So how many of you out there are enjoying all this NFL preseason football? Shadeur Sanders sure looked good in his debut for the Cleveland Browns, didn't he? I'm told that his jersey might be retired by the franchise next week. OK, so I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm talking about football (exhibition games, no less) instead of the usual boxing. After all, this column is dedicated to that.
Well, the truth of the matter is the August schedule is bleak.
There was that solid card put on by Golden Boy on the first Saturday of this month, and then you have the upcoming card that takes place from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that features rising heavyweight, Moses Itauma, and the WBA featherweight title bout between Nick Ball and Sam Goodman.
Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions
Outside of that, while other shows are taking place that are being streamed on various platforms, not much of note is happening. This is nothing unusual, even during the heyday of HBO and Showtime, boxing would go on a bit of a late summer hiatus. What thinned out this month's schedule was that the rematch between Gervonta Davis and Lamont Roach was scratched from the lineup for whatever reason. (https://snac.com/blogs/k-9-kims-corner/to-bolivian)
This summer schedule featured a pretty decent amount of cards. Here's what took place on the major platforms:
June 7- Keyshawn Davis card (ESPN)
June 14- Richardson Hitchins vs George Kambosos (DAZN)
June 28- Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (DAZN PPV)
July 11- Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano (Netflix)
July 12 - Edgar Berlanga vs Hamzah Sheeraz (DAZN PPV)
July 19th - Manny Pacquiao- Mario Barrios (PRIME PPV)
Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois (DAZN PPV)
Jesse Rodriguez vs Phumelela Cafu (DAZN)
July 26- Xander Zayas vs Jesus Garcia (ESPN)
August 2- Kenneth Sims vs Oscar Duarte (DAZN)
Matchroom Boxing
Now, I only included cards that took place in the States, and/or would be considered 'major' by today's standards (like Usyk-Dubois which took place in the UK). It really doesn't seem any different than past summers in terms of the sheer numbers of televised cards featuring recognizable names. It would've been ideal for at least one of the cards on July 19 to have taken place on another weekend. But what is notable is that out of those dates listed two are from ESPN, which just recently ended its relationship with Top Rank, and is currently not in the boxing business. Also, it's hard not to notice how many of those shows were of the pay-per-view variety.
It's not clear when PBC will stage their next card, although there have been rumblings of a co-promotion with Golden Boy with a Vergil Ortiz-Keith Thurman match-up. As for Top Rank, as they finalize their next broadcast deal, will be farming out their boxers on various shows throughout the country.
The card this weekend is another DAZN pay-per-view. My guess is that it wont break any records. After that, what the general boxing fan has to look forward to is the September 13 showdown between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Terence Crawford. Naoya Inoue has his next assignment that same weekend versus 'MJ' Akhmadaliev from Japan.
@lunatoonboxing
As you go further down the calendar there isn't all that much that stands out for October, although there are most likely some shows that will be announced soon.
There is a loaded card that is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia on November 22 that has David Benavidez taking on Anthony Yarde, Brian Norman defending his WBO welterweight title against Devin Haney, and the 115-pound unification bout between 'Bam' Rodriguez and Fernando 'Puma' Martinez.
Other than that, enjoy the football season!!
