Boxing TV schedule for July 18-20
It’s a big weekend, with Manny Pacquiao back in action against Keith Thurman, Teofimo Lopez returning, and Dillian Whyte vs Oscar Rivas.
Thursday, July 18
Facebook, 10:00 pm ET, Jason Quigley vs Tureano Johnson. Golden Boy DAZN Thursday Night Fights is back with a solid middleweight main event between prospect Quigley and veteran Johnson, a nice crossroads matchup. BLH will have live coverage.
Friday, July 19
ESPN+, 6:30 pm ET, Lopez-Nakatani prelims. Prospects in action, as always. BLH will have live coverage.
ESPN+, 10:00 pm ET, Teofimo Lopez vs Masayoshi Nakatani, Maxim Dadashev vs Subriel Matias. ESPN+ has the main fights again for this one. Both fights are eliminators so they matter in their divisions. With a win, Teofimo would be in line to face Richard Commey, which obviously Top Rank would like to do, then maybe work toward a full unification next year between Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. All that is a promoter’s best-case scenario, of course. BLH will have live coverage.
Saturday, July 20
DAZN, 1:00 pm ET, Dillian Whyte vs Oscar Rivas, Dereck Chisora vs Artur Szpilka, Dave Allen vs David Price. The heavyweights are the focal point here, but cruiserweight Lawrence Okolie and Richard Riakporhe will also be in action. Okolie will stay busy against TBA while Riakporhe faces Chris Billam-Smith. And there will be tiny little light heavyweights, too, as Charlie Duffield faces Dan Azeez. Whyte-Rivas is a significant fight at heavyweight, Chisora-Szpilka has a high chance of craziness, and Allen-Price is a good matchup for Allen, who is looking to become an unlikely contender. BLH will have live coverage.
ESPN+, 3:00 pm ET, Michael McKinson vs Evgeny Pavko. An MTK show from Brentwood, going head-to-head with a much more important show in London.
FOX, 7:00 pm ET, Caleb Plant vs Mike Lee, Efe Ajagba vs Ali Eren Demirezen. Plant is defending his IBF 168-pound title against Notre Dame Subway. Ajagba is a rising heavyweight and a potential star in the division, but Demirezen will look to prove he can be the same. Both are unbeaten and can crack. This FOX broadcast leads into the Pacquiao-Thurman PPV. BLH will have live coverage.
PPV, 9:00 pm ET, Manny Pacquiao vs Keith Thurman, Yordenis Ugas vs Omar Figueroa Jr, Sergey Lipinets vs John Molina, Luis Nery vs Juan Carlos Payano. Manny is back, and at 40, any time could be the last time. He’s a true living legend, an icon of the sport, and still a legit contender at 147. I think this matchup with Thurman is a terrific one, with Pacquiao looking to prove he can still compete at the true top level, and Thurman, to a lesser extent, kinda has to do the same. The undercard won’t blow anyone away, I don’t expect, but it’s got an action star bantamweight (Nery) in against a solid opponent, Lipinets looking to keep winning against the always-tough Molina, and a potentially fascinating style matchup between Ugas and Figueroa, who really couldn’t be more different. If you’re looking for an online PPV option, FITE TV will have the show. BLH will have live coverage.