The biggest matchup is from New York City where WBO (and former undisputed) junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor defends his lone remaining belt against former three-title lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez on an ESPN+/Top Rank card.
Both fighters enter the ring in need of an impressive victory after controversial wins in their most recent fights with neither fighter looking strong in victory.
Taylor won a split decision over Jack Catterall in February 2022 that has been universally panned and after several tries and Taylor vacating titles for a rematch against Catterall, the WBO forced Taylor's hand and mandated this fight against Lopez, who was knocked down in a split decision win over Sandor Martin last December and didn't come close to resembling the fighter that defeated Vasyl Lomachenko.
While Taylor didn't look great against Catterall, Lopez looked like a fighter that may have seen his best fights already in his rear mirror, and Taylor is bigger, stronger, and may have more in the tank than Lopez- But I don't know if I'd bet on that.
The remaining title bout is from DAZN in the afternoon in London as Sunny Edwards defends his IBF flyweight title against Andres Campos.
Edwards is making his first appearance with Matchroom Boxing and with a victory, Edwards is likely to receive a unification chance in his next fight against either WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez or WBO titleholder Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez, both of whom also fight for Matchroom.
Chile's Campos is undefeated at 15-0 and has defeated two former title challengers in Jesus Silvestre and Gilberto Pedroza but with only four knockouts, I wonder if Campos can hurt Edwards enough to do any damage.
In the evening, DAZN hands the keys over to Golden Boy, who will have two fights for the challenge.
In the main event, former WBO junior middleweight champion and long-time middleweight contender Jaime Munguia will finally face an opponent with name value in three-time former title challenger Sergey Derevyanchenko in a super middleweight fight.
Munguia was offered several title shots at then-WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade and the current WBO titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly but has turned all of those down in favor of fighting a collection of faded fighters and non-entities since vacating his 154-pound title in 2019.
Derevyanchenko lost two very close decisions in title chances against Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs and was competitive in another decision defeat for a championship against Jermall Charlo before losing a majority decision to the current top contender in the WBC ratings, Carlos Adames in December 2021.
Derevyanchenko has fought only once since, a unanimous decision win over Joshua Conley last July.
While all of Derevyanchenko's losses are against excellent opposition, his losses to Charlo and Adames did show that he could be losing a step as they weren't quite as close as his defeats to Golovking and Jacobs, and with Munguia having a substantial advantage in size, it could be Derevyanchenko's fate to use his name to bolster that of Munguia.
It'll be interesting to see just how Derevyanchenko fares against Munguia for his future and that of Munguia.
The co-feature pits two fringe contenders that appear evenly matched in the middleweight division in D'mitrius Ballard and Shane Mosley Jr.
The once-beaten Ballard has fought since last February when he was overpowered and stopped in three rounds by Jaime Munguia, while Mosley enters the fight after winning two decisions over aging veterans in Gabriel Rosado and Mario Lozano.
Mosley is a gatekeeper between journeyman and fringe contender and while Ballard has only one loss, his most notable fight wasn't even a win- it was a draw against Yamaguchi Falcao.
We know what level Shane Mosley Jr is, the question is if D'Mitrius Ballard is on the same level.
Boxing Challenge
V.S: Taylor KO 11
V.S: Campos KO 8
TRS: Munguia Unanimous Decision
TRS: Mosley Unanimous Decision
V.S: Ballard Unanimous Decision
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