Tuesday, Apr. 1
TrillerTV+, 8:00 pm, CountryBox: Where Music Meets Boxing. Frank Warren joined up with DAZN, Top Rank is leaving ESPN, ProBox ditched Wednesday nights, Showtime abandoned the sport and left PBC on the platform best known for two day shipping. Through it all, The Music keeps meeting The Boxing, month after month. Oliver McCall is on the poster and the CountryBox: Where Music Meets Boxing website, but not listed on the BoxRec rundown of matchups. The music is Jared Harder, who has a new single called “These Boots.” Is it as erotically charged and timeless as Nancy Sinatra’s similarly themed signature song? Watch and decide for yourself.
Friday, Apr. 4
DAZN, 1:30 pm ET, GBM Boxing. From York Hall in London. Shakan Pitters vs Daniel Blenda Dos Santos headlines with a European light heavyweight title on the line. Hughie Fury and Ben Crocker appear on the undercard.
DAZN, 7:00 pm ET, Red Owl Boxing. DAZN and the text description on Red Owl’s website say the main event is Japhethlee Llamido vs Carlos Jackson. But, BoxRec and the current poster on Red Owl’s website say the main event is Deonte Brown vs Dennis Contreras.
DAZN, 11:00 pm ET, Miura Boxing. From Metepec, Mexico – Head west from Mexico City for about 37 miles. If you hit Toluca, you’ve gone too far. Ricardo Tellez vs Ixtli Chavez is the main event.
Saturday, Apr. 5
ESPN+, 10:00 am ET, Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue. From Astana, Kazakhstan! Janibek holds two middleweight titles, but none of the other champions seem eager to unify with him, and the division as a whole has been largely dead for at least three years and counting. So, he’s coming home to Kazakhstan to take on a Congolese Frenchman who fought a six-rounder against a 12-32-2 opponent his last time out. Ngamissengue did beat Fiodor Czerkaszyn in Poland, to be fair, but this looks like a parade lap for Janibek rather than a real challenge. Huge showcase for Fans of the ‘Stans, as Batyr Jukembaev, Bakhodir Jalolov, and Otabek Kholmatov all appear in support. BLH will have live updates
DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Joe Joyce vs Filip Hrgovic. A Queensberry show called “Heavy Impact.” Joyce has lost three of his last four fights, and his once unbreakable skull has been cracked in one way or another in almost every fight since 2022. Hrgovic enters as a late replacement for Dillian Whyte, and fights for the first time since his loss to Daniel Dubois last June. For some reason, this matchup of highly marketable, recent Top 10 heavyweights takes top billing over the MARK CHAMBERLAIN, who appears on the undercard instead. Also on the show are Jack Rafferty, David Adeleye, and the pro debut of 2024 Olympian Delicious Orie. BLH will have live updates
ESPN+, 5:30 pm ET, Richard Torrez vs Guido Vianello. Top Rank finally getting bold and matching Torrez with a credible opponent! Feels weird not doing a podcast this week to giggle once more over Tyson Fury’s reports on Vianello’s anatomical blessings… But, we’ll all be thinking about it during the event, won’t we? Lindolfo Delgado vs Elvis Rodriguez has show-stealing potential on the undercard, where Abdullah Mason and Jahi Tucker also appear.
ProBox TV, 6:30 pm ET, Ricardo Salas vs Kent Cruz. FOUR bigger events from major promoters and broadcasters already booked for the same day. Nothing at all happening on Wednesday. Just sayin’.
Amazon Prime, 10:00 pm ET, Tim Tszyu vs Joey Spencer. It’s the “Battle of Tszyucastle,” because it’s in Newcastle, Australia. Tszyu looked like a monster in the 154 lbs. division until his 2024 turned out to be an absolute nightmare. After losing a bloody mess of a fight against Sebastian Fundora and getting wrecked by Bakhram Murtazaliev in just three rounds, there’s no shame in taking a softer touch in front of a home crowd. Spencer got a big push when PBC was still running shows on FOX, a time that we at BLH sometimes like to remember as “The Vito Mielnicki Era.” But he suffered his only pro loss at the worst possible time just as PBC was splitting with Showtime, and his last two fights were untelevised, one of them coming as a local promotion at his hometown high school in Linden, Michigan. He’s still just 25, though, and should be highly motivated since his performance here will likely define the trajectory of the rest of his career. It’s a Sunday, April 6th show in Australia, but the wizardry of time zones makes it a Saturday night showcase here in America. Scott has your live coverage, so make sure to ask him about his passionate feelings on time zones, and whether or not a show that’s happening on a Sunday belongs in this week’s schedule. BLH will have live updates
