There is a bit of vacuum in the boxing schedule in the wake of Terence Crawford-Saul Alvarez on September 13, but the rather meager upcoming lineup got a couple of solid additions to it last week.
On November 8 from the Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth, WBC interim junior middleweight titlist, Vergil Ortiz, takes on contender Erickson Lubin. Now, while some prefer that Ortiz faces Sebastian Fundora (who is the WBC 154-pound champion) in Lubin he is facing an athletic and sleek southpaw who has the tools to give Ortiz a real go. The once highly touted Lubin has had a good career but when he's gotten to the top level at junior middleweight he's fallen short versus the likes of Jermell Charlo and Fundora.
Regardless, this is a quality match-up pairing the Ring Magazine number one ranked junior middleweight (Ortiz) against number five (Lubin).
Golden Boy
Also on this card is a lightweight contest between the streaking Floyd 'Kid Austin' Schofield and veteran Joseph Diaz. Schofield is coming of a stunning first round stoppage of the normally difficult to find, Tevin Farmer, in one round. It was an eye-opening statement made by Schofield who made a miraculous recovery from his illness in Saudi Arabia that prevented him from facing Shakur Stevenson. (And yes, that was sarcasm, there).
As for Diaz, he battled Regis Prograis over 10 entertaining rounds in Chicago, dropping a close decision. While he didn't come out victorious, he showed that he still had something left in the tank. Now the question is, just how much left does he have moving forward?
Pounding out this card is heavyweight prospect, Joshua Edwards. And yes, this is that rare card on DAZN that is not pay-per-view, which in itself is a minor victory for boxing fans.
- Then on December 27 'Ring V: the Night of the Sumarai' will be taking place at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will serve as a prelude (we hope) for a showdown between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani to square off in 2026 in what many believe will be the most anticipated Japanese showdown in history.
Ring
Inoue, who recently subdued Murodjon Akhmadaliev last week, will be paired with 'the Artist' David Picasso in defense of his undisputed junior featherweight title. Meanwhile, Nakatani, who defeated Ryosuke Nishida to become a unified champion at bantamweight, has vacated those titles as he moves up to 122 in preparation for his showdown with 'the Monster.'
REMATCH
- The WBC has ordered an immediate rematch between Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez who battled to a hard-fought draw on the Crawford-Alvarez undercard at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It's certainly warranted given the close and competitive nature of this bout. This contest was for Mbilli's 'interim' WBC super middleweight title.
But it has to be asked, at what point will the WBC mandate that the winner of this rematch face Terence Crawford? Too many times these 'interim' titles become a bit too permanent.
FANTASY SPRINGS
Speaking of DAZN, they had a card that was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Coachella, California that featured an undefeated and unified champion.
Gabriela Fundora chopped up the game Alexa Kubicki over seven rounds to retain her Ring Magazine and undisputed flyweight titles. Like her brother, Sebastian, she holds a distinct advantage in height and reach over all her foes. She might actually be a better puncher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVjEg1vSQhM
In the main event, Oscar Collazo successfully defended his WBA and WBO minimumweight titles by scoring a seventh round stoppage of Jayson Vayson. In what was a pretty solid bout, Vayson's corner surprisingly threw in the towel at 1:41 of the seventh.
Golden Boy Promotions
“I had a good stoppage win, I was putting on the pressure,” said Collazo. “The seventh round was when we were just going to throw and throw, and we got the stoppage. He did surprise me; he caught me with a good body shot that I was able to recover from. I loved it though; he was a good fighter. Shoutout to Golden Boy, Miguel Cotto Promotions and DAZN. I believe that in 2026 I will be the next undisputed champion for Puerto Rico.”
Collazo is now considered one of the better boxers in the world. You'll see his name on a few pound-for-pounds lists. Now, will Golden Boy ever feature him in Puerto Rico?
