook is looking pretty good by comparison. Brook is a former titleholder and if he makes 147 without trouble, it could really be a pretty good fight, even with Crawford still a strong favorite. Brook making weight comfortably is a big question mark, though; he hasn’t done 147 in over three years. Franco-Moloney 2 is a rematch of a very good fight from June, where Franco lifted the secondary WBA 115-pound belt from Moloney. BLH will have live coverage.