It’s a big weekend for the heavyweights and much more!

Friday, April 30

ESPN+, 2:00 pm ET, Moruti Mthalane vs Sunny Edwards, Michael Conlan vs Ionut Baluta. Mthalane has been a long-reigning top flyweight, and defends his IBF belt against Edwards in a really good crossroads main event. If Edwards is going to stake his claim as a top flyweight now, he’s trying to do it against a really good fighter. Conlan is fighting at 122 here against Baluta, who’s on a good run of form with wins over TJ Doheny and Davey Oliver Joyce in his last two. It’s not the sort of step up you’d really want for Conlan at this point, but it is what it is. BLH will have live coverage.

BKTV, 9:00 pm ET, BKFC 17: Cleckler vs Burns. You can also order this show on PPV for $20 but if you’re going to watch it, I’d suggest the cheaper BKTV subscription, and I’ll vouch for the service’s stability and video quality and all that. I’ve never had problems with it. Dillon Cleckler and Josh Burns are a couple of big lads who can crack, should be fun. There’s like 39 BKFC debuts on this event. Lorenzo Hunt and Marcel Stamps are in action in separate bouts. Tom Shoaff. Some other familiar guys if you’ve watched before. BLH will have live coverage.

Saturday, May 1

DAZN, 3:00 pm ET, Derek Chisora vs Joseph Parker, Katie Taylor vs Natasha Jonas, Dmitry Bivol vs Craig Richards, Chris Eubank Jr vs Marcus Morrison, James Tennyson vs Jovanni Straffon. Scott Fitzgerald is also tentatively set for a quiet return (TBA at the moment) and Campbell Hatton is also slated to be out for a second time. The main event is solid, Chisora-Parker is fine matchmaking and gets Parker back in action quickly as he shoots for another world title shot. Taylor-Jonas is a good matchup for Taylor’s lightweight crown. Bivol-Richards is a pretty lousy title fight (Bivol has the WBA 175 belt), and Eubank-Morrison is dreadful matchmaking. Tennyson-Straffon is what it is, could be fine, Tennyson usually is fun. BLH will have live coverage.

FOX, 7:00 pm ET, Erislandy Lara vs Thomas Lamanna, Eduardo Ramirez vs Isaac Avelar. Lara is fighting Lamanna at middleweight for the WBA’s secondary “world” title at 160, which is vacant and Lamanna has no business fighting for at all, but it’s the WBA and it’s PBC and it’s par for the course for both. It’s a pretty awful matchup, so y’know, Lara specialty lately. You’d think the hope is Lara will win and do well and fight Jermall Charlo (not a bad fight) but he might also win, be content with his paper belt again, and fight scrubs. Ramirez-Avelar is a well-matched fight at 126 for an interim WBA belt that also doesn’t really need to exist but same reasons as the other thing, at least this isn’t a trash fight. BLH will have live coverage.

PPV (Buy Here!), 9:00 pm ET, Andy Ruiz Jr vs Chris Arreola, Omar Figueroa Jr vs Abel Ramos, Sebastian Fundora vs Jorge Cota, Jesus Ramos vs Javier Molina. This is a tough sell for most people even at a relatively budget-scaled $49.99, but as far as the actual fights go, I don’t hate the matchups. Even Ruiz-Arreola, it’s about what I’d expect of a Ruiz return at this point. They want to get him a win. If he’s not shot, Arreola is very beatable no matter how much fire he does bring, and he still brings a lot. There’s good action potential all over the card here. But no, it’s not what anyone wants to pay $50 for, that goes without saying but let’s say it anyway. This is not truly a marquee event, and FOX backing it as a PPV makes you want a true marquee event. BLH will have live coverage.

Author: Staff

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