When to Watch: Saturday, July 26. The main broadcast will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. BST). 

How to Watch: The main broadcast features three fights on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.

The preliminary undercard will stream on ESPN+.

Why to Watch: When Sebastian Fundora vacated one of his two junior middleweight world titles in order to make a rematch with Tim Tszyu, that left the WBO belt vacant. On Saturday, the sanctioning body’s top two contenders – Xander Zayas and Jorge Garcia Perez – will fight for their first world title in the main event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Zayas, 21-0 (13 KOs), is a 22-year-old from Puerto Rico now living in Florida. He’s been with Top Rank since turning pro in 2019 and has been featured regularly on the network during his development. 

Zayas may still be considered a prospect or a fringe contender in the eyes of some. That’s because his biggest wins to date were wide decisions over former title challenger Patrick Teixeira and the 25-2 Damian Sosa, and February’s ninth-round technical knockout of the 20-0 Slawa Spomer.

But it doesn’t matter what we consider him. What matters is he’s been highly ranked by the sanctioning bodies for some time and now gets to fight for a world title. Beyond that, what matters is how he performs once given this opportunity.

Garcia Perez is a tough out, as shown by his most recent performance (more on that in a moment). We’ve seen young fighters rise to the occasion with early title fights, continue to develop while still a titleholder, and gain confidence and composure once they have that belt around their waist.

The junior middleweight division is deep with talent. It’s not quite sink-or-swim time for Zayas; there’s no need to toss him in with the likes of Sebastian Fundora or Vergil Ortiz so soon. But a win over Perez on Saturday could put Zayas on the path to facing some of the second tier. The WBO’s top 10 is rounded out with Josh Kelly, Erickson Lubin, Serhii Bohachuk, Jesus Ramos, Keith Thurman, Israil Madrimov, Charles Conwell and Adrian Marcelo Sasso. 

Some of those names are more likely opponents if his promotional and managerial teams want to take their time. Zayas can get more seasoning before being thrown into the fire. Enough of those mixed metaphors, however. Let’s talk about Zayas’ opponent.

Garcia Perez, 33-4 (26 KOs), is a 28-year-old from Mexico who earned this title shot by scoring the biggest win of his career. In April, he defeated the previously unbeaten contender Charles Conwell via split decision.

Garcia Perez seems like one of those fighters who turns pro young (16 years old, in his case) with limited experience and essentially is forced to learn on the job. That means there are early blemishes on his record – a 2018 split decision loss to a 15-19-1 opponent, a 2019 split decision loss to a 14-3 foe – but he continued to develop and improve.

Even the remaining two losses were against better foes: a wide decision to fringe contender Carlos Ocampo in 2020 and a split decision to a then-unbeaten prospect Etoundi Michel William in early 2023.

But now Garcia Perez is on an eight-fight winning streak, including a decision last December over the 20-3 Kudratillo Abdukakhorov and this most recent win over Conwell. He’s only 28 but arrives with 12 years of pro experience and the boost in confidence that comes with taking it to one touted contender.

Can Garcia Perez do it again?

The co-feature bout will see Bruce Carrington, 15-0 (9 KOs), and Mateus Heita, 14-0 (9 KOs), fight for the interim WBC featherweight belt. And in the opening match on the main broadcast, junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas, 14-0 (12 KOs) – one of the fighting sons of Fernando Vargas – will take on Alexander Espinoza, 20-3-1 (9 KOs).

The rest of the ESPN+ stream features a number of prospects in separate bouts, including welterweight Rohan Polanco, 16-0 (10 KOs); heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov, 15-0 (14 KOs); junior bantamweight Steven Navarro, 6-0 (5 KOs); junior bantamweight Juanma “Juanmita” Lopez De Jesus, 2-0 (1 KO); featherweight Yan Santana, 14-0 (12 KOs); and the pro debut of featherweight Julius Ballo.

More Fights to Watch

Thursday, July 24: Manuel Flores vs. Jorge Chavez (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. BST).

Two junior featherweight prospects will step up by facing each other in the main event at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Flores, 20-1 (16 KOs), is fighting for the ninth time in his last 11 bouts at the venue. The 26-year-old hails from nearby Coachella. His lone defeat came in June 2023, when he dropped a wide unanimous decision to the 11-2 Walter Santibanes. Flores has won five in a row since, three by second-round stoppages, one via first-round technical knockout and, in his most recent appearance in April, a fourth-round TKO of the 18-3 Jorge Leyva at bantamweight.

Chavez, 14-0 (8 KOs), is a 25-year-old from San Diego. This will be his sixth appearance at Fantasy Springs. The prospect had a brief fright to start his 2024 when the 16-34-7 Diuhl Olguin dropped him in the first round of their fight. Chavez rose and won a clear decision. He has scarcely been losing rounds lately; his past three wins were shutouts, including an eight-round victory in April over the 13-1 Brandon Douglas.

The co-feature has middleweight Jordan Panthen, 11-0 (9 KOs), taking on Farid Ngoga, 10-1 (6 KOs). Ngoga is returning from 20 months away after losing a decision to the 9-0 Marques Valle down at junior middleweight in November 2023. 

Several other prospects are scheduled for the undercard.

Friday, July 25: Andy Dominguez vs. Byron Rojas (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST).

Dominguez, 12-1 (6 KOs), is a 27-year-old junior flyweight from Mexico and now living in Las Vegas. Dominguez competed at flyweight for his past several bouts, including a wide decision loss to contender Yankiel Rivera in February 2024. He has won two in a row since, most recently taking a split decision over the 8-2-3 Angel Geovanny Meza Morales in December. Dominguez was scheduled to fight this past May, but his opponent was unable to make weight.

For this match at the Tropicana Atlantic City, Dominguez will take on a former strawweight titleholder in Rojas, 29-4-3 (12 KOs), at 108lbs.

Rojas, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan living in Michigan, had a brief reign at 105lbs, upsetting Hekkie Budler via close decision – 115-113 on all three scorecards – in March 2016. Three months later, Rojas heard three 115-113 scores go the other way against Knockout CP Freshmart. Rojas has gone 12-1 in the nine years since, the victories coming against pedestrian opposition while the loss was a wider decision in a rematch with Freshmart.

Among the prospects on the undercard are junior featherweight Dominique Crowder, 18-0 (11 KOs), and heavyweight Bruce Seldon Jnr, 6-0 (5 KOs), the namesake son of the former titleholder who was felled in the first round by Mike Tyson in 1996.

Friday, July 25: Elijah Pierce vs. Michael Dasmarinas (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST).

Pierce, 20-2 (16 KOs), is a 28-year-old from the state of Georgia who is fighting at featherweight after several victories at 122lbs. He outpointed Tramaine Williams and scored a third-round knockout over Mike Plania in 2023, then had a fourth-round TKO of Arthur Villanueva in March 2024 and a unanimous decision over Jose Sanmartin last August. Both of Pierce’s defeats came against quality foes at 126lbs: a unanimous decision to Giovanni Cabrera in 2018 and a majority decision to Sulaiman Segawa in 2019. 

Dasmarinas, 36-4-2 (25 KOs), is a 32-year-old from the Philippines whose name may be familiar to those who saw him briefly share the ring with Naoya Inoue in a bantamweight title fight in June 2021, in which Inoue dispatched him in the third round. Dasmarinas is 6-1-1 over the past four years, most recently suffering a fifth-round TKO loss to the 9-1-1 Kyosuke Okamoto.

The undercard at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia, features Oshae Jones, a 8-0 (3 KOs), a 2021 Olympics bronze medalist who will be defending her junior middleweight title against Elia Carranza, 11-1 (3 KOs). Also on this show in separate bouts are junior lightweight Haven Brady Jnr, 15-0 (6 KOs); super middleweight Nathan Lugo, 4-0 (4 KOs); and middleweight Elijah Lugo, 2-0 (0 KOs).

Friday, July 25: Shane Mosley Snr vs. Matt Floyd (TrillerTV.com)

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

Move over, Manny Pacquiao. There’s another Hall of Famer returning to the ring. 

Mosley, who turns 54 this September, last fought professionally in a 2016 loss to David Avanesyan and had an exhibition bout last year. He will face Matt Floyd, 15-2 (10 KOs), a 36-year-old light heavyweight and cruiserweight who just lost a four-round decision in May to the 5-1 Jack Gregory.

On the undercard at London’s Indigo at the O2 is Victor Ortiz against a former mixed martial artist named Tony Giles.

Saturday, July 26: Claressa Shields vs. Lani Daniels (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST).

Two weeks after some of the best women fighters received a huge audience, another of this generation’s top talents – and beyond, if you go co-sign Claressa Shields calling herself the Greatest Woman of All Time, or GWOAT – takes to the ring.

Shields’ claim to being the GWOAT is backed by her combined amateur and professional credentials: two Olympic gold medals, unifying two world titles at super middleweight, moving down to become the undisputed middleweight champion, then down another weight class to become undisputed at junior middleweight, then back up to 160lbs to re-consolidate her throne. 

Without much depth in the heavier weight classes, Shields then sought opportunities where they were available, which brought her to light heavyweight and heavyweight (in women’s boxing, there is some overlap in the limits defining those divisions). In her past two outings, Shields took out Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse in two rounds to win both a light heavyweight and a heavyweight title, then outpointed Danielle Perkins this past February to win three more vacant heavyweight belts, making Shields a four-time undisputed champion in three weight classes.

The 30-year-old from Flint, Michigan, is 16-0 (3 KOs) as a pro. Shields’ only amateur loss, to Savannah Marshall in 2012, was avenged when they met 10 years later in the paid ranks. There just aren’t that many women in general competing in the same weight classes as Shields, never mind women with enough talent to merit standing across from her, never mind women with enough talent to pose a challenge to her.

All of which brings Shields into this fight with Daniels at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan..

Daniels, 11-2-2 (1 KO), is a 37-year-old from New Zealand. She started boxing as a way to get in shape, and her time in the amateurs was nowhere near as extensive nor as high-level as Shields’. After some stumbling blocks earlier in her pro career, Daniels has now won world titles in two weight classes.

Those stumbling blocks include two losses within her first six fights, each time via decision against Geovana Peres. Daniels then moved down from super middleweight to middleweight for a pair of draws with a 1-6 fighter named Tessa Tualevao.

Daniels moved up to heavyweight in 2022 and beat the 6-1-1 Alrie Meleisea in 2023 for a vacant heavyweight title. After one successful defense, Daniels went from the 180s to just slightly over 168lbs for a pair of light heavyweight fights. She beat the 5-1 Desley Robinson by majority decision for another vacant title and then, in her last outing, unanimously outpointed the 9-0 Bolatito Oluwole in September 2024.

It is not the strongest of records, but Daniels should still take pride in what she has accomplished because of boxing, especially what it has meant to her life outside of the ring. Her brother died from cancer, and a young Daniels subsequently struggled with substance abuse and mental health. 

In the co-feature, Samantha Worthington, 11-0 (7 KOs), and Victoire Piteau, 14-2 (2 KOs), will fight for the WBA’s interim belt at 140lbs (the undisputed junior welterweight champion is Katie Taylor).

There is also an elimination bout between Caroline Veyre, 9-1 (0 KOs), and Licia Boudersa, 24-3-2 (4 KOs), with the winner in position to challenge WBC featherweight titleholder Tiara Brown; plus separate fights spotlighting heavyweight prospect Pryce Taylor, 8-0 (6 KOs), and former junior middleweight titleholder Tony Harrison, 29-4-1 (21 KOs), returning at middleweight 28 months after his TKO loss to Tim Tszyu.

Saturday, July 26: Ryan Garner vs. Reese Bellotti (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. BST).

Garner, 17-0 (8 KOs), is a 27-year-old junior lightweight from Southampton, England. He is ranked No. 7 by the WBC, No. 11 by the WBO and No. 13 by the IBF. In his past three outings, Garner won unanimous decisions over the 13-1-1 Liam Dillon, the 25-0 Archie Sharp and the 14-0-1 Salvador Jimenez.

Bellotti, 20-5 (15 KOs), is a 34-year-old from Watford, England. His five losses came in a seven-fight stretch between 2018 and 2021, including three consecutive defeats to the 12-1-1 Francesco Grandelli (SD10), the 24-1 Jordan Gill (UD10) and a young Raymond Ford (TKO3). Six wins have followed, Bellotti steadying himself against domestic-level opposition, including a decision win over the aforementioned Dillon three months before Garner faced the same man. In Bellotti’s most recent outing, he stopped the 21-1 Michael Gomez Jnr at the start of the 10th round.

The undercard includes a cruiserweight fight between Aloys Youmbi, 10-1 (9 KOs), and Ellis Zorro, 18-2 (7 KOs), plus a junior middleweight bout between Carl Fail, 10-0 (3 KOs), and Amir Abubaker, 9-0 (6 KOs). 

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.