Daniel Dubois makes the first defense of his IBF heavyweight title against former unified champion Anthony Joshua in the main event of a boxing card at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday (DAZN PPV).
Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), of London, won the IBF interim title with an impressive eighth-round TKO victory over Filip Hrgovic in June to set up the Joshua fight. Dubois was elevated to full champion weeks later when Oleksandr Usyk decided to fight Tyson Fury in a rematch instead of facing mandatory challenger Dubois.
In August 2023, Dubois, 27, challenged Usyk for the WBC, WBO and WBA titles and thought he won the fight when he landed a body punch in the fifth round that sent Usyk in pain to the canvas, but referee Luis Pabon ruled it a low blow. Usyk dominated the fight after that, scoring a knockdown in Round 8 before finishing Dubois in the ninth.
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), of Watford, England, won the IBF title with a second-round KO over Charles Martin in 2016 and unified the WBA belt a year later with an impressive 11th-round TKO win over Wladimir Klitschko in ESPN’s 2017 fight of the year. In March 2018 he defeated Joseph Parker to add the WBO belt.
In June 2019, Joshua, 34, lost the belts to Andy Ruiz Jr. and regained them in the rematch five months later. After back-to-back decision loses to Usyk in 2021 and 2022, Joshua has won four consecutive fights, including a second-round KO of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou back in March.
On Friday in Glendale, Arizona, Jaime Munguia takes on Erik Bazinyan in a 12-round super middleweight bout (ESPN and ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET).
Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) returns to the ring for the first time since his unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez last May, to face Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs) in a 12-round super middleweight bout.
Mungia, 27, of Tijuana, Mexico, is a former junior middleweight champion that has been moving up in weight looking for bigger challengers. He has notable victories over Gabriel Rosado, Sergiy Derevyanchenko and John Ryder, among others.
Bazinyan, 29, of Yerevan, Armenia but now leaving in Quebec, Canada, is fighting in the U.S. for the first time in five years. He’s beaten tough opposition, including Billi Facundo Godoy, Ronald Ellis and Marcelo Coceres.
Also on Friday, in Dublin, Ireland, junior middleweight prospect Callum Walsh takes on Przemyslaw Runowski in a 10-round bout (UFC Fight Pass, 12:30 p.m. ET).
Walsh (11-0, 9 KOs), of Cork, Ireland, but now leaving in Hollywood, California, has won six of his past seven fight by stoppage, including a second-round TKO of Carlos Ortiz Cervantes in June. The 23-year-old is a 6-foot tall southpaw with power, who’s is fighting in his home country for the first time since turning pro.
Runowski (22-2-2, 6 KOs), of Slupsk, Poland, is coming off a third-round TKO of Benjamin Lamptey back in May, his first and only fight in the U.S. Runowski, 30, is 3-0-1 since losing to Michael McKinson in August 2021.
Where can I watch the Dubois-Joshua fight card?
The main card on DAZN PPV begins at 11 a.m. ET in the U.S. ($19.99). The fight will also be available on Sky Sports, TNT and DAZN in the U.K., starting at 4 p.m. London time. Ring walks for the main event are expected at 5:30 p.m. ET in the U.S., 10:30 p.m. London time.
The full card:
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Title fight: Daniel Dubois vs. Anthony Joshua, 12 rounds, for the vacant IBF heavyweight title
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Liam Smith vs. Josh Kelly, 12 rounds, middleweights
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Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBO interim light heavyweight title
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Title fight: Anthony Cacace vs. Josh Warrington, 12 rounds, for Cacace’s IBF junior lightweight title
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Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Tyler Denny, 12 rounds, middleweights
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Mark Chamberlain vs. Josh Padley, 12 rounds, lightweights
Where can I watch the Munguia-Bazinyan fight card?
The main card on ESPN and ESPN+ on Friday, begins at 10:30 p.m. ET, with undercard bouts at 5:45 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
The main card:
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Jaime Munguia vs. Erik Bazinyan, 12 rounds, super middleweights
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Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Joey Dawejko, 8 rounds, heavyweights
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Emiliano Vargas vs. Larry Fryers, 8 rounds, junior welterweights
The undercard:
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Charly Suarez vs. Jorge Castaneda, 10 rounds, junior lightweights
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Alan Garcia vs. TBA, 8 rounds, lightweights
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DJ Zamora vs. Gerardo Perez, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
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Steven Navarro vs. Oscar Arroyo, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights
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Jorge Garcia vs. Ilias Essaoudi, 10 rounds, junior middleweights
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Art Barrera Jr. vs. Frank Brown, 6 rounds, welterweights
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Sebastian Hernandez vs. Yonfrez Parejo, 8 rounds, junior featherweights
Where can I watch the Walsh-Runowski fight card?
The main card on UFC Fight Pass on Friday begins at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The full card:
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Callum Walsh vs. Przemyslaw Runowski, 10 rounds, junior middleweights
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Ali Akhmedov vs. Pierre Hubert Dibombe, 10 rounds, super middleweights
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Craig O’Brien vs. Edward Donovan, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
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Thomas Carty vs. Jacek Chruslicki, 8 rounds, heavyweights
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Emmet Brennan vs. Kevin Cronin, 6 rounds, light heavyweights
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Shauna O’Keeffe vs. Valgerdur Gudsteinsdottir, 6 rounds, women’s lightweights
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Source: www.espn.com