We are in the dog days of summer, and the boxing calendar is heating up. While a lot has happened in boxing through the first seven months of the year, it is worth taking a step back and considering what is in store for boxing fans over the next thirty days.
This weekend will feature an intriguing card from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The main event will see a heavyweight clash, with Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KO) taking on veteran Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KO). It is a nice step-up fight for Ituama, the 2024 Prospect of the Year, according to Ring Magazine. Itauma, a twenty-year-old southpaw, will take on Whyte. At the age of 37, Whyte has been in the professional boxing ranks since Itauma was six years old and was a world champion kickboxer before that. There have been some rumblings about Itauma eventually facing Oleksandr Usyk. That seems premature, but if Ituama puts on a spectacular performance against Whyte, who knows.
On the same card, Nick Ball (22-0-1, 13 KO) will defend his WBA featherweight championship against Sam Goodman (20-0, 8 KO). Plus, Raymond Ford (17-1-1, 8 KO) and Abraham Nova (24-3-1, 17 KO) will face off in the super featherweight division. Nova is a replacement opponent for IBO super featherweight champion Anthony Cacace (24-1, 9 KO), who withdrew due to a back injury suffered while training.
The second weekend of September is shaping up to be a gigantic boxing weekend.
The premier fight of the fall will take place fittingly on a Saturday night in Las Vegas, September 13th. Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, will host Canelo Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KO) defending his undisputed super middleweight championship against Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) in a battle between two of the best boxers of this era, broadcast worldwide on Netflix.
It is an immense fight, but one that could prove the adage that there are weight classes for a reason. Since July 2023, when Terence Crawford became the undisputed champion at 147 pounds by battering Errol Spence, Crawford has fought once. That fight was at 154 pounds against Israel Madrimov last August; Crawford won, but did not look like his usual world-beating self. At the weigh-in, Crawford tipped the scales at 153.4 pounds for that fight.
Crawford will now move up two weight classes to take on Canelo Alvarez, who first fought in this weight class in December 2018 against Rocky Fielding. The bout against Crawford will be Canelo’s twelfth fight for Canelo at super middleweight, while also dropping back to middleweight once (against Daniel Jacobs) and fighting twice at light heavyweight (against Sergey Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol, the last time Canelo lost) in that time for good measure. Crawford is talented enough to compete with Canelo, but talent is far from the only variable here.
Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KO) attempted this same feat two years ago, in September 2023. Charlo was the undisputed junior middleweight champion and dared to be great by moving up two weight classes to take on Canelo, the undisputed champion at a weight class fourteen pounds larger than his own. Canelo dissected Charlo, who lost a unanimous decision by scores of 119–108 and 118–109 twice. Jermell Charlo has not fought since.
The only man to fight both Canelo and Crawford, Amir Khan, said this about the monumental matchup, “There are weights for a reason in boxing. I have huge respect for Crawford showing the balls and fighting a beast like Canelo. Maybe Crawford is seeing something in Canelo that others are not seeing, and that he is past his sell-by date. And maybe Crawford is the guy to catch him at the right time. Let’s see, I think it’s a brilliant fight.”
As speculated, the undercard fights supporting the Canelo vs. Crawford clash are not brilliant. Callum Walsh (12-0, 4 KOs) vs. Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs), Christian Mbilli (29-0, 24 KOs) vs. Lester Martinez (19-0, 16 KOs) and Mohammed Alakel (4-0, 0 KOs) and John Ornelas (5-2-1, 2 KOs) are the trio of contests announced. Mbilli vs. Martinez has the potential to be a slugfest, with two undefeated super middleweights who have a knockout percentage of over 80% facing off. Given the other two bouts, this event unfortunately does not match the depth of quality fights that boxing fans have seen on some other major fight cards in recent years. If Canelo vs. Crawford turns out to be a classic fight, none of that will matter.
The action that weekend is not limited to the Western hemisphere. Earlier that day, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lewis Crocker (21-0, 11 KO) and Paddy Donovan (14-1, 11 KO) will be facing off at Windsor Park in a rematch that will also be the first all-Irish world title fight in history, contested for the vacant IBF welterweight championship. Their first fight in March ended when Donovan got disqualified after the eighth round for punching Crocker after the bell. Though Donovan led on all three scorecards at the time of the disqualification, he lost a point in the sixth round and another in the eighth round for low punches before the DQ. Crocker hopes to prove he had an off night in March, while Donovan looks to earn the victory rightfully and the welterweight championship.
Sunday, September 14th, will feature the top pound-for-pound boxer in the eyes of many, Naoya Inoue (30-0, 27 KO), defending his undisputed junior lightweight championship, against Murodjon Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KO), a former unified champion in the 122-pound division.
While Inoue, 32, has won eleven consecutive fights by knockout, “The Monster” has been knocked down in two of his last four fights, against Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas. If Inoue defeats Akhmadaliev, Inoue has another fight tentatively lined up for December 27th with WBC mandatory challenger Alan Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KO), which would be his fourth fight in the calendar year.
But the Uzbekistani native, also known as MJ, should not be overlooked by Inoue or fans. He has won his last three fights since a split-decision loss to Marion Tapales. Akhmadaliev is extraordinarily talented and has been in enough big fights to not cower in front of The Monster- at least in theory. Many challengers have thought they would be the one to take down Inoue, but it has yet to happen.
On the undercard, Yoshiki Takei (11-0, 9 KO) will defend his WBO bantamweight championship against Christian Medina (25-4, 18 KO). Takei, the former world champion kickboxer, will attempt to defend his championship for the third consecutive time. Medina, born in the same city as Canelo Alvarez, Guadalajara, is the #1 contender and has lost just once in the last six years.
The weather is scalding, the NFL regular season is close, and the transfer window still has three weeks left. So settle in, enjoy some great boxing action, and it will be autumn before we know it.
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