Podcast: Previewing Buatsi-Azeez eliminator; Conor Benn fight
Plus: Tons of news of the week and double dose of anniversary memories
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There are two notable British-themed cards on Saturday and we previewed them both: the Boxxer show topped by the Joshua Buatsi-Dan Azeez WBA light heavyweight eliminator in London that is on Peacock in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the U.K. and the Matchroom Boxing card headlined by the Conor Benn-Peter Dobson junior middleweight bout in Las Vegas that is on DAZN. We also covered several news items from the week and looked back on a pair of notable fight cards on their anniversary.
Here is what’s on the show (in order):
Preview of Buatsi-Azeez, including what’s at stake, the matchup, what kind of fight it might be. Plus a look at the co-feature, which is hot prospect Adam Azim’s first defense of the European junior welterweight title against Enoch Poulsen.
Preview of Benn-Dobson, including why Benn is fighting in the afternoon, what it could lead to, the latest on his PED case in the U.K. and a bit on the undercard.
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Plans for WBO junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete to move up and fight unbeaten Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO lightweight title.
Brief discussion on Shakur Stevenson announcing his retirement, which no sane person believes has any legitimacy whatsoever.
Thoughts on Wednesday’s kickoff news conference to hype the Keith Thurman-Tim Tszyu pay-per-view fight that will headline PBC’s first event of its new deal with Amazon Prime Video.
Thoughts on Tuesday’s kickoff news conference to hype the Vasiliy Lomachenko-George Kambosos Jr. fight for the vacant IBF lightweight title and my reporting on two additional world title fights that will be on the card.
Recap of former WBO junior featherweight titlist Angelo Leo’s third-round knockout of Mike Plania in the main event of the ProBox TV card on Wednesday night.
Announcement of Jake Paul’s March 2 opponent and thoughts on the match.
Memories on the 21st anniversary of when Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez, after years of being blatantly ducked, finally won is first world title by stopping Manuel Medina in the seventh round to win the vacant IBF featherweight belt, opening the door to a career of major fights and huge wins.
Ringside memories on the 22nd anniversary of when Bernard Hopkins stopped Carl Daniels to retain the undisputed middleweight title in Reading, Pennsylvania (where I was) and, on the same HBO broadcast, Roy Jones scored the KO of the year against Glen Kelly to retain the undisputed light heavyweight title in Miami with the plan for a much-anticipated HBO PPV showdown between the two pound-for-pound best. While they famously argued during a joint interview between fights, their showdown did not happen for many more years, when it far past its sell-by date.
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Buatsi-Azeez photo: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer
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