Whyte-Joyce tops Queensberry's first card of new DAZN deal
Promoter Frank Warren also announces two other events headlined by Cacace-Wood and Taylor-Essuman
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.
Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions unveiled the first three events of his company’s new exclusive worldwide deal with DAZN on Monday with those participating in the first one meeting at a news conference at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, where heavyweights will be on display.
Queensberry’s deal with TNT Sports in the United Kingdom is about to expire and the deal Warren made in November to bring all of Queensberry’s events to DAZN for worldwide distribution commences on April 1 with the first card a few days later.
Here’s a look at what was unveiled:
April 5: Manchester, England
In the main event of a card dubbed “Heavy Impact,” Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce, well-known big men trying to climb their way back near the top of the division, will square off in the all-British affair at Co-op Live.
Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs), 36, has won three fights in a row since then-lineal/WBC champion Tyson Fury knocked him out in the sixth round in April 2022. However, Whyte also was out for all of 2023 mainly because he was dropped from a rematch with former two-time unified titlist Anthony Joshua for failing a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association random drug test a week before the bout.
Whyte won a pair of fights in 2024, most recently a seventh-round knockout of Ebenezer Tetteh on Dec. 15 in Gibraltar.
Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs), 39, held the WBO interim belt and looked on his way to a big-time fight after knocking out Joseph Parker in the 11th round in September 2022, but it’s been hard times since. He has gone 1-3, twice being knocked out Zhilei Zhang in back-to-back fights in 2023, stopping Kash Ali in the 10th round in March 2024, and then dropping an upset 10-round decision to Derek Chisora in a slugfest last July.
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.
Joyce is scheduled for an eight-rounder against Patrick Korte on March 1 that he would need to win and come away uninjured in order for the Whyte fight to take place.
Joyce and Whyte had a good natured back-and-forth with plenty of laughs at the press conference.
“I’m very excited,” Joyce said. “It’s going to be a big show of heavyweight boxing. I have a fight beforehand to get ready on March 1st and I’ll be coming steaming ahead for this fight and I’m really excited and up for the challenge.”
Then he reiterated that he feels as though he will knock Whyte out.
“Yeah, that’s the best way to win a fight,” Joyce said. “We’re going to have a big fight. I’m going to punch you in the face; you’re going to try and punch me in the face, but I’m gonna win at the end of the day. I’m confident in my ability.”
Then Whyte had his say.
“Joe Joyce said he’s going to knock me out. We’ll see. Joe Joyce is going to put me to sleep but not by knocking him out, (but) because he’s fucking boring,” Whyte said. “He’s the only man I know who can put coffee to sleep. Boring as fuck. Great fighter, but a boring guy. So boring. I just come to fight. I never said I was the best fighter in the world but I come to fight. I don’t come to fuck around. Nothing’s gonna change.”
The co-feature will be another all-British heavyweight fight between former bridgerweight and cruiserweight titlist Lawrence Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs), 32, in his third heavyweight fight, taking on Richard Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KOs), 35, who is moving up to heavyweight following a decision loss to then-WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith in their June rematch.
There is no love between Okolie and Riakporhe, who once scuffled on a red carpet before an event after Okolie insulted him over the romantic relationship he was having with music superstar Madonna.
“I didn’t disrespect him. I went over to him and I said. ‘Madonna is old now,’ and it set off instantly. So, that was all,” Okolie said of the incident that was caught on camera and went viral.
Riakporhe’s version of events went like this at the press conference: “He came into my space. I didn’t like it and I just saw red and I was just trying to get him out of there. But then I realized this is not a ring. Let me control myself. I had some advice from people around me. They told me, look, just calm down and then we just both went our separate ways. I kind of regretted the whole thing.”
Warren also announced two other heavyweight bouts for the card: David Adeleye (13-1, 12 KOs), 28, against British countryman Jeamie “TKV” Tshikeva (8-1, 5 KOs), 31, and the professional debut of the recently signed Delicious Orie, 27, who was the 2024 British Olympic super heavyweight.
May 10: Nottingham, England
In the main event of the second card, former IBF junior lightweight titlist Anthony Cacace and former two-time WBA featherweight titlist Leigh Wood will square off.
Cacace recently vacated the IBF junior lightweight title, opting for a much bigger fight commercially against Wood rather than face mandatory challenger Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez.
Cacace will head to Wood’s hometown for the bout at Motorpoint Arena. Wood (28-3, 17 KOs), 36, is moving up in weight and will end a 19-month layoff against Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs), 35, a southpaw from Northern Ireland.
Cacace pulled a major upset in May, when he knocked out heavy favorite Joe Cordina in the eighth round to win the 130-pound belt, and then soundly outpointed former featherweight titlist Josh Warrington in September.
Wood has been out of action since he stopped Warrington in the seventh round to retain the WBA 126-pound belt in October 2023.
May TBA: Glasgow, Scotland
Warren announced that he has signed former undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor, who parted ways with Top Rank, and that he will headline a show in his home country.
The date is not set but it will be either May 17 or May 24, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
Taylor is moving up to welterweight and will face Ekow Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs), 35, of England, who has won two fights in a row.
Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs), 34, a southpaw, is looking to reinvigorate his career coming off back-to-back unanimous decision losses. He became the undisputed 140-pound champion by narrowly outpointing Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas to unify the four belts in May 2021. He retained the undisputed crown via massively controversial split decision over Jack Catterall in his first defense in February 2022 in Glasgow.
Then, having been stripped or vacated all of his belts other than the WBO, Taylor traveled to New York in June 2023 and lost to Teofimo Lopez. A second loss in a row followed in May 2024 when Catterall outpointed Taylor in their long-awaited and oft-delayed rematch.
“We’ve assembled a bumper lineup of cracking fights to celebrate the start of our relationship with DAZN,” Warren said. “We are starting as we mean to go on and, as you might expect, the heavyweights will play a big, big part in 2025 and beyond. Then Nottingham is the place to be the following month for a real banger of a fight between Anthony Cacace and Leigh Wood. It is the sort of domestic blockbuster we will be seeing plenty of across the partnership between Queensberry and DAZN.
“I am also so much looking forward to returning to Scotland with the nation’s biggest star and our latest signing, Josh Taylor, headlining and rebooting his career at welterweight, where I believe he can again do big things. But he will be up against it with Ekow Essuman in the opposite corner.”
A note to subscribers
I sincerely appreciate your readership. If you’re reading, it means you love boxing just like I do. If you’ve been reading you also know the quality and quantity of what I produce. It’s one-stop shopping. Read the newsletters and there is no need to search multiple websites or click a multitude of links to get the latest news, opinion and detailed fight schedule. Everything you need is in one spot and delivered directly to your inbox (or via phone alert if you download for free the superb Substack app). You don’t have to hunt for the news; it comes to you.
I believe that is worth something, so while I will continue providing stories, notes and the schedule for free, I encourage you to upgrade to a paid subscription for the most content. A paid subscription is your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism. I am beholden to no network, promoter, manager, sanctioning body or fighter. If you have read my work at all during the past 25 years I’ve covered professional boxing you know that I keep it real and that will not change.
To upgrade your subscription please go here:
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
Good cards I am really looking forward to cacace wood should be a top fight dazan is looking good they brought our pay tv station Foxtel a few months ago and I am hoping there will be more boxing on it,could top rank end up on dazan
I think we're going to see Top Rank at DAZN. For a couple of subtle reasons. One, I don't think any Broadcaster wants to pony up what it would cost to compete with HE Turki. The man essentially tapped out both Netflix and Amazon for Canelo's services. Though maybe WBD is desperate enough. After all they did massively overbid for afterthought wrestling promotion, AEW. And finally because PBC has burnt so many potential "Broadcasting Partner" bridges, that I've lost count.