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WBO heavyweight titleholder Daniel Dubois and former titlist Fabio Wardley will meet in an immediate rematch on Oct. 17 (DAZN PPV) at The O2 in London, Queensberry Promoter Frank Warren announced.

“One of the greatest heavyweight fights we’ve seen in years and this is gonna be the rematch,” Warren told the crowd prior to the Moses Itauma-Filip Hrgovic vacant IBF heavyweight title fight on Saturday at The O2. “You are gonna see a brilliant, brilliant fight.”

The first collision between Dubois and Wardley on May 9 before a sold-out crowd of 18,212 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, was a pulsating, bloody all-action slugfest and the leading fight of the year contender.

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Podcast: Recap of epic Hrgovic rally to TKO Itauma for heavyweight belt

Dan Rafael — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 02:15:34 GMT

Fight Freaks Unite has hit a big milestone: 5 years of paid subscriptions being available, which gives you access to everything. I can’t thank the paid subscribers enough! If you value independent boxing journalism, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription if you haven’t already! This wouldn’t exist without them. Thank you! Go here:

It was a busy Saturday with four cards of note and we recapped them, most notably Filip Hrgovic’s comeback to stop Moses Itauma in a shocker to win the vacant IBF heavyweight title. We also covered a ton of news of the week. Also, check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel for a variety of content.

Here is what’s on the show (in order):

Recap of the Queensberry main event on DAZN PPV in London, where Hrgovic rallied from a knockdown and a beating to score a dramatic ninth-round knockout of absolutely gassed and heavily favored Itauma to win the vacant IBF heavyweight title in tremendous fight.
Recap of the ProBoxTV main event in Los Angeles, where WBC interim super middleweight titlist Lester Martinez stopped then-unbeaten Luka Plantic in the 10th round.
Recap of the MVP card on ESPN+ in Birmingham, England, where Chantelle Cameron outpointed Mikaela Mayer in a very close fight to unify three of the women’s junior middleweight titles and unified women’s lightweight titlist Caroline Dubois cruised to a one-sided decision over Amelia Moore.

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Recap of the Matchroom Boxing/Boxstars DAZN main event in Guadalajara, Mexico, where former featherweight titlist Mauricio Lara knocked out Carlos Ornelas in the second round of a highly entertaining junior lightweight shootout.
Queensberry’s announcement that WBO heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley will meet in their expected rematch of the leading fight of the year candidate on Oct. 17 at The O2 in London, where they faced off in the ring before Itauma-Hrgovic.
Light heavyweight contenders Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson will meet in a rematch for the vacant WBC interim light heavyweight title in a Queensberry main event on Nov. 7 in Manchester, England.
Queensberry also announced that WBA junior lightweight titlist Anthony Cacace will next defend against former WBA featherweight titlist Nick Ball, who will move up in weight, on Dec. 19 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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Itauma-Hrgovic photo: Queensberry Promotions

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Hrgovic rallies, dramatically stops Itauma in ninth round for upset

Dan Rafael — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 06:44:39 GMT

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For eight rounds it appeared as though the expected coronation of young Moses Itauma was a formality.

He had dominated the vacant IBF heavyweight title fight with Filip Hrgovic, scored a second-round knockdown, and was well on his way to becoming, at 21, the second-youngest heavyweight titleholder behind only Mike Tyson, who was 20 when he did it so spectacularly in 1986.

Itauma, with a massive speed advantage, was also bidding to become the third-youngest Brit to win a world title regardless of weight division as he attempted to fulfill the expectations he had been universally afforded as the next great heavyweight.

But Hrgovic, so confident all week leading up to the fight and in sensational condition at his lowest weight (236.2 pounds) since 2019, simply would not be denied.

He survived the knockdown; overcame a cut over his right eye; relied on his big heart and iron chin to take numerous clean blows; and used every ounce of guile and experience he had gained in a 10-year pro career and from his massive amateur pedigree that included a 2016 Olympic bronze medal for Croatia to rally.

In the end, he scored an ultra-dramatic ninth-round knockout against an absolutely exhausted Itauma to win the belt in the main event of the Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday on DAZN PPV at the sold-out O2 in London.

Itauma, who was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and to the hospital as a precaution, was heavily favored but a mere babe in the woods. He had never faced anyone resembling a top opponent, entered the fight with just 31 rounds of pro experience, and had never been past the sixth round.

So, when Hrgovic was still standing as the fight moved into the second half, it was hard to count him out regardless of how far behind he was on the scorecards. He had done what he set out to do — take the green Itauma into deep water and eventually drown him.

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Will curtain rise on the Itauma heavyweight era? Hrgovic has a say

Dan Rafael — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 05:58:45 GMT

Fight Freaks Unite hit a big milestone this week: 5 years of paid subscriptions being available, which gives you access to everything. I can’t thank the paid subscribers enough! For independent boxing journalism, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription if you haven’t already! This wouldn’t exist without them. Thank you! Go here:

The top heavyweight stars of the past decade or so are approaching the end of the line.

Former champions Tyson Fury, 38, and Anthony Joshua, 36, are limping to the finish line. They are supposed to at long last fight each other later this year in perhaps the biggest all-British fight ever, assuming they work out the saga of where it will take place. Regardless, it appears to be the last really big fight of the era even if it is several years past when it should have happened.

Oleksandr Usyk, 39, remains the lineal champion despite having given up all the sanctioning organization belts in the wake of having looked extremely vulnerable in an epic struggle against kickboxer and gargantuan underdog Rico Verhoeven in an 11th-round knockout victory in May.

Usyk says he wants one more fight before retiring. His likely opponent is former longtime titlist Deontay Wilder, 40, who also is long past his best days.

With the famous foursome that has carried the division nearing the end, a new era appears to be on deck with the emergence of 21-year-old rising British star Moses Itauma, the 2024 Fight Freaks Unite prospect of the year, who has so far lived up to the billing and on the doorstep of becoming the focal point of the division.

Itauma’s biggest wins so far have come in his past two fights, a first-round destruction of faded former title challenger Dillian Whyte last August and a highlight-reel fifth-round knockout in March of typically durable fringe contender Jermaine Franklin, who went the distance with Joshua and Whyte in his only other losses.

Now Itauma, in what figures to be by far his stiffest test, will take on battle-tested contender Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF title Usyk relinquished in June in the main event of a Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday ($59.99, DAZN PPV or free with a DAZN Ultimate subscription) at The O2 in London.

Not only would an Itauma victory herald the start of a new heavyweight era, but he would take his place in history — hence the fight being billed as “Witness History.”

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Notebook: Schofield, Bahdi to fight for vacant WBA lightweight title

Dan Rafael — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 07:03:17 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi will square off for the vacant WBA lightweight title in the main event of a Golden Boy card on Oct. 10 (DAZN) at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Golden Boy announced on Thursday, confirming a previous Fight Freaks Unite report.

In the co-feature, WBC/WBA flyweight titleholder Ricardo Sandoval will defend against lineal and WBO/WBA strawweight champion Oscar Collazo, who will move up two weight classes for the fight he has called for.

Schofield and Bahdi will fight for the 135-pound belt stripped from the inactive and legally troubled Gervonta Davis.

“There’s been enough talk outside the ring, and now I’m ready to let my fists do the talking,” Schofield said. “I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this, and I’m just one fight away from accomplishing my dream of becoming a world champion. I know Lucas Bahdi is coming to fight and will bring his best, but I’m prepared for whatever he brings. It’s time to settle everything inside the ring and show the world that I belong at the top of the lightweight division. I’m coming to put on a show and leave Chicago as a world champion.”

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Podcast: Preview of Itauma-Hrgovic; interview with Katie Taylor

Dan Rafael — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 02:37:45 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

It is going to be a busy Saturday of fights headlined by the heavyweight title bout between Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic, and we previewed all of it. There is also my interview with the great Katie Taylor, who goes for the undisputed women’s junior welterweight title in her farewell fight on Sept. 5. We also covered a ton of news of the week. Also, check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel for a variety of content.

Here is what’s on the show (in order):

Preview of Queensberry’s main event on DAZN PPV in London, where Itauma and Hrgovic fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title in a tremendously significant bout as rising star Itauma attempts to become the second-youngest fighter to win a heavyweight title behind only Mike Tyson.
Preview of the ProBoxTV main event in Los Angeles, where WBC interim super middleweight titlist Lester Martinez defends against fellow unbeaten Luka Plantic.
Preview of the MVP card on ESPN+ in Birmingham, England, where Mikaela Mayer and Chantelle Cameron meet to unify three women’s junior middleweight titles and unified women’s lightweight titlist Caroline Dubois defends versus Amelia Moore.
My interview with Taylor as she prepares for what she says will be the last fight of her legendary career next week before an expected sellout crowd of about 80,000 at Croke Park in Dublin, where the Irish national hero will defend her three junior welterweight titles and box for the vacant WBC belt against Flora Pili in an attempt to become a three-time undisputed champion.

I am in my 27th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

The deal for lineal/three-belt light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and WBO interim titlist Callum Smith getting done for their mandatory fight on Dec. 12.
Announcement that Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi will fight for the vacant WBA lightweight title with WBC/WBA flyweight titleholder Ricardo Sandoval defending against lineal and WBO/WBA strawweight champion Oscar Collazo in the co-feature of a Golden Boy card on DAZN on Oct. 10 in Chicago.
Announcement of PBC’s Oct. 17 tripleheader on DAZN and TNT in Las Vegas, where WBC junior middleweight titlist Sebastian Fundora will face mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj; WBA featherweight titlist Brandon Figueroa will face Tomoki Kameda; and Jermall Charlo will face Koen Mazoudier in a rescheduled super middleweight bout.
The word that the fight between WBO/IBF junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete and WBC titleholder O’Shaquie Foster will be sanctioned by the WBO, which agreed to give Navarrete a second consecutive exception to his mandatory, allowing the bout to be a three-belt unification fight.

Unified women’s junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner’s decision to move up in weight to challenge IBF titlist Elif Nur Turhan in the headliner of the MVPW-07 card on ESPN on Nov. 8.

Listen to the episode! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!

We bring you the preview each Friday and the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.

Itauma-Hrgovic photo: Queensberry Promotions

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Deal reached for Bivol’s mandatory defense against interim titlist Smith

Dan Rafael — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:55:06 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Lineal/three-belt light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and WBO interim titlist Callum Smith made a deal for their mandatory fight and the WBO purse bid scheduled for Thursday was canceled.

“Please be advised that the WBO World Championship Committee has received written confirmation from RCC Boxing, on behalf of WBO light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, and Matchroom Boxing, on behalf of mandatory challenger Callum Smith, confirming that the parties have reached terms, including an agreed date and venue for the WBO light heavyweight mandatory championship contest,” WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced on Thursday.

“The WBO respectfully defers to the parties to formally announce the date, venue, and event details in due course.”

RCC Promotions will promote the bout and is planning it for Dec. 12 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, sources with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.

I am in my 27th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

It will be Bivol’s second defense of his second title reign since outpointing Artur Beterbiev to win the undisputed title and avenge his only loss in February 2025, although he has since vacated the WBC belt.

Bivol (25-1, 12 KOs), 35, was then off for 15 months due to back surgery. He returned on May 30 and honored his IBF mandatory defense, scoring a first-round knockdown in a shutout decision of Michael Eifert in a fight that also took place in Ekaterinburg.

Bivol had left elbow surgery to clean up loose particles on July 23 in his home country of Russia but is rehabbing and expected to be ready to face Smith. If Bivol beats Smith he would like a third fight with Beterbiev.

Smith (31-2, 22 KOs), 36, of England, a former WBA super middleweight titleholder, suffered a rib injury that caused an April 18 fight with David Morrell to be canceled. He’s been idle since outpointing countryman Joshua Buatsi to win the interim belt in February 2025.

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Bivol photo: RCC Promotions

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Notebook: Martinez faces Plantic with eye on Canelo-Mbilli winner

Dan Rafael — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:45:17 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

After Lester Martinez fought to a split draw in a hellacious battle against then-WBC interim super middleweight titlist Christian Mbilli on the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford card last September, he hoped for a rematch.

Alas, he did not get one.

Instead, after Crawford outpointed Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight title he was stripped of the WBC belt in a spat over unpaid sanctioning fees and soon after vacated the rest of the belts and retired. The WBC elevated Mbilli to the full titleholder and Martinez next faced Immanuwel Aleem on March 21 and won a lopsided decision to claim what had become the vacant interim title.

And while Mbilli is moving on to make his first defense of the full title against Alvarez on Oct. 31 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Martinez is moving on with his career also but hoping he will get a chance to face the Mbilli-Alvarez winner.

In the meantime, Martinez will make his first interim defense against unbeaten Luka Plantic in the ProBoxTV headliner on Saturday (ProBoxTV, 7:30 p.m. ET) at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angles. The card marks the start of ProBoxTV’s launch of a monthly $5 subscription fee for what it promises will be high-quality cards (available to stream on its and YouTube channel).

“There was a lot of pressure last time out,” Martinez said. “There was a lot of pressure winning the belt and performing. There were other things, but we learned from them. There’s always room for improvement. Aleem showed good resistance. (He was) a very good, strong opponent, but this time around, we’re gonna do things much better, trust me.”

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The updated daily fight schedule

Dan Rafael — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:43:58 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Note: If you’re a subscriber and click the headline in the schedule email you receive each Tuesday it will bring you to the Fight Freaks Unite schedule page. This page is updated daily until the new email goes out the following week.

September 1: Nashville, Tenn.

Jessie Fletcher III vs. Nicolas Ariel Blanco, 8 rounds, junior welterweights

Julius Daniel vs. Russell Harris, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Kamari Burnside vs. Mike Fowler, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Vincent Miranda vs. DeJon Farrell-Francis, 6 rounds, cruiserweights

Stephanie Calderon vs. Sarah Click, 6 rounds, female featherweights

Decarlo Patton vs. Jaylen Green, 6 rounds, welterweights

Montavious Ware vs. Abdullah Rudolph, 6 rounds, welterweights

Muhammad Musharaf vs. Pablo Ernesto Oliveto, 6 rounds, welterweights

Printice Canada vs. Terree’on Hammond, 4 rounds, junior lightweights

Eric Christie vs. Taran Ward, 4 rounds, junior lightweights

September 2: Yokohama, Japan

Takeshi Ishii vs. Wilfredo Mendez, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA “regular” strawweight title

Daiya Kira vs. Carlos Canizalez, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA junior flyweight title

Yuga Fujiki vs. Jufel Salina, 8 rounds, lightweights

Katsuki Mori vs. Yoshi Sugiura, 10 rounds, strawweights

Junya Shimada vs. Sathaporn Saart, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Ren Ohashi vs. Keigo Kitamoto, 8 rounds, featherweights

September 3: Montreal (DAZN)

Lenar Perez vs. Thabiso Mchunu, 10 rounds, cruiserweights

Moreno Fendero vs. Stephane Fondjo, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Jhon Orobio vs. Antonio Moran, 10 rounds, junior welterweights

Wyatt Sanford vs. Costin Ion, 8 rounds, lightweights

Keven Beausejour vs. Leonel Silva Salas, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Nickenson Denis vs. Jaheem Estwick, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Victor Tremblay vs. Kesny Joseph, 4 rounds, featherweights

September 4: Newark, N.J. (DAZN, TNT, truTV)

Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Damian Knyba, 12 rounds, heavyweights

Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Austin “Ammo” Williams, 10 rounds, middleweights

Zaquin Moses vs. Angel Antonio Contreras, 8 rounds, lightweights

Alan Chaves vs. Eridson Garcia, 10 rounds, lightweights

Dennis Thompson vs. Jose Casillas, 8 rounds, junior featherweights

Kahshad Elliott vs. Jean Pierre Valencia, 6 rounds, middleweights

Brooke Mullen vs. Bria Miller, 6 rounds, female welterweights

Jordan Simpson vs. Michael McDonald, 4 rounds, middleweights

September 4: Kirkkonummi, Finland

Liam Smith vs. Ilari Kujala, 10 rounds, middleweights

Keni Aliu vs. Andreas Skarvold Iversen, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Anton Embulaev vs. Jeremy Cullors, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Rami El Jahiri vs. Jamshid Nazari, 8 rounds, junior middleweights

Teresa Makinen vs. Agnieszka Zaluska, 6 rounds, female bantamweights

Sam Svensson vs. Pridon Kakitashvili, 4 rounds, super middleweights

September 5: Dublin, Ireland (DAZN)

Katie Taylor vs. Flora Pili, 10 rounds, for Taylor’s WBO/IBF/WBA and vacant WBC women’s junior welterweight title

Dave Allen vs. Thomas Carty, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Paddy Donovan vs. Tyrone McKenna, 10 rounds, welterweights

Molly McCann vs. Sylwia Doligala, 8 rounds, female junior featherweights

Taylor Bevan vs. Emmet Brennan, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Joe McGrail vs. Matthew Boreland, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

Paul Ryan vs. Paddy Gallagher, 8 rounds, middleweights

Adam Olaniyan vs. TBA, 4 rounds, heavyweights

Bobbi Flood vs. Jack Swallow, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

September 5: Ludwigshafen, Germany (DAZN)

Slawa Spomer vs. Faisal Abubakari, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

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September 11: Oceanside, Calif. (ProBoxTV)

Giovani Santillan vs. Abass Baraou, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Daniel Lugo, 10 rounds, featherweights

Dominic Valle vs. Francois Scarboro Jr., 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Mykquan Williams vs. TBA, 8 or 10 rounds, welterweights

Hebert Conceicao Sousa vs. TBA, 10 rounds, super middleweights

September 11: Westlake, Ohio

Thomas Mattice vs. Jeffrey Torres, 8 rounds, junior welterweights

Roney Hines vs. Jeyson Minda, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Michael Moore vs. Elijah Sweat, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Adel Mason vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Ian Arzu vs. Kristopher Francis Guerroro, 6 rounds, featherweights

Charles Pugh vs. Blair Phillips, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Lennell Walton vs. Devin Young, 4 rounds, welterweights

dMarshaun Heard vs. TBA, 4 rounds, welterweights

September 11: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (CombatVisionTV.com)

Feudri Franco vs. Junior Desir, 8 rounds, welterweights

Rafael Abreu vs. Fernando Montes de Oca, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Pryce Sparrow vs. Oliver Flores, 8 rounds, welterweights

Eliesel Rodriguez Ledesma vs. Jorge Santana, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Starlyn Guzman vs. Jankelly Rodriguez Paulino, 6 rounds, cruiserweights

Angel Rodriguez vs. Nayer Gonzalez Jimenez, 6 rounds, featherweights

Vivian Bianelis Rodriguez vs. TBA, 8 rounds, female featherweights

Miguel Angel Arias vs. Jose Manuel Perez, 8 rounds, junior middleweights

Jose De Los Santos vs. Eliezer Aquino, 8 rounds, junior featherweights

Yan Carlos Perez vs. Juan Alcantara Sanchez, 8 rounds, junior featherweights

Carlos Johnson vs. Kermin Jimenez, 6 rounds, welterweights

Keuryn Alcantara vs. Wallington Orobio, 6 rounds, junior featherweights

Yankiel Rivera Figueroa vs. Francisco Vargas Martinez, 6 rounds, flyweights

Michael Chaise Nelson vs. Misael Vasquez, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Bryan Santos Mendez vs. Juan Carlos Constanza, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

Luis Rosario Villafane vs. Jose Rodriguez Lora, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

September 12: Las Vegas (Paramount+)

Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn, 12 rounds, for Garcia’s WBC welterweight title

Jai Opetaia vs. Noel Mikaelian, 12 rounds, for Opetaia’s lineal cruiserweight title

Mark Magsayo vs. Andres Cortes, 10 rounds, lightweights

Jose Ramirez vs. Alexis Rocha, 10 rounds, welterweights

Da’Mazion Vanhouter vs. Raphael Akpejiori, 8 rounds, heavyweights

September 12: Tagbilaran City, Philippines

Sivenathi Nontshinga vs. Regie Suganob, rematch, 12 rounds, IBF junior flyweight eliminator

Reymart Tagacanao vs. Chunlin Kuang, 10 rounds, junior bantamweights

Leonard Pores III vs. Andika D’Golden Boy, 10 rounds, flyweights

Datu Adam vs. Oky Akbar, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

September 12: Preston, England (TillerTV)

Robert Toman vs. Mohammed Dilshad, 10 rounds, middleweights

Giovanni Rijkaard vs. Denzel Onyango Okoth, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Chris Hurlston vs. Michael Osborne, 4 rounds, heavyweights

Luke Foster vs. Tom Ramsden, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Lee Gormley vs. Michael Mooney, 4 rounds, junior welterweights

Oisin Dunlop vs. Jordan Grannum, 4 rounds, middleweights

Josh Paladino vs. TBA, 4 rounds, welterweights

September 12: Liverpool, England

Brian Phillips vs. Alex Murphy, 10 rounds, lightweights

Peter McGrail vs. TBA, 8 rounds, featherweights

Jamie Devine vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Ethan Brown vs. Yomer Medrano, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Sam Norris vs. TBA, 6 rounds, lightweights

Bryan Collins vs. Mykhailo Sovtus, 6 rounds, junior middleweights

Callum Thompson vs. TBA, 6 rounds, lightweights

Frankie Stringer vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Olivia Holmes vs. TBA, 4 rounds, female junior lightweights

Cain Alexander vs. Cristian Dobrica, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

James Buckley vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super middleweights

Brendon Atherton vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights

September 18: TBA (ProBoxTV)

ProBox

September 18: Carbonia, Italy

Cristian Zara vs. Salvatore Contino, 12 rounds, for Zara’s European bantamweight title

September 19: San Diego (DAZN)

Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs. Nestor Bravo, 12 rounds, for Cruz’s WBC interim junior welterweight title

Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Meiirim Nursultanov, 12 rounds, for Ramos’s WBC interim middleweight title

September 19: Manchester, England (DAZN)

John Hedges vs. Pat Brown, for vacant British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles

Shabaz Masoud vs. Ckari Mansilla, 10 rounds, featherweights

Kieron Conway vs. Mark Jeffers, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Joe Howarth vs. Josh Holmes, 10 rounds, lightweights

Alfie Middlemiss vs. Gerard Hughes, 8 rounds, featherweights

Tom Rafferty vs. Liam Walsh, 8 rounds, middleweights

Garan Croft vs. Mohammed Graich, 8 rounds, middleweights

September 19: Puebla, Mexico

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Jeison Troncoso, 10 rounds, cruiserweights

Omar Chavez vs. TBA, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Alexis Molina vs. Alexandro Santiago, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

September 19: Green Bay, Wisc.

Jim Torney vs. Matthew McKinney, 8 rounds, heavyweights

September 24: Hammond, Ind. (Combat Sports Now)

Hasim Rahman vs. Phillip Triantafillo, 6 rounds, heavyweights

September 25: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Josue Francisco Aguero vs. Brian Rodriguez, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Junior Andres Narvaes vs. Jonathan Cisneros, 10 rounds, bantamweights

September 26: Birmingham, England (DAZN)

Liam Davies vs. Nathaniel Collins, 12 rounds, for Davies’ European featherweight title

Gerome Warburton vs. Nathan Heaney, rematch, 10 rounds, middleweights

Luke McCormack vs. Kay Prospere, 10 rounds, junior welterweights

Nelson Birchall vs. Gully Power, 10 rounds, featherweights

September 26: London (Paramount+)

Johnny Fisher vs. Michael Pirotton, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Craig Richards vs. Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Lee Cutler vs. Louis Greene, 10 rounds, middleweights

Alex MacMillan vs. TBA, 6 rounds, welterweights

Leon Hughes vs. TBA, 6 rounds, light heavyweights

Kayla Allen vs. TBA, 6 rounds, female lightweights

Fred Pullen vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights

September 26: Shizuoka, Japan

Thanongsak Simsri vs. Mark Vicelles, 12 rounds, for Simsri’s IBF junior flyweight title

Shunpei Ohata vs. Pete Apolinar, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

September 26: TBA, Puerto Rico: (Wynn Records Network)

Henry Lebron vs.Derlyn Hernandez, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

September 26: Las Vegas

Jose Zepeda vs. Alberto Machado, 10 rounds, welterweights

Yokasta Valle vs. TBA, 10 rounds, female junior flyweights

Noamy Valle vs. TBA, 10 rounds, female strawweights

Anthony Garnica vs. TBA, 10 rounds, bantamweights

Nathan Rodriguez vs. TBA, 10 rounds, lightweights

September 26: Philadelphia

Kyrone Davis vs. Jeison Rosario, 10 rounds, middleweights

September 26: TBA, Spain

Jon Fernandez vs. Charlemagne Metonyekpon, 12 rounds, for Fernandez’s European junior welterweight title

Jokin Garcia vs. Salvador Jimenez, 12 rounds, for vacant European lightweight title

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September 27: Tokyo

Takuma Inoue vs. Tenshin Nasukawa, 12 rounds, for Inoue’s WBC bantamweight title

Tomoya Tsuboi vs. Ricardo Malajika, 12 rounds, for vacant WC junior bantamweight title

Ryosuke Nishida vs. Sam Goodman, 12 rounds, for vacant IBF interim junior featherweight title

October 3: Birmingham, England (DAZN)

Ben Whittaker vs. Conor Wallace, 12 rounds, IBF light heavyweight eliminator

Odel Kamara vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

Bilal Fawaz vs. Eithan James, 12 rounds, for Fawaz’s British junior middleweight title

Sean Bruce vs. Hamza Uddin, 12 rounds, for Bruce’s British and vacant Commonwealth flyweight titles

Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. Sonny Hardy, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Klint Baptiste vs. Aaron Bowen, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Adam Maca vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

October 3: TBA, Spain

Anas Messaudi vs. Aaron Alhambra, rematch, 12 rounds, for vacant European welterweight title

Jose Luis Navarro vs. Damian Biacho, 12 rounds, for vacant European super middleweight title

October 8: Quebec City, Canada (DAZN)

Osleys Iglesias vs. Oliver Zaren, 12 rounds, for Iglesias’ IBF super middleweight title

Wilkens Mathieu vs. Vladimir Shishkin, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Leïla Beaudoin vs. TBA, 10 rounds, for Beaudoin’s WBA women’s interim junior lightweight title

Dzmitry Asanau vs. Luis Santana, 10 rounds, lightweights

Imam Khataev vs. Padraig McCrory, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Thomas Chabot vs. Jose Antonio Sanchez, 10 rounds, featherweights

Erik Israyelyan vs. Jesse Frank Sallows, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

Jacob Blais vs. Yoan Trottier, 4 rounds, welterweights

Daylen Pepin vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights

October 9: TBA (ProBoxTV)

Angelo Leo vs. TBA, 12 rounds, for Leo’s IBF featherweight title

October 9: Calangianus, Italy

Francesco De Rosa vs. Ionut Baluta, 12 rounds, for vacant European junior featherweight title

October 10: Chicago (DAZN)

Floyd Schofield vs. Lucas Bahdi, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA lightweight title

Ricardo Sandoval vs. Oscar Collazo, 12 rounds, for Sandoval’s WBC/WBA flyweight title

October 10: Ekaterinburg, Russia

Zaur Abdullaev vs. Khariton Agrba, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA interim junior welterweight title

October 10: Huntington, N.Y.

Rockin’ Fights 55

October 10: Aschersleben, Germany

Julian Vogel vs. Bakari Diallo, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Artur Reis vs. TBA, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Michel Dobler vs. TBA, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Arminius Rolle vs. TBA, 8 rounds, welterweights

Max Suske vs. TBA, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Paul Schmidt vs. TBA, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Christoph Fricke vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super middleweights

October 15: Val-d’Osie, France

Milan Prat vs. Brandon Thysse, 12 rounds, junior middleweights

October 16: TBA (ProBoxTV)

ProBox

October 17: London (DAZN PPV)

Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley, rematch, 12 rounds, for Dubois’ WBO heavyweight title

October 17: Las Vegas (DAZN, TNT, truTV)

Sebastian Fundora vs. Ermal Hadribeaj, 12 rounds, for Fundora’s WBC junior middleweight title

Brandon Figueroa vs. Tomoki Kameda, 12 rounds, for Figueroa’s WBA featherweight title

Jermall Charlo vs. Koen Mazoudier, 10 rounds, super middleweights

October 24: San Antonio (DAZN)

Emanuel Navarrete vs. O’Shaquie Foster, 12 rounds, WBO/IBF/WBC junior lightweight unification

October 24: Sheffield (DAZN)

Dalton Smith vs. Alberto Puello, 12 rounds, for Smith’s WBC junior welterweight title

October 25: London (DAZN)

Shauna Browne vs. Jade Burden, 10 rounds, female lightweights

Tiago Osorio Muxanga vs. Muzamiru Kakande, 12 rounds, junior middleweights

Babatunde Duyile vs. Deevorn Miller, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Jermaine Dhliwayo vs. Jacob Robinson, 8 rounds, featherweights

Dylan Oke vs. James Gardiner, 8 rounds, welterweights

Jawad Ilyas vs. Jake Morgan, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Levente Gemes vs. Grant Dennis, 6 rounds, middleweights

Taiwo Mosuro vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super middleweights

October 31: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (DAZN PPV)

Christian Mbilli vs. Canelo Alvarez, 12 rounds, for Mbilli’s WBC super middleweight title

November 7: Manchester, England (DAZN)

Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson, rematch, 12 rounds, for vacant WBC light heavyweight title

November 8: Arlington, Texas (ESPN, ESPN+)

Elif Nur Turhan vs. Alycia Baumgardner, 10 rounds, for Turhan’s IBF women’s lightweight title

Tiara Brown vs. Ellie Scotney, 10 rounds, for Brown’s WBC women’s featherweight title

Skye Nicolson vs. Miyo Yoshida, 10 rounds, for Nicolson’s WBC women’s junior featherweight title

Ramla Ali vs. Mikiah Kreps, 10 rounds, for vacant WBO/IBF women’s junior featherweight titles

November 21: TBA, Germany

Labinot Xhoxhaj vs. Eduardo Giustini, 12 rounds, for Xhoxhaj’s European heavyweight title

December 12: Ekatirinburg, Russia

Dmitry Bivol vs. Callum Smith, 12 rounds, for Bivol’s lineal/WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight title

December 19: Belfast, Northern Ireland (DAZN)

Anthony Cacace vs. Nick Ball, 12 rounds, for Cacace’s WBA junior lightweight title

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Podcast: Recap of Teofimo’s big win vs. Rolly and the PBC PPV undercard

Dan Rafael — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 04:04:31 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

We recapped the two most notable shows of the weekend, including the PBC PPV card on DAZN headlined by Teofimo Lopez’s big win over Rolly Romero on Saturday night. We also covered a bunch of news items of the week as well. Also, check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel for a variety of content.

Here is what’s on the show (in order):

Recap of Lopez’s majority decision over his good friend Romero to win the WBA welterweight title as he claimed a belt in a third division. We went over the wild scoring, the fight and their futures. We also recapped the PPV undercard on which middleweight up-and-comer Yoenli Hernandez outpointed Francisco Daniel Veron in a good fight; Gary Antonio Russell handily outpointed Victor Santillan to win the WBA interim junior featherweight title in a terrible fight; and junior welterweight prospect Carlos Utria narrowly outpointed Israel Mercado in a terrific battle.

Recap of women’s unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano’s escape with a questionable decision against Lucrecia Manzur in an entertaining fight that headlined a Friday night MVP card, the first to stream on TikTok.

I am in my 27th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

A discussion on the latest in the never-ending saga of where, and if, Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury will happen.
An update on the prospect of a mega fight between undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue and bantamweight titlist Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in early 2027 and what Rodriguez may do first at the end of this year.
The plans for former unified junior middleweight titlist Xander Zayas to move up to middleweight.
The shocking murder on Friday of former bantamweight and junior bantamweight titlist Zolani Tete at age 38 after he was ambushed by gunmen as he arrived at his home in South Africa.
The WBO scheduling a purse bid for the fight between unified light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and interim titlist Callum Smith.

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Teofimo Lopez outboxes Rolly Romero, wins WBA 147 title

Dan Rafael — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 08:07:45 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Teofimo Lopez, coming off a one-sided defeat, rebounded in a big way on Saturday night.

“The Takeover” won a majority decision against Rolando Romero, his close friend, to win the WBA welterweight title and become a three-division titleholder in the main event of a PBC pay-per-view card on DAZN at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Other than a rough fifth round in which he suffered a cut, was rocked and nearly knocked down, Lopez seemed to otherwise dominate.

The scorecards showed a different story, however, with judge Tim Cheatham scoring it 116-112 and Max DeLuca 115-113 while Glenn Feldman had it 114-114. Fight Freaks Unite had it 119-109 for Lopez, the former lineal/WBO junior welterweight champion and former lineal/unified lightweight champion.

There was little action but Lopez was effective with his jab and threw and landed many more punches than Romero, who rarely put combinations together and appeared to sleepwalk through long stretches of the fight.

It was a big turnaround from Lopez’s last fight on Jan. 31 in New York, where Shakur Stevenson routed him in a non-competitive fight to take his junior welterweight crown.

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Serrano escapes with decision, notches 50th victory vs. Manzur

Dan Rafael — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 06:30:14 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

The heavily favored Amanda Serrano came into her lineal and unified WBO/WBA women’s featherweight title defense against Lucrecia Manzur looking to break the women’s knockout record, something she spoke about regularly leading up to the bout.

But Serrano not only did not come close to stopping Manzur for what would have been her 33rd knockout to break a tie she is in with Hall of Famer Christy Martin, she was fortunate escape with a victory.

In the end, Serrano won a questionable majority decision as she recorded her 50th career victory in the main event of the Most Valuable Promotions card — the first boxing event to stream live on TikTok — on Friday night at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.

While one judge scored the fight 114-114 the two others had it 116-112 for Serrano, who reiterated that she would fight once more and then retire.

Manzur appeared to dominate the first half of the fight, which was the first women’s bout scheduled for 12 two-minute rounds instead of the standard 10 rounds for female title fights.

Manzur, who idolizes Serrano, led on all three scorecards after the seventh round. However, all three judges surprisingly gave Serrano the final five rounds of the fight to give her the controversial decision.

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Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez: From friends to foes for one night

Dan Rafael — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:51:39 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Rolando “Rolly” Romero, who holds the WBA welterweight title, and former junior welterweight and lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez are friends.

They are more than just boxing acquaintances as many friendly fighters are. They are good friends from their years of both living in Las Vegas and having sparred many rounds with each other.

Romero refers to Lopez as “my little brother” and as Lopez put it, “We know each other enough to know what triggers us. We know secrets possibly that people don’t know.”

But boxing is also a business and millions of dollars and legacies are on the line. So while Romero and Lopez have enjoyed a mostly friendly and complimentary build-up — though, as expected, tensions have flared at least a little — they will put their bond on hold when they square off in the headliner of a PBC pay-per-view card on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, DAZN PPV, Prime Video PPV, $79.99) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“You ever punch someone you loved in the face? If they give me a hundred million dollars I’ll punch my dad in the face right now,” Romero said this week. “The friendship doesn’t matter to me at all when the bell rings.”

Lopez agreed.

“Saturday night friendship goes out the window. This is about the dream of being the best in the sport. We’re here to put on a show.”

But the friendship is hard to ignore given how deep it has been.

Romero credits Lopez’s unsolicited gift of $5,000 to help him when was in dire financial straits in 2019 — three years before Romero began making significant money — as a life-saver. Romero hasn’t forgotten what Lopez did for him even though he was still months away from winning his first world title and also not making big money yet.

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Podcast: Preview of PBC PPV topped by Rolly Romero-Teofimo Lopez

Dan Rafael — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 05:05:28 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

We previewed the two biggest cards of the weekend, Friday night’s MVP show headlined by Amanda Serrano seeking an all-time record and Saturday night’s PBC pay-per-view on DAZN headlined by Rolando Romero’s welterweight title defense against Teofimo Lopez. We also covered several notable news items of the week and looked back on the anniversary of a memorable Mike Tyson event. Also, check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel for a variety of content.

Here is what’s on the show (in order):

Preview of Serrano’s women’s unified featherweight title defense against Lucrecia Manzur on the first card on TikTok as she seeks to break the record for most knockouts by a female boxer.
Preview of Romero’s first defense against good friend Lopez, who is moving up to welterweight and looking for title in a third division, and the undercard: middleweight up-and-comer Yoenli Hernandez against Francisco Daniel Veron; WBA interim junior featherweight titlist Victor Santillan defending against Gary Antonio Russell; and rising junior welterweight prospect Carlos Utria against Israel Mercado.

I am in my 27th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

Deal agreed to for Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi to meet for the vacant WBA lightweight title.
Wladimir Klitschko’s statement on the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, his former fiancée and the mother of his 11-year-old daughter.
A deal now in place for the Emanuel Navarrete-O’Shaquie Foster junior lightweight unification fight on Oct. 24 and the venue.
Results from a Lelands auction that saw the sale of several big pieces of memorabilia from the personal collection of the late, great Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
Memories on the 31st anniversary of when Mike Tyson, after four years in prison, returned with fanfare and won a farcical mismatch with Peter McNeely by first-round disqualification in a mega event.

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Rolly-Teofimo photo: Cris Esqueda/PBC

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Notebook: More firsts for trailblazer Serrano in defense vs. Manzur

Dan Rafael — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:41:37 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Amanda Serrano, the lineal and unified WBO/WBA women’s featherweight champion, has long been a trailblazer in women’s boxing.

The Puerto Rican legend has won world titles in a women’s record seven divisions; her first epic battle with fellow future Hall of Famer Katie Taylor in 2022 was the first women’s bout to headline at iconic Madison Square Garden in New York and was a sellout; and she was one of the first women to strongly advocate for women to fight three-minute rounds like men instead of the female standard two minutes.

So it should be no surprise that her next bout, a defense against Lucrecia Manzur on Friday night at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, will have two more firsts attached to it.

It will headline the first boxing event to stream on social media behemoth TikTok. The Most Valuable Promotions card begins at 6 p.m. ET with the main card commencing at 9 p.m. and it will stream for free on MVP’s TikTok, Jake Paul’s TikTok and the MVP and Paul YouTube channels.
The bout will be the first women’s world title fight scheduled for 12 two-minute rounds instead of the female standard 10 rounds for title fights.

“We are fighting on TikTok Live,” Serrano said at Wednesday’s news conference. “The first. MVP is doing big things for the sport of women’s boxing, and for women in general. I am so excited to be a part of this. This is truly one of the highest moments in my life and my career.”

I am in my 27th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to the rest of this post and all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

Wladimir Klitschko mourns passing of actress Hayden Panettiere at 36

Dan Rafael — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 22:47:07 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

The sudden death of actress Hayden Panettiere at age 36 at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday came as a shock to her millions of fans. Panettiere’s death has also touched the boxing world.

She was the former fiancée of Hall of Fame former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who has custody of their 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, and maintained a friendly relationship with her despite their split.

Klitschko, who lives in Ukraine, addressed her passing in a statement.

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“Our family is going through a time of profound shock and grief,” Klitschko said. “The announcement of Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply. She left this world far too soon. Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter, Kaya.

“She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives.

“To our daughter Kaya, I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person she was.”

Panettiere, who was a staple at ringside in the later stages of Klitschko’s career before his 2017 retirement, struggled for years with alcohol and opioid addiction and also went through a well-publicized bout of postpartum depression. She was also open about the toll of being a child star took on her in a memoir released this past May.

“I extend my deepest condolences to Hayden’s parents, her friends, and her fans, who are also grieving today,” Klitschko said. “Young and talented people like Hayden should not leave this world so soon. I ask everyone to please respect our family’s feelings and privacy during this incredibly difficult time. For now, this is all I wish to say.

“Thank you to everyone who is supporting my family and expressing their sincere condolences. Rest easy, Hayden. May you find eternal peace.”

Panettiere was known for her roles in the hit television shows “Nashville” and “Heroes” and roles in movies such as “Remember the Titans,” “Raising Helen,” “Ice Princess” and “Scream 4.”

Emergency medical services responded to a 911 call at the residence and found Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Aug. 21, unresponsive and in cardiac arrest and performed resuscitation efforts that failed.

The cause of her death has not yet been determined and is pending an autopsy.

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Photos: Getty and Klitschko social media

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The updated daily fight schedule

Dan Rafael — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:09:42 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

August 26: Broadbeach, Australia (DAZN)

Nikita Tszyu vs. Ben Mahoney, 12 rounds, IBF junior middleweight eliminator

Callum Peters vs. Blake Wells, 10 rounds, middleweights

Kirra Ruston vs. Saundre Simmons, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Koen Mazoudier vs. Sam Beck, 10 rounds, middleweights

Max Reeves vs. Oliver Firth, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Luke Modini vs. Vita Pomale, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Vegas Larfield vs. Jubert Buhat, 6 rounds, featherweights

Brandon Grach vs. Ike Pluto, 6 rounds, heavyweights

Louise Creaven vs. Thanchanok Phanan, 6 rounds, female welterweights

Luke Williams vs. Prem Rungtiwa, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

Callum Young vs. Octavio Soares, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

August 28: Orlando, Fla. (DAZN)

Corey Marksman vs. Christian Barreto, 10 rounds, lightweights

Alex Bray vs. Antraveous Ingram, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Haven Brady Jr. vs. Bryan Jimenez, 8 rounds, lightweights

Kaipo Gallegos vs. Desmond Lyons, 8 rounds, lightweights

Carlos DeLeon vs. Maxwel Montes, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Diego Ortiz Nieves vs. Joshua Brian Reyes, 4 rounds, featherweights

Brandon Ortiz vs. Wade Haverchuk, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Virgilio De Los Santos vs. Dmitri Fontana, 4 rounds, middleweights

August 28: Reno, Nev.

Kenny Davis Jr. vs. Matt Conway, 10 rounds, lightweights

Miguel Elizondo vs. Smathy Silva Gonzalez, 4 rounds, junior lightweights

Joshua Nelson vs. Darion Hall, 4 rounds, lightweights

Harley Sampson vs. Jamal Johnson, 4 rounds, junior welterweights

Christian Avalos vs. Rigoberto Rivera, 4 rounds, lightweights

Aidan Garcia vs. Jesse Medina, 4 rounds, junior lightweights

August 29: London (DAZN PPV)

Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic, 12 rounds, for vacant IBF heavyweight title

Sam Noakes vs. Denys Berinchyk, 10 rounds, lightweights

Constantin Ursu vs. Ben Vaughan, 12 rounds, for Ursu’s British and Commonwealth welterweight titles

Nelson Hysa vs. Thomas Narmo, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Guido Vianello vs. Moses Jolly, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Abnor Jashari vs. Numan Hussain, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

Aloys Youmbi vs. Sherif Musa, 6 rounds, cruiserweights

Frankie Wood vs. Callum Lee, 6 rounds, featherweights

Tony Curtis vs. Imad Naseeb, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights

Hassan Ishaq vs. Enzo Bahiano Munoz, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Zayn Ahmed vs. Liam Fitzmaurice, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Sam King vs. Jack Swallow, 6 rounds, middleweights

August 29: Los Angeles (ProBoxTV)

Lester Martinez vs. Luka Plantic, 12 rounds, for Martinez’s WBC interim super middleweight title

Najee Lopez vs. Juan Carrillo, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Ramon Cardenas vs. Leonardo Carrillo, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

Weljon Mindoro vs. Carlos Ocampo, 10 rounds, middleweights

Luis Torres Valenzuela vs. Jordan White, 10 rounds, lightweights

Emilio Garcia vs. Luis Guerrero Garcia, 6 rounds, welterweights

Malachi Ross vs. Semajay Thomasr, 6 rounds, junior middleweights

Hugo Amador Mendez vs. Jonathan Morales Mendez, 6 rounds, lightweights

Ramon Ordonez vs. Rafael Ibarra Perez, 4 rounds, featherweights

Jose Mejia Garibo vs. Aram Menindez Pedraza, 4 rounds, featherweights

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August 29: Birmingham, England (ESPN+)

Mikaela Mayer vs. Chantelle Cameron, 10 rounds, WBC/WBA/WBO women’s junior middleweight unification

Caroline Dubois vs. Amelia Moore, 10 rounds, for Dubois’ WBC/WBO women’s lightweight title

Terri Harper vs. Miranda Reyes, 10 rounds, female junior welterweights

Reina Tellez vs. Jessica Barry, 10 rounds, female featherweights

Scott Melvin vs. Dylan Cheema, rematch, 8 rounds, lightweights

Tysie Gallagher vs. Brandi Robinson, 8 rounds, female junior featherweights

Neeraj Goyat vs. Yessin Koulali, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Gemma Richardson vs. Kirstie Bavington, 6 rounds, female junior welterweights

Hamza Uddin vs. Jemsi Kibazange, 6 rounds, flyweights

Brandon Bethell vs. Jorge Luis Huerta Balleza, 6 rounds, lightweights

August 29: Guadalajara, Mexico (DAZN)

Mauricio Lara vs. Carlos Ornelas, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Jorge Mata vs. Ronaldo Ruelas, 10 rounds, featherweights

Brandon Mosqueda vs. Edwin Palomares, 10 rounds, featherweights

Joshua Franco vs. Santiago Barajas, 8 rounds, junior featherweights

Hector Carbajal vs. Aldo Aran Gaona, 4 rounds, featherweights

Roberto Carbajal vs. Lenin Barron Acosta, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

August 29: Hermosillo, Mexico

Miguel Berchelt vs. Juan Manuel Cordoba, 10 rounds, lightweights

Carlos Alberto Garcia Castillo vs. Jose Vega Ochoa,10 rounds, junior middleweights

Fernanda Denisse Monge Amaro vs. Naylea Gil Sanabia, 8 rounds, female junior bantamweights

Axel Lopez Gonzalez vs. Jahir Reyna Juarez, 8 rounds, junior bantamweights

Aneth Obeso vs. Itzel Enriquez, 8 rounds, featherweights

Jose Luis Castillo Romero vs. Adrian Ramses Ruiz Acevedo, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Giovanni Martinez Morales vs. Gustavo Romero Garduno, 6 rounds, strawweights

August 29: Everett, Mass. (BXNG.tv)

Francis Hogan vs. Rocardo Villalba, 8 rounds, middleweights

Jonathan de Pina vs. Anthony Mora, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Chase Demoor vs. Kevin Nagle, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Jennifer Perella vs. Chantal Sumrall, 6 rounds, female bantamweights

Leonardo Ladeira vs. Everet Desilets, 6 rounds, cruiserweights

Barrett Hanlon vs. Ratavious Thrasher, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Jaydell Pazmino vs. Keenan Raymond, 6 rounds, middleweights

Melanie Costa vs. Brittany Dukes, 4 rounds, female bantamweights

Jefferson Christopher Almeida vs. Tymar Miles, 4 rounds, middleweights

Anthony Andreozzi vs. Ryan Clark, 6 rounds, super middleweights

August 29: Detroit (Wynnrecordsnetwork.com)

Brandon Moore vs. Bryant Jennings, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Jonny Mansour vs. Richard Segura, 8 rounds, lightweights

Julius Ballo vs. Anthony Cruz Herrera, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

Sardius Simmons vs. Detrailous Webster, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Husam Al Mashhadi vs. Seantorious Martin, 8 rounds, welterweights

Jasmine Hampton vs. Gloria Munguilla, 8 rounds, female flyweights

Richard Fernandez Jr. vs. Joshua Moreno, 6 rounds, bantamweights

Lance Smith vs. Marlin Sims, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Sai Maldonado vs. Dmytro Kruhalskyi, 4 rounds, lightweights

August 29: Naucalpan, Mexico

David Picasso vs. Maicol Rincon, 12 rounds, featherweights

Jaqueline Calvo vs. Maria Soledad Vargas, 10 rounds, female junior bantamweights

August 29: San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Camila Zamorano vs. Perla Perez, 10 rounds, for Zamorano’s WBC women’s atomweight title

August 29: Philadelphia (watchbashtv.com)

Muhammad Robinson vs. Estivan Falcao, 8 rounds, welterweights

Luis Gjolena vs. Roberto Simms, 6 rounds, heavyweights

Colby Madisonvs. Lemir Riley, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Julian Gonzalez vs. Trakwon Pettis, 8 rounds, lightweights

Quadir Albright vs. Jaylan Phillips, 8 rounds, welterweights

Adrien Boler vs. Nick Steven Torres-Otero, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

James Bernadin vs. Dashaun Johns, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Devon Young vs. Vercell Webster, 6 rounds, heavyweights

Elijah Akana vs. Giovanni Payne, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Emmanuel Chance vs. TBA, 4 rounds, bantamweights

September 1: Nashville, Tenn.

Jessie Fletcher III vs. Alex Martin, 8 rounds, junior welterweights

Maidel Sando vs. Roger Guerrero, 8 rounds, light heavyweights

Craig Parker vs. TBA, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Julius Daniel vs. Russell Harris, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Chistian Biggs vs. Guadalupe Jimenez, 8 rounds, junior welterweights

Kamari Burnside vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Vincent Miranda vs. TBA, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Stephanie Calderon vs. Sarah Click, 6 rounds, female featherweights

Decarlo Patton vs. Jaylen Green, 6 rounds, welterweights

Montavious Ware vs. Abdullah Rudolph, 6 rounds, welterweights

Esteban Ali Rodriguez Garza vs. Francisco Gomez Sanchez, 6 rounds, flyweights

Muhammad Musharaf vs. Pablo Ernesto Oliveto, 6 rounds, welterweights

Eric Christie vs. Taran Ward, 4 rounds, junior lightweights

September 2: Yokohama, Japan

Takeshi Ishii vs. Wilfredo Mendez, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA “regular” strawweight title

Daiya Kira vs. Carlos Canizalez, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA junior flyweight title

Yuga Fujiki vs. Jufel Salina, 8 rounds, lightweights

Katsuki Mori vs. Yoshi Sugiura, 10 rounds, strawweights

Junya Shimada vs. Sathaporn Saart, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Ren Ohashi vs. Keigo Kitamoto, 8 rounds, featherweights

September 3: Montreal (DAZN)

Lenar Perez vs. Thabiso Mchunu, 10 rounds, cruiserweights

Moreno Fendero vs. Stephane Fondjo, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Jhon Orobio vs. Antonio Moran, 10 rounds, junior welterweights

Wyatt Sanford vs. Costin Ion, 8 rounds, lightweights

Keven Beausejour vs. Leonel Silva Salas, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Nickenson Denis vs. Jaheem Estwick, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Victor Tremblay vs. Kesny Joseph, 4 rounds, featherweights

September 4: Newark, N.J. (DAZN, TNT, truTV)

Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Damian Knyba, 12 rounds, heavyweights

Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Austin “Ammo” Williams, 10 rounds, middleweights

Zaquin Moses vs. Angel Antonio Contreras, 8 rounds, lightweights

Alan Chaves vs. Eridson Garcia, 10 rounds, lightweights

Dennis Thompson vs. Jose Casillas, 8 rounds, junior featherweights

Kahshad Elliott vs. Jean Pierre Valencia, 6 rounds, middleweights

Brooke Mullen vs. Bria Miller, 6 rounds, female welterweights

Jordan Simpson vs. Michael McDonald, 4 rounds, middleweights

September 4: Kirkkonummi, Finland

Liam Smith vs. Ilari Kujala, 10 rounds, middleweights

Keni Aliu vs. Andreas Skarvold Iversen, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Anton Embulaev vs. Jeremy Cullors, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Rami El Jahiri vs. Jamshid Nazari, 8 rounds, junior middleweights

Teresa Makinen vs. Agnieszka Zaluska, 6 rounds, female bantamweights

Sam Svensson vs. Pridon Kakitashvili, 4 rounds, super middleweights

September 5: Dublin, Ireland (DAZN)

Katie Taylor vs. Flora Pili, 10 rounds, for Taylor’s WBO/IBF/WBA and vacant WBC women’s junior welterweight title

Dave Allen vs. Thomas Carty, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Paddy Donovan vs. Tyrone McKenna, 10 rounds, welterweights

Molly McCann vs. Sylwia Doligala, 8 rounds, female junior featherweights

Taylor Bevan vs. Emmet Brennan, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Joe McGrail vs. Matthew Boreland, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

Paul Ryan vs. Paddy Gallagher, 8 rounds, middleweights

Adam Olaniyan vs. TBA, 4 rounds, heavyweights

Bobbi Flood vs. Jack Swallow, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

September 5: Ludwigshafen, Germany (DAZN)

Slawa Spomer vs. Faisal Abubakari, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

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September 11: Oceanside, Calif. (ProBoxTV)

Giovani Santillan vs. Abass Baraou, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Luis Alberto Lopez vs. Daniel Lugo, 10 rounds, featherweights

Dominic Valle vs. Francois Scarboro Jr., 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Mykquan Williams vs. TBA, 8 or 10 rounds, welterweights

Hebert Conceicao Sousa vs. TBA, 10 rounds, super middleweights

September 11: Westlake, Ohio

Thomas Mattice vs. Jeffrey Torres, 8 rounds, junior welterweights

Roney Hines vs. Jeyson Minda, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Michael Moore vs. Elijah Sweat, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Adel Mason vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Ian Arzu vs. Kristopher Francis Guerroro, 6 rounds, featherweights

Charles Pugh vs. Blair Phillips, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Lennell Walton vs. Devin Young, 4 rounds, welterweights

Marshaun Heard vs. TBA, 4 rounds, welterweights

September 12: Las Vegas (Paramount+)

Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn, 12 rounds, for Garcia’s WBC welterweight title

Jai Opetaia vs. Noel Mikaelian, 12 rounds, for Opetaia’s lineal cruiserweight title

Mark Magsayo vs. Andres Cortes, 10 rounds, lightweights

Da’Mazion Vanhouter vs. Raphael Akpejiori, 8 rounds, heavyweights

September 12: Tagbilaran City, Philippines

Sivenathi Nontshinga vs. Regie Suganob, rematch, 12 rounds, IBF junior flyweight eliminator

Reymart Tagacanao vs. Chunlin Kuang, 10 rounds, junior bantamweights

Leonard Pores III vs. Andika D’Golden Boy, 10 rounds, flyweights

Datu Adam vs. Oky Akbar, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

September 12: Preston, England (TillerTV)

Robert Toman vs. Mohammed Dilshad, 10 rounds, middleweights

Giovanni Rijkaard vs. Denzel Onyango Okoth, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Chris Hurlston vs. Michael Osborne, 4 rounds, heavyweights

Luke Foster vs. Tom Ramsden, 4 rounds, light heavyweights

Lee Gormley vs. Michael Mooney, 4 rounds, junior welterweights

Oisin Dunlop vs. Jordan Grannum, 4 rounds, middleweights

Josh Paladino vs. TBA, 4 rounds, welterweights

September 12: Liverpool, England

Brian Phillips vs. Alex Murphy, 10 rounds, lightweights

Peter McGrail vs. TBA, 8 rounds, featherweights

Jamie Devine vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Ethan Brown vs. Yomer Medrano, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Sam Norris vs. TBA, 6 rounds, lightweights

Bryan Collins vs. Mykhailo Sovtus, 6 rounds, junior middleweights

Callum Thompson vs. TBA, 6 rounds, lightweights

Frankie Stringer vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights

Olivia Holmes vs. TBA, 4 rounds, female junior lightweights

Cain Alexander vs. Cristian Dobrica, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

James Buckley vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super middleweights

Brendon Atherton vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights

September 18: TBA (ProBoxTV)

ProBox

September 18: Carbonia, Italy

Cristian Zara vs. Salvatore Contino, 12 rounds, for Zara’s European bantamweight title

September 19: San Diego (DAZN)

Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs. Nestor Bravo, 12 rounds, for Cruz’s WBC interim junior welterweight title

Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Meiirim Nursultanov, 12 rounds, for Ramos’s WBC interim middleweight title

September 19: Manchester, England (DAZN)

John Hedges vs. Pat Brown, for vacant British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles

Shabaz Masoud vs. Ckari Mansilla, 10 rounds, featherweights

Kieron Conway vs. Mark Jeffers, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Joe Howarth vs. Josh Holmes, 10 rounds, lightweights

Alfie Middlemiss vs. Gerard Hughes, 8 rounds, featherweights

Tom Rafferty vs. Liam Walsh, 8 rounds, middleweights

Garan Croft vs. Mohammed Graich, 8 rounds, middleweights

September 19: Puebla, Mexico

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Jeison Troncoso, 10 rounds, cruiserweights

Omar Chavez vs. TBA, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Alexis Molina vs. Alexandro Santiago, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

September 19: Green Bay, Wisc.

Jim Torney vs. Matthew McKinney, 8 rounds, heavyweights

September 24: Hammond, Ind. (Combat Sports Now)

Hasim Rahman vs. Phillip Triantafillo, 6 rounds, heavyweights

September 26: Birmingham, England (DAZN)

Liam Davies vs. Nathaniel Collins, 12 rounds, for Davies’ European featherweight title

Gerome Warburton vs. Nathan Heaney, rematch, 10 rounds, middleweights

Luke McCormack vs. Kay Prospere, 10 rounds, junior welterweights

Nelson Birchall vs. Gully Power, 10 rounds, featherweights

September 26: London (Paramount+)

Johnny Fisher vs. Michael Pirotton, 10 rounds, heavyweights

Craig Richards vs. Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Lee Cutler vs. Louis Greene, 10 rounds, middleweights

Alex MacMillan vs. TBA, 6 rounds, welterweights

Leon Hughes vs. TBA, 6 rounds, light heavyweights

Kayla Allen vs. TBA, 6 rounds, female lightweights

Fred Pullen vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights

September 26: Shizuoka, Japan

Thanongsak Simsri vs. Mark Vicelles, 12 rounds, for Simsri’s IBF junior flyweight title

Shunpei Ohata vs. Pete Apolinar, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

September 26: Las Vegas

Jose Zepeda vs. Alberto Machado, 10 rounds, welterweights

Yokasta Valle vs. TBA, 10 rounds, female junior flyweights

Noamy Valle vs. TBA, 10 rounds, female strawweights

Anthony Garnica vs. TBA, 10 rounds, bantamweights

Nathan Rodriguez vs. TBA, 10 rounds, lightweights

September 26: Philadelphia

Kyrone Davis vs. Jeison Rosario, 10 rounds, middleweights

September 26: TBA, Spain

Jon Fernandez vs. Charlemagne Metonyekpon, 12 rounds, for Fernandez’s European junior welterweight title

Jokin Garcia vs. Salvador Jimenez, 12 rounds, for vacant European lightweight title

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September 27: Tokyo

Takuma Inoue vs. Tenshin Nasukawa, 12 rounds, for Inoue’s WBC bantamweight title

Tomoya Tsuboi vs. Ricardo Malajika, 12 rounds, for vacant WC junior bantamweight title

Ryosuke Nishida vs. Sam Goodman, 12 rounds, for vacant IBF interim junior featherweight title

October 3: Birmingham, England (DAZN)

Ben Whittaker vs. Conor Wallace, 12 rounds, IBF light heavyweight eliminator

Odel Kamara vs. TBA, 4 or 6 rounds, junior middleweights

Bilal Fawaz vs. Eithan James, 12 rounds, for Fawaz’s British junior middleweight title

Sean Bruce vs. Hamza Uddin, 12 rounds, for Bruce’s British and vacant Commonwealth flyweight titles

Ibraheem Sulaimaan vs. Sonny Hardy, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Klint Baptiste vs. Aaron Bowen, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Adam Maca vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

October 3: TBA, Spain

Anas Messaudi vs. Aaron Alhambra, rematch, 12 rounds, for vacant European welterweight title

Jose Luis Navarro vs. Damian Biacho, 12 rounds, for vacant European super middleweight title

October 8: Quebec City, Canada (DAZN)

Osleys Iglesias vs. Oliver Zaren, 12 rounds, for Iglesias’ IBF super middleweight title

Wilkens Mathieu vs. Vladimir Shishkin, 10 rounds, super middleweights

Leïla Beaudoin vs. TBA, 10 rounds, for Beaudoin’s WBA women’s interim junior lightweight title

Dzmitry Asanau vs. Luis Santana, 10 rounds, lightweights

Imam Khataev vs. Padraig McCrory, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Thomas Chabot vs. Jose Antonio Sanchez, 10 rounds, featherweights

Erik Israyelyan vs. Jesse Frank Sallows, 6 rounds, junior lightweights

Jacob Blais vs. Yoan Trottier, 4 rounds, welterweights

Daylen Pepin vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights

October 9: TBA (ProBoxTV)

Angelo Leo vs. TBA, 12 rounds, for Leo’s IBF featherweight title

October 9: Calangianus, Italy

Francesco De Rosa vs. Ionut Baluta, 12 rounds, for vacant European junior featherweight title

October 10: Ekaterinburg, Russia

Zaur Abdullaev vs. Khariton Agrba, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA interim junior welterweight title

October 10: Huntington, N.Y.

Rockin’ Fights 55

October 10: Aschersleben, Germany

Julian Vogel vs. Bakari Diallo, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

Artur Reis vs. TBA, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Michel Dobler vs. TBA, 8 rounds, heavyweights

Arminius Rolle vs. TBA, 8 rounds, welterweights

Max Suske vs. TBA, 8 rounds, super middleweights

Paul Schmidt vs. TBA, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Christoph Fricke vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super middleweights

October 17: TBA (DAZN)

Sebastian Fundora vs. Ermal Hadribeaj, 12 rounds, for Fundora’s WBC junior middleweight title

October 16: TBA (ProBoxTV)

ProBox

October 24: San Antonio (DAZN)

Emanuel Navarrete vs. O’Shaquie Foster, 12 rounds, WBO/IBF/WBC junior lightweight unification

October 24: Sheffield (DAZN)

Dalton Smith vs. Alberto Puello, 12 rounds, for Smith’s WBC junior welterweight title

October 25: London (DAZN)

Shauna Browne vs. Jade Burden, 10 rounds, female lightweights

Tiago Osorio Muxanga vs. Muzamiru Kakande, 12 rounds, junior middleweights

Babatunde Duyile vs. Deevorn Miller, 8 rounds, cruiserweights

Jermaine Dhliwayo vs. Jacob Robinson, 8 rounds, featherweights

Dylan Oke vs. James Gardiner, 8 rounds, welterweights

Jawad Ilyas vs. Jake Morgan, 8 rounds, junior lightweights

Levente Gemes vs. Grant Dennis, 6 rounds, middleweights

Taiwo Mosuro vs. TBA, 4 rounds, super middleweights

October 31: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (DAZN PPV)

Christian Mbilli vs. Canelo Alvarez, 12 rounds, for Mbilli’s WBC super middleweight title

November 8: Arlington, Texas (ESPN, ESPN+)

Elif Nur Turhan vs. Alycia Baumgardner, 10 rounds, for Turhan’s IBF women’s lightweight title

Tiara Brown vs. Ellie Scotney, 10 rounds, for Brown’s WBC women’s featherweight title

Skye Nicolson vs. Miyo Yoshida, 10 rounds, for Nicolson’s WBC women’s junior featherweight title

Ramla Ali vs. Mikiah Kreps, 10 rounds, for vacant WBO/IBF women’s junior featherweight titles

November 21: TBA, Germany

Labinot Xhoxhaj vs. Eduardo Giustini, 12 rounds, for Xhoxhaj’s European heavyweight title

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Boxing's world titleholders

Dan Rafael — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:27:56 GMT

Ryan Garcia holds the WBC welterweight world title

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Since the last update in early June there have been almost two dozen changes in the status of various titles with belts changing hands in the ring, being relinquished or stripped, interim titles being won or those men being elevated. And the WBA even eliminated the bridgerweight division. Oleksandr Usyk vacated the WBC, IBF and WBA heavyweight titles; Agit Kabayel was elevated to WBC heavyweight titlist from interim status; Jaron “Boots” Ennis unified the WBO and WBA junior middleweight titles; Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vacated the WBC, WBO and WBA junior bantamweight titles and won the WBA bantamweight crown; William Zepeda won the vacant WBC lightweight title; Kenshiro Teraji won the vacant WBO junior bantamweight crown; and many more.

Here is your complete guide to every male titleholder among the four major sanctioning bodies.

As of Aug. 18, 2026

Heavyweight (Unlimited)

WBC: Agit Kabayel

WBO: Daniel Dubois

IBF: Vacant

WBA: Murat Gassiev

Bridgerweight (224 lbs., WBC only)

WBC: Ryad Merhy

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Podcast: Recap of Shields' easy TKO of Scott to reclaim 160 belts

Dan Rafael — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 03:34:56 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

There was just one notable card over the weekend, the Salita Promotions show on DAZN on Saturday night, and we recapped it. And, as always, we covered several notable news items of the week. Also, check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel for a variety of content.

Here is what’s on the show (in order):

Recap of the of the Salita Promotions card on DAZN on Saturday night in Atlanta, where Claressa Shields, the No. 1 female pound-for-pound fighter, returned to the middleweight division and dominated and demolished Kaye Scott in a sixth-round knockout to reclaim her old WBC and WBA titles. But we also had a major problem with the absurd late start time of the main event.
Recap of the co-feature between bad-blood middleweight rivals Troy Isley and Joseph Hicks, which Isley won in a boring fight, and the craziness of junior welterweight up-and-comer Ernesto “Tito” Mercado, who was supposed to fight in the original co-feature, having his fight canceled after two opponents badly missed weight.
The WBO ordering super middleweight titlist Hamzah Sheeraz to next face former unified middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly, who is still suspended until December for a failed drug test.

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The latest on the saga of where the Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury fight will take place, including Saturday night comments from Dana White.
IBF super middleweight titlist Osleys Iglesias’ first defense being set against fellow unbeaten Oliver Zaren on Oct. 8 (DAZN) in Quebec City, Canada.
Terms being agreed to for the Emanuel Navarrete-O’Shaquie Foster junior lightweight unification fight but with the question of whether it will be a two- or three-belt unification fight — depending on what the WBO rules.
Zuffa Boxing’s announcement that former WBC featherweight titlist Mark Magsayo and unbeaten Andres Cortes will meet in a 10-round lightweight bout that will open the Ryan Garcia-Conor Benn main card on Sept. 12.

Listen to the episode! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!

We bring you the preview each Friday and the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.

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Dominant Shields stops Scott in return to 160, reclaims pair of titles

Dan Rafael — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 07:37:05 GMT

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

When Claressa Shields left the middleweight division in 2023 she did so as the women’s undisputed champion.

Shields, the pound-for-pound No. 1 female boxer in the world, then moved up in weight and ultimately became the undisputed heavyweight champion, albeit fighting at 175 pounds.

But with little competition she elected to return to middleweight, where she laid a beating on Kaye Scott en route to a sixth-round knockout to take her WBC and WBA 160-pound titles in the action-packed main event of a Salita Promotions card on DAZN on Saturday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, where some 16,000 turned out to cheer Shields on.

Shields, a three-division undisputed champion and five-division champion overall, collected the 20th and 21st world title belts of her career and made it look easy as she joined a pair of male Hall of Famers in Roy Jones Jr. and Bob Fitzsimmons as heavyweight titleholders to move down in weight and win another world title.

“I came out here and showed why I’m pound-for-pound No. 1,” Shields said.

Before the fight was a long camp, which she needed to cut a dramatic amount of weight to get down to 160 pounds.

I am in my 27th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to the rest of this post and all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.