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Tuesday, July 21
ESPN, 8:00 pm ET, Oscar Valdez vs Jayson Velez. This is a packed card in terms of quantity, and a lot of reasons to tune in. Along with a decent Valdez-Velez main event at 130, we’ve got 168-pound prospect Edgar Berlanga, former 122-pound titlist Isaac Dogboe, heavyweight prospect Guido Vianello, ESPY winner Kim Clavel, and more. Valdez is fighting to maintain a slot in line to face WBC titleholder Miguel Berchelt sooner than later. This is also the only Top Rank show this week, as they’re not running on Thursday (Major League Baseball is taking over ESPN that night) and are also taking the final week of July off before gearing up for August cards. BLH will have live coverage.
Friday, July 24
DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Samuel Vargas, Hector Tanajara Jr vs Mercito Gesta. Get the F in Da Zone, baybee!! Golden Boy and DAZN are back for the first time in months, so reactivate those subscriptions, my dudes! Ortiz is a top 147 prospect and emerging contender, of course, facing another veteran in Vargas, after which Ortiz hopes to start facing higher-level foes. Tanajara-Gesta is a solid 135-pound matchup; Tanajara’s a good but not great prospect, and Gesta is a proven commodity who hasn’t reached early expectations, but can handle himself. Seniesa Estrada and Shane Mosley Jr will also be in action. BLH will have live coverage.
Saturday, July 25
ESPN+, 2:00 pm ET, Joe Joyce vs Michael Wallisch. After ESPN+ didn’t carry Queensberry’s July 10 return show, the good news is the Frank Warren cards appear to be back on the schedule, starting with heavyweight Joe Joyce’s return, meant to be a tune-up for an October date with Daniel Dubois, who will fight in late August himself. This card also will feature Chris Bourke vs Ramez Mahmood at 122, Louie Lynn vs Monty Ogilvie at 126, middleweight Denzel Bentley, and welterweight Ekow Essuman. All those guys are prospects to one degree or another. BLH will have live coverage.
Sunday, July 26
ThompsonBoxing.com PPV, 7:30 pm ET, Michael Dutchover vs Jorge Marron Jr. Please don’t ask, “How is this a PPV?!?! LOL!” because it literally can’t exist otherwise and fighters who aren’t with major TV promoters need to fight, too. Thompson is testing the waters to see if there’s enough interest to do this regularly, maybe, and keep his boxers active as much as he can. This is $6.50 to watch and can be ordered here, and having watched streams through Thompson’s site many times in the past, quality of video should be OK, they’ve done it a lot. Dutchover is a 22-year-old lightweight coming off of an upset loss on ShoBox against Thomas Mattice in Sept. 2019, and wants to bounce back. He’s got talent and power, but Mattice found him out due to his inexperience. Marron isn’t a total schlub opponent on paper. We’ll also see Arnold Dinong vs Brandon Cruz at 126 pounds, and another 22-year-old lightweight, Ruben Torres, in action, too. BLH will have live coverage.