TV Picks of the Week: Anthony Joshua challenges Daniel Dubois for IBF heavyweight title

Pick It: Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua

When to Watch: Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time (3:30 p.m. BST). 

How to watch: Pay-per-view on DAZN and PPV.com.

Why to Watch: Sure, everyone knows the real heavyweight champion is Oleksandr Usyk, and that the biggest heavyweight fight on the schedule is Usyk’s rematch in December with Tyson Fury.

But this match between Dubois and Joshua is a big event nonetheless – a fight between a pair of towering heavyweights in London that will take place in front of a massive crowd at Wembley Stadium.

They will fight for Dubois’ IBF world title. The belt was stripped from Usyk earlier this year because his obligations to face Fury meant he was unable to defend it against his mandatory challenger.

The 6-foot-5 Dubois put together a pair of good wins to put himself in this position. In December, he stopped the previously unbeaten contender Jarrell Miller in the final seconds of the final round; he then scored an eighth-round technical knockout of the previously unbeaten contender Filip Hrgovic in June for the interim IBF belt. That brought him to 21-2 (20 KOs). 

He’s recovered from losses that could have been significant setbacks. 

Dubois was counted out against Joe Joyce in the 10th round of their bout in 2020; he went down to one knee after suffering a fractured eye socket. Dubois bounced back with four wins, including stoppages of Trevor Bryan and Kevin Lerena. In the latter, Dubois visited the canvas himself three times in the first round after a leg injury but was able to put Lerena away in the third.

That brought Dubois into 2023’s challenge of Usyk for three world titles. This is the bout in which a shot Dubois landed continues to be debated – was it a legal blow on the beltline or an accidental foul that veered low? Usyk wound up stopping Dubois in the ninth.

The 27-year-old Dubois could still wind up with a rematch against Usyk, depending on what happens on Saturday and in December.

Joshua, who stands 6-foot-6, had a pair of tumbles with Usyk himself – losing a unanimous decision in September 2021 and a split decision in their rematch in August 2022.

That first Usyk fight was the last time Joshua held heavyweight titles.

Joshua had picked up his first world title, of the IBF, with a 2016 demolition of Charles Martin. Then came six successful defenses – and he added the WBA and WBO belts along the way with victories over Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker.

Joshua lost those titles when he was stunned by Andy Ruiz via seventh-round technical knockout in June 2019. He soon regained them, though, by boxing his way to victory in their rematch in December 2019. Then Joshua beat Kubrat Pulev a year later, which led to his first fight with Usyk.

In the two years since the rematch with Usyk, Joshua has outpointed Jermaine Franklin and scored knockouts of Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou. The 34-year-old enters this bout with a record of 28-3 (25 KOs).

He has been a national hero since winning a gold medal in 2012. Will Anthony Joshua remain one of the two best British heavyweights? Or is it time for this Olympian to pass the torch?

On the undercard:

Anthony Cacace-Josh Warrington: Cacace surprised when he seized the IBF junior lightweight title from Joe Cordina via eighth-round technical knockout in May. That was quite a victory for the 35-year-old from Belfast, Ireland – peaking this late in his career. He had lost a decision to Martin Ward but has won seven in a row, moving to 22-1 (8 KOs).

If Cacace is going to make it eight, he’ll need to win this fight – a non-title defense against Warrington, a two-time featherweight titleholder. Warrington edged Lee Selby in 2018 for the IBF belt at 126 pounds, then defended it with wins over Carl Frampton, Kid Galahad and Sofiane Takoucht. Warrington vacated the title at the start of 2021, pursuing another fight rather than face his mandatory challenger Galahad in a rematch.

Warrington, subsequently, was stopped by Mauricio Lara in the ninth round in February 2021. Their immediate rematch ended as a two-round technical draw due to a clash of heads. In 2022, Warrington took out Kiko Martinez in seven rounds to regain the IBF title, only to lose it to Luis Alberto Lopez via majority decision at the end of the year. Warrington’s sole appearance in 2023 was in October. He was up on the scorecards against Leigh Wood, only to be dropped and stopped in the seventh round. The 33-year-old from Leeds is now 31-3-1 (8 KOs) and will be fighting in the 130-pound division for the first time.

Cacace is looking to make the most of whatever time he has left in his career. Warrington needs a win in order to continue competing in high-profile outings.

Tyler Denny-Hamzah Sheeraz: These two British middleweights are ostensibly fighting for the European title but are otherwise aiming for bigger things in their shallow weight division.

Denny, a 33-year-old from England's West Midlands, is 19-2-3 (1 KO). He dropped a majority decision in 2019 to Linus Udofia and has gone 7-0-1 since. In his past two appearances he scored his first and only professional knockout – stopping Matteo Signani on cuts in the eighth round in November 2023, and then winning a five-round technical decision over Felix Cash in June when a clash of heads opened a cut over Cash’s eye.

Sheeraz is a highly regarded 25-year-old from Essex who is 20-0 (16 KOs). His run of 14 consecutive knockouts has continued even as he’s begun stepping up his level of opposition. Sheeraz plowed through Liam Williams in less than a round in February and then stopped Austin “Ammo” Williams in the 11th round in June.

Denny is ranked 10th by The Ring and isn’t listed by the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board. Sheeraz is rated third by The Ring and fourth by TBRB. A win for Sheeraz should land him a title shot in the very near future, though he’s also been calling for a fight with his countryman Chris Eubank Jr.

Joshua Buatsi-Willy Hutchinson: The new undisputed light heavyweight champion – be it Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol – will need an opponent. So, too, will contenders such as David Benavidez, David Morrell and Albert Ramirez. Ditto British 175-pounders Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde. Could the winner of Buatsi-Hutchinson move on to face any of the above?

Buatsi, 31, won Olympic bronze at light heavyweight in 2016. In February he outpointed the previously unbeaten Dan Azeez to move to 18-0 (13 KOs). 

Hutchinson, 26, has recorded five straight victories since suffering a fifth-round stoppage at the hands of Lennox Clarke in 2021. In June, Hutchinson earned a unanimous decision over Craig Richards.

Mark Chamberlain-Josh Padley: Two unbeaten lightweight prospects will meet to see who will move forwards.

Chamberlain, 25, has knocked out five consecutive opponents – most recently taking out the 23-1 Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab in one round in May. Victory brought him to 16-0 (12 KOs).

Padley, 28, has won three in a row via stoppage, though against much lesser opposition. In March, he stopped the 5-2 Conner Lee Doherty in the fourth round, moving to 14-0 (4 KOs).

Josh Kelly-Ishmael Davis: Davis is a late replacement for Liam Smith, who fell ill.

Kelly (15-1-1, 8 KOs) has put together five consecutive victories. The 2016 Olympian was moved somewhat ambitiously after turning professional in 2017. In his 10th fight, he faced Ray Robinson and was held to a draw in June 2019. Two fights later, in February 2021, Kelly was dropped and stopped in the sixth round at welterweight by David Avanesyan. He then moved up to junior middleweight.

Davis is 13-0 (6 KOs) and is coming off a unanimous decision in March over Troy Williamson.

More Fights to Watch

Thursday, Sept. 19: Luke Gersbeck-Lilo Telepe (Fox Sports Australia)

The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (4:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, 9:30 a.m. BST).

This is a middleweight fight between Gersbeck (7-0-1, 5 KOs) and Telepe (4-0, 4 KOs). They will main event at the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne, Australia.

Gersbeck is coming off a third-round TKO in April of the 11-1 Sadudee Srimueang. Telepe’s last win was in June, when he stopped the 3-1-2 Terry Nickolas in two rounds.

Thursday, Sept. 19: Mandeep Jangra-Nilo Guerrero (Global Sports Streaming)

The broadcast begins at 10 p.m. ET.

Jangra is an undefeated junior lightweight prospect (10-0, 7 KOs) trained by Roy Jones Jr. – on Jones’ farm, at that – who will be fighting on a show promoted by Jones at the Legends Casino Hotel in Toppenish, Washington. The 31-year-old, who is originally from India, is coming off a 97-second knockout of the 3-3 Jose Camacho in May.

Guerrero (9-0, 7 KOs) is a 24-year-old originally from Managua, Nicaragua, now living in Coachella, California. In June, he outpointed the 16-37-7 opponent Diuhl Olguin.

On paper, at least, this will be a step up for both fighters. Only three of Jangra’s previous foes had more wins than losses. Only two of Guerrero’s had more victories than defeats.

Friday, Sept. 20: Jaime Munguia-Erik Bazinyan (ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ in the United States, Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland)

The main broadcast begins at 10:30 p.m. ET (3:30 a.m. BST). The preliminary broadcast begins at 5:50 p.m. ET (10:50 p.m. BST).

This is a good fight between Munguia – a super middleweight contender who just lost to the best 168-pounder in the world – and Bazinyan, a long-time prospect whose stepping up in level of opposition is overdue.

Munguia, a 27-year-old from Tijuana, was defeated via unanimous decision by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in May, dropping his record to 43-1 (34 KOs). So we know that Munguia isn’t the best, and now his team can get to figuring out where he stands among the rest.

Munguia’s other recent fights at 168 came in 2023, when he won a narrow decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the fight of the year, and then stopped John Ryder in nine rounds and sent him into retirement. Prior to arriving at super middleweight, Munguia held the WBO title at junior middleweight from 2018 to 2019 and then competed in the 160-pound weight class from 2020 to 2022.

Bazinyan, like Munguia, turned professional in 2013. The 29-year-old is originally from Armenia and is one of several super middleweights fighting out of Quebec for promoter Eye of the Tiger.

Bazinyan’s team has been very deliberate about his development, and his split draw against Shakeel Phinn in May – a fight that some observers felt should’ve gone Phinn’s way – shows why. That fight brought his record to 32-0-1 (23 KOs). 

It’s long past time to see whether Bazinyan has it. If he can’t get past Munguia, then his time will be up.

On the undercard, heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) will face Joey Dawejko (28-11-4, 16 KOs). And opening up the broadcast is Emiliano Fernando Vargas – one of the fighting sons of the former junior middleweight titleholder Fernando Vargas. Emiliano (11-0, 9 KOs) will face Larry Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs). 

On the preliminary broadcast, several other prospects will also be in action in separate bouts – including welterweight Art Barrera Jr. (6-0, 4 KOs), junior lightweight DJ Zamora (13-0, 9 KOs), junior bantamweight Steven Navarro (3-0, 2 KOs) and junior featherweight Sebastian Hernandez (16-0, 15 KOs).

Friday, Sept. 20: Callum Walsh-Przemyslaw Runowski (UFC Fight Pass)

The broadcast begins at 12:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. BST).

This is the first professional fight for Callum Walsh in his home country of Ireland. The 23-year-old junior middleweight prospect is from Cork and will headline at the 3Arena in Dublin against Runowski.

Walsh is 11-0 (9 KOs). He is trained by Freddie Roach and promoted by Tom Loeffler, who worked with Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, and Gennady Golovkin. Walsh has headlined multiple times on the UFC Fight Pass streaming service – including recent wins over Ismael Villarreal (UD10 in November 2023), Dauren Yeleussinov (TKO9 in March) and Carlos Ortiz Cervantes (KO2 in June).

Runowski is 22-2-1 (6 KOs). The 30-year-old from Slupsk, Poland, has lost to a pair of familiar names – he was outpointed by Josh Kelly in 2019 and Michael McKinson in 2021. Most of Runowski’s career has been at welterweight, though three of his past four outings have been at or near the junior middleweight limit. 

In his past four appearances since the McKinson defeat, Runowski has won a decision over the 31-7-2 Samuel Vargas, fought to a draw with the 13-5 Vladyslav Gela, taken a split decision over the 27-9 Juan Ruiz, and scored a third-round TKO over the 14-12-4 Benjamin Lamptey.

On the undercard, super middleweight Ali Akhmedov (21-1, 16 KOs) will face Pierre Hubert Dibombe (22-1-1, 12 KOs). Akhmedov has won five straight since being knocked out in the 12th round by Carlos Gongora in December 2020. Dibombe’s sole defeat came in his past appearance – an eighth-round technical decision against Bektemir Melikuziev in April.

Friday, Sept. 20: Nicolas Tejada-Nathan Balakin (Combat Sports Now)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET.

The main event at Memorial Hall in Melrose, Massachusetts, features a rematch between the welterweights Tejada and Balakin. In November 2023, they fought to a six-round draw.

Tejada (8-0-1, 5 KOs) has since picked up two straight wins against designated opponents. Balakin (6-3-1, 3 KOs) hasn’t fought since. Of their combined 14 victories, only one has come against a fighter with more wins than losses – when Tejada took on someone who was 1-0 at the time and picked up a split decision.

Friday, Sept. 20: Sikho Nqothole-Jafet Amukwa (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. BST).

Nqothole is a junior bantamweight from South Africa headlining at Box Camp in Johannesburg. The 30-year-old is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Rene Calixto Bibiano in May, which brought him to 18-3 (11 KOs).

Amukwa is a 37-year-old from Namibia who is 9-5-1 (3 KOs). His last fight was in July 2023 – a unanimous decision loss at flyweight to the 17-2-1 DeeJay Kriel.

Saturday, Sept. 21: Nelson Oliva-Alfonso Olvera (Fubo Sports, Fox Deportes, Stadium and Gray TV)

The broadcast begins at 9:30 p.m. ET. It will also be aired on tape-delay on Estrella TV. Check your local listings.

Oliva is a 28-year-old middleweight fighting out of Los Angeles. A decision win over the 5-3 Franyerson Puerta in March brought Oliva’s record to 11-0 (8 KOs).

His opponent at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California is Alfonso Olvera (13-8-3, 5 KOs). Rivera is returning from a 16-month layoff. His last fight was May 2023, a fourth-round TKO of the 4-5-2 Ousmane Sylla.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.