Boxing TV schedule for Aug. 29-31
Vasiliy Lomachenko returns against Luke Campbell in the headline fight of the week.
Thursday, Aug. 29
ESPN+, 6:30 am ET, Lomachenko-Campbell press conference. Everyone will talk about how prepared they are, even if they aren’t. Who would know before fight night, usually? Only them.
UFC Fight Pass, 8:30 pm ET, Toka Kahn Clary vs Irvin Gonzalez, Alicia Napoleon-Espinosa vs Schemelle Baldwin. Broadway Boxing is back in Mashantucket, Conn., with an interesting main event. Clary is coming off of a fifth round knockout of Carlos Reyes in May, a move to super featherweight which followed his 126-pound eliminator loss to Kid Galahad last October. Clary looked sharp at the weight. Meanwhile, Gonzalez, thought to be one of DiBella’s better prospects, was stunned on that same card at Foxwoods, losing a TKO-3 to Elijah Pierce, but he showed a lot of heart and spirit, too. It was a really fun fight. So this is kinda make-or-break for Gonzalez, really aggressive matchmaking considering he’s 23 years old and there surely was time to get him back in the groove. Napoleon-Espinosa, who is really a 154-pound fighter, is defending her WBA 168-pound point belt against Baldwin, a 33-year-old with four fights coming off a draw against someone who was 0-2, because that’s how women’s boxing works. Baldwin has actually never beaten someone who’s won a fight before, and is listed as the No. 17 super middleweight in the world by BoxRec, which sounds OK enough until you realize the list ends at 19. BLH will have live coverage.
Friday, Aug. 30
ESPN+, 8:00 am ET, Lomachenko-Campbell weigh-in. Everyone’s gonna get in their underpants and a fella in a full on suit will weigh them.
Facebook, 10:00 pm ET, Ferdinand Kerobyan vs Oscar Molina. A welterweight matchup, definitely must-win for both guys if they have any hopes left. Kerobyan is coming off a competitive loss to Blair Cobbs, while Molina, once thought to be a prospect, hasn’t won a fight in four years and hasn’t fought in two-and-a-half. These Golden Boy Facebook shows have been consistently entertaining, so again, if you’re not busy and you feel like tuning in to see some fights, it’s been worth it all year. BLH will have live coverage.
Saturday, Aug. 31
ESPN+, 1:00 pm ET, Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Luke Campbell. This is a pretty stacked card overall, also featuring Alexander Povetkin vs Hughie Fury, Charlie Edwards vs Julio Cesar Martinez for Edwards’ WBC flyweight title, Joshua Buatsi vs Ryan Ford, and Joe Cordina vs Gavin Gwynne, plus Savannah Marshall, Dalton Smith, and Connor Coghill in action. Lomachenko-Campbell is very possibly Loma’s most intriguing matchup yet at 135 — Campbell is significantly taller and longer, and while he was certainly no Loma as an amateur, he was also an Olympic gold medalist. The odds-on favorite, of course, is Lomachenko, but this one could be a styles make fights affair. BLH will have live coverage.
FOX, 8:00 pm ET, Erislandy Lara vs Ramon Alvarez. This show was also supposed to feature Truax-Quillin II, but that’s off with Truax hurt and Quillin rescheduled for Sept. 21 as a result. Lara is 0-1-1 in his last two, dropping the 2018 Fight of the Year to Jarrett Hurd and going to a fun draw in March against Brian Castano last time out. Ramon Alvarez, one of Canelo’s many aggressively mediocre brothers, is a get-well matchup for the Cuban southpaw, who remains a top contender at 154. BLH will have live coverage.