ESPN+ will be the place to be for heavyweight prospects with the top prospect in the game and the gold and silver medalists in the most recent Olympics (2016) all fighting with the added bonus of two fighting each other!!!
Friday afternoon features the 2016 super heavyweight gold medalist as Tony Yoka of France takes a small step in competition against veteran Christian Hammer of Romania.
Yoka, who stopped former WBC title challenger Johan Duhaupas in one round in September, will be in his second fight back from a suspension for PED usage and has stopped seven of his eight opponents in his career.
Hammer is a durable top 25 caliber fighter with losses when he has tried to move to top ten opponents in Tyson Fury, Luis Ortiz, and Alexander Povetkin.
Hammer lasted the distance against Ortiz and Povetkin and took Fury eight rounds, so Hammer has shown that he can take a punch.
If Yoka can score an early KO, that would mark the win as especially impressive.
ESPN Plus is back Saturday afternoon with what could be the most anticipated heavyweight fight of the year with the exception of Fury-Wilder II before the pandemic with the top prospect in the division facing the 2016 Olympic silver medalist.
Daniel DuBois is thought to have the talent to be the successor to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua as the next dominant heavyweight with his size and punching punching, having stopped fourteen of his fifteen opponents.
DuBois has been very impressive in his wins and looks the part of a future champion.
However, the only name that he has fought lasted the distance in trialhorse Kevin Johnson and other than Johnson and countryman Nathan Gorman (who Dubois stopped very impressively in five rounds), so there are questions to be answered about his power as he moves up and the questions about his chin that every prospect needs to answer.
Those questions will start to be answered against former Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce, who is being moved quickly at 35 years of age.
With such a late starting date as a pro, Joyce is moving up the ladder against tough competition faster than would be the case if he were younger.
Of Joyce's eleven wins and ten stoppages, Joyce already holds a decision win over former world title challenger Bryant Jennings and a knockout win over a washed-up former WBC champion Bermane Stiverne.
Joyce looks like he has a terrific jaw and has above-average power, but he's painfully slow and I think almost any high-level heavyweight can outbox him with movement should they choose that option.
Still, Joyce reminds me a little of Ray Mercer (although slower) that he's going to lose his share of fights against contenders, is going to take them the distance in tough fights, and every once in a while will surprise one with the booming right hand to keep him as viable in the division.
This one is one that I'm excited about and it is all up to DuBois.
Can he take Joyce's best shot?
If he can, he has the potential to be a Lennox Lewis type.
If he can't, he may be Frank Bruno, a talented, but flawed fighter that will have his fans on the edge of their seat in every fight as they know any fight can go either way.
If DuBois boxes Joyce, he wins an easy decision, but will he choose to go for the knockout which gives him the chance to step on the world stage with a huge win, but gives Joyce his only chance to pull this one out?
DAZN offers a far less compelling main event as Daniel Jacobs continues his attempt to gain a title in the super middleweight division, but he does so against a fighter that he should defeat easily as he did in his initial voyage at 168 pounds.
Unlike Julio Cesar Chavez. Jr., Gabriel Rosado's heart and toughness have never been in question as he never quits and always gives what he has to offer.
Unfortunately, that rarely is enough against the top fighters when Rosado faces them.
Against the fighters around the back end of the top ten to fifteen, Rosado gets beaten up, receives one or more facial cuts and then makes a run down the stretch, and takes the fight to the scorecards, where the decision often goes against him and controversially so in many cases.
The problem comes when Rosado faces the best of the game because against those fighters, he gets beaten up, suffers bad cuts, doesn't generate much offense, and takes the chance of being hurt permanently.
Against Gennady Golovkin, Peter Quillin, and David Lemieux, all badly pounded Rosado and you wonder how long he can hold up against Jacobs, the best fighter that he has fought in years at a weight that favors Jacobs far more than Rosado.
I wouldn't call this a mismatch, but I truly don't see a way for Rosado to be competitive in this fight.
In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 158-148.
Heavyweights.10 Rds
Tony Yoka vs Christian Hammer
R.L: Yoka KO 8
TRS: Yoka Unanimous Decision
Super Middleweights. 12 Rds
Daniel Jacobs vs Gabriel Rosado
R.L: Jacobs KO 8
TRS: Jacobs KO 6
Heavyweights. 12 Rds
Daniel DuBois vs Joe Joyce
R.L: DuBois KO 6
TRS: DuBois Unanimous Decision
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