Believe it or not, the heavyweight division belongs to European boxers.

Perennial British foe Derek Chisora ​​(32-12, 23 KOs) meets Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev (29-2, 14 KOs) in the main event at noon on Saturday July 9 at the O2 Arena in London. DAZN will broadcast the Matchroom Boxing card live.

Although Chisora ​​has three straight losses, all of them were against former or current world titles. His opponent Pulev has two losses against then world champions Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.

This is their second fight against each other.

“My focus right now is just to bring great fights, entertain the fans and do what I love to do,” said Chisora, who lost to Pulev six years ago by split decision.

Whoever wins comes down to relevance.

Heavyweights have always sold big bucks. Even the casual fan knows that heavyweights are the most powerful and can end a fight with one blow. And it sells tickets. It was the formula that American promoter Don King used for decades to keep selling truckloads of tickets at major fights.

Just weeks ago, King’s only tie to the heavyweight championship was severed when Britain’s Daniel Dubois knocked out Trevor Bryan for a version of the WBA heavyweight title in Miami.

All of the many heavyweight titles are now held by Europeans like Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and now Dubois.

Whoever wins between Chisora ​​and Pulev has a chance to win one of the heavyweight titles.

“He is a stronger opponent than before. For me it is very important and I think for him it is also very important,” said Pulev. “That’s why we give everything and that’s why I’m sure he will give everything. It’s going to be a great fight.

San Antonio on Showtime

One of the more recent discoveries in prize fights has been promoters eager to hold more fights near the Alamo.

This time, WBC world featherweight champion Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs) defends against Mexican Rey Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs) on Saturday, July 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Australia. Texas. Showtime will air the PBC card.

Magsayo staged one of the biggest upsets of the year in January when he defeated Gary Russell Jr. to win the WBC title by majority decision in Atlantic City. No one but Vasyl Lomachenko had ever come close to beating Russell.

It wasn’t a pretty fight but the Filipino slugger kept up the pressure and managed to defeat Russell who was not at his best for various reasons. Yet Magsayo did what 31 others couldn’t. Now he takes on the much bigger Vargas, a former world super bantamweight titlist.

Vargas, a lanky boa constrictor type fighter never lost a fight as a pro. But he’s not very popular because of his penchant for grabbing and holding. He was never a fan favorite for these reasons.

Still, he has a big height advantage over Magsayo who is making his first title defense.

“I’ve been working on a lot of different things with Freddie Roach to make sure we’re ready for whatever Vargas brings. If he wants to face off like he said, then I’m ready to end this. this fight by knockout,” Magsayo said.

Vargas has never lost and doesn’t expect to lose.

“Magsayo says I’ve never faced someone like him before, but in reality, he’s never faced someone like me.

“Maybe Magsayo is so keen to trade punches because maybe that’s the only thing he knows how to do,” Vargas said. “He doesn’t know how to fight otherwise. We will dominate him and take the belt.

Also on the card is former super bantamweight titlist Brandon Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KOs) who moves up to featherweight and meets Arizona’s Carlos Castro (27-1, 12 KOs) in a 12 rounds.

Will the extra weight be too much for Figueroa?

Next week

Top Rank returns to Pechanga Casino in Temecula, CA with a battle between super lightweight contenders.

A battle of the undefeated features Southern California’s Arnold Barboza (26-0, 10 KOs) against Puerto Rico’s Danielito Zorrilla (16-0, 12 KOs) in the main event on Friday, July 15. ESPN will be televised.

Everyone has impressive victims on their CV.

On Saturday, Golden Boy Promotions features Ryan Garcia defending a regional title against Dominican bomber Javier Fortuna in a lightweight clash at the Crypto.com Arena formerly known as Staples Center in Los Angeles. DAZN will stream the fight.

Tp comment this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post views:
574