Podcast: Dalton Smith, Gabriela Fundora, Ben Whittaker previews
Plus: The undercards; plenty of news of the week; and anniversary memories of the Holyfield-Foreman heavyweight mega fight
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.
There are three shows of note this weekend, Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy events on Saturday on DAZN and a Boxxer card on Sunday, and previewed each of them. We also discussed several notable news items of the week and looked back on the anniversary of the mega undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Evander Holyfield and George Foreman.
Here is what’s on the show (in order):
Preview of the Matchroom Boxing card headlined by Dalton Smith risking his WBC junior welterweight mandatory status against Mathieu Germain and also including former featherweight titlist Josh Warrington exiting a brief retirement and facing Asad Asif Khan at junior lightweight.
Preview of the Golden Boy show topped by undisputed women’s flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora’s mandatory defense against Marilyn Badillo with junior middleweight contender Charles Conwell against Jorge Garcia Perez in the co-feature.
Preview of the Boxer event headlined by the rematch of a technical draw between light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron.
I am in my 26th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.
My reporting that a title unification fight between WBC junior bantamweight titlist Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and WBO titlist Phumelele Cafu is in the works for July 19.
The IBF heavyweight final title eliminator being negotiated between Frank Sanchez and Filip Hrgovic.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn’s disclosure that he is talking to Bob Arum of Top Rank about a Jaron Ennis-Brian Norman welterweight unification fight for the late summer/early fall.
The announcement by Hamzah Sheeraz, who is moving up to super middleweight, that he will now be training with Andy Lee in the wake of his disappointing draw challenging WBC middleweight titlist Carlos Adames.
Top Rank making official that WBO lightweight titlist Keyshawn Davis will make his first defense against Edwin De Los Santos on June 7 at home in Norfolk, Virginia, and that lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason will step up in class against Jeremia Nakathila in the co-feature.
Memories on the 34th anniversary of when Holyfield outpointed Foreman to retain the undisputed heavyweight title in a terrific fight that was one of the biggest boxing events of the decade.
Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!
We bring you the preview each Friday and the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.
Smith-Germain photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Please upgrade your subscription here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
