The top two shows this week feature a pair of heavyweight main events, with all four men having competed in the Olympics.

In Las Vegas, Richard Torrez Jnr will continue his development by taking on Guido Vianello. And in Manchester, England, Joe Joyce and Filip Hrgovic will seek to save their careers.

Let’s take a look at those fights, and more, in this week’s TV picks:

Pick it, Part 1: Richard Torrez Jnr vs Guido Vianello

When to watch: Saturday, April 5 at 5:30 p.m. ET (10:30 p.m. BST)

How to watch: ESPN+

Why to watch: Torrez, 12-0 (11 KOs), is being pushed as someone who could be the next American heavyweight contender, especially now that Jared Anderson has fizzled out. 

The 25-year-old Torrez, from Tulare, California, turned pro in 2022 after capturing a silver medal at super heavyweight in the 2020/2021 Olympics. He’s still early on in his development – Torrez’s four wins in 2024 came against 18-8-1 Donald Haynesworth, 14-0 Brandon Moore, 28-11-4 Joey Dawejko and 18-1-1 Issac Munoz Gutierrez.

Vianello, 13-2-1 (11 KOs), is a solid step up. The 30-year-old Vianello hails from Italy, which he represented in the 2016 Olympics, losing a decision to Lenier Pero in the super heavyweight tournament. These days Vianello lives in Las Vegas. The two losses on his record came against Jonathan Rice (TKO7 in January 2023) and Efe Ajagba (a split decision in April 2024). Vianello scored a big win in August, stopping the 19-1 Arslanbek Makhmudov in eight rounds.

On the undercard at the Palms Casino Resort in Vegas, junior welterweight prospect Lindolfo Delgado will face Elvis Rodriguez, and rising lightweight Abdullah Mason will meet Carlos Ornelas.

Delgado, 22-0 (16 KOs), is at a point in his career where he needs to show that he’s ready for the next level. He’s 30 years old and still unbeaten, but he had to come from behind to knock out the 25-2 Carlos Sanchez in March 2024, took a split decision over the 26-0-1 Bryan Flores in August and defeated 22-3 Jackson Marinez in five rounds in December.

Rodriguez, 17-1-1 (13 KOs), is a good choice of opponent. His only loss came via majority decision against Kenneth Sims Jnr in 2021. Six victories have followed. Rodriguez widely outpointed 21-6 Kendo Castaneda in September.

The winner will be closer to taking on another notable name at 140lbs.

Mason, 17-0 (15 KOs), has been prominently featured on Top Rank shows during his development, which meant a lot of eyes saw him get dropped twice in the first round by Yohan Vasquez in November. Mason got up and stopped Vasquez in the second round, and he dominated Manuel Jaimes for a fourth-round TKO in February.

Ornelas, 28-4 (15 KOs), has stepped in as a late replacement for Giovanni Cabrera. His last loss was a decision defeat to future featherweight titleholder Rafael Espinoza in early 2021; Ornelas has also been beaten by far less accomplished opponents than Espinoza. But Ornelas is on a 3-0 run, including a unanimous decision in his most recent fight, against 16-0-1 David Moreno Potrero. However, that was nearly 16 months ago.

Several other prospects are scheduled to appear in the prelims, including welterweight/junior middleweight Art Barrera, 7-0 (5 KOs); featherweight Albert Gonzalez, 12-0 (7 KOs); junior bantamweight Steven Navarro, 5-0 (4 KOs); middleweight Jahi Tucker, 13-1-1 (6 KOs); and junior lightweight DJ Zamora, 15-0 (10 KOs).

Pick it, Part 2: Joe Joyce vs Filip Hrgovic

When to watch: Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m. ET (7 p.m. BST)

How to watch: DAZN

Why to watch: The main event at the Co-op Live in Manchester was originally supposed to be between Joyce and Dillian Whyte. But with Whyte out, a bout with Hrgovic is a fine replacement. This match will tell us a lot about whether either can still compete in today’s heavyweight division.

Joyce, 16-3 (15 KOs), is a 39-year-old from London who earned a silver medal at super heavyweight in the 2016 Olympics. He was a rising star just a couple years back, especially following knockout wins over Daniel Dubois in 2020 and Joseph Parker in 2022. His past four fights have been rough, though. Joyce was stopped twice by Zhilei Zhang in 2023. He stopped Kash Ali in the final seconds of their March 2024 bout but didn’t look great. And he lost a decision in a battle with Derek Chisora in July.

Joyce’s ability to take punishment in order to deliver it is catching up with him. For the sake of his safety and long-term health, it may be time for Joyce to call it a career. That will depend on how he looks against Hrgovic.

Hrgovic, 17-1 (14 KOs), is a 32-year-old who won bronze for Croatia in the 2016 Olympics, though he and Joyce never met in the super heavyweight tournament. Hrgovic was awarded a unanimous decision over Zhang in 2022 and was in position to fight for a world title. He met Dubois for the IBF’s interim belt last June – with the knowledge that the winner would likely soon be upgraded once Oleksandr Usyk vacated his full IBF title. Dubois stopped Hrgovic on cuts in the eighth round.

For Hrgovic to remain a viable contender, he’ll need to beat Joyce – and convincingly, given the perception of how damaged Joyce may be. Then Hrgovic should seek to remain active, putting together more wins to position himself for another big fight.

The co-feature is also a heavyweight bout, this one between David Adeleye, 13-1 (12 KOs), and Jeamie Tshikeva, 8-1 (5 KOs). And the undercard includes a battle between unbeaten junior welterweight prospects Jack Rafferty, 25-0 (16 KOs), and Cory O'Regan, 14-0 (3 KOs).

More Fights to Watch

Friday, April 4: Shakan Pitters vs. Daniel Blenda dos Santos (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 1:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. BST).

York Hall in London hosts this light heavyweight fight, which was originally supposed to take place in February. Dos Santos failed a pre-fight brain scan, however that finding was soon found to be mistaken.

Pitters is a 35-year-old from Birmingham, England, who stands very tall for his weight class at 6ft 6in. He is 20-2 (7 KOs), with both of those defeats coming against familiar names: a ninth-round TKO against Craig Richards in 2020 and a unanimous decision against Dan Azeez in 2022. Pitters wound up taking on a late replacement in February, needing less than two rounds to dispose of 4-23-4 Bahadur Karami.

Dos Santos is a 34-year-old from France who is listed at 6ft 3in. He is 22-1 (10 KOs) and was stopped in four rounds by Joshua Buatsi in 2021. Dos Santos has won seven in a row since then but fought only once in each of 2023 and 2024, including a unanimous decision in June over 24-5-1 Thomas Faure.

The undercard includes a match between unbeaten junior welterweights Ben Crocker, 14-0 (2 KOs), and Tiernan Bradley, 10-0 (5 KOs).

Friday, April 4: Deonte Brown vs Dennis Contreras (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET (midnight BST).

Brown, 15-0 (11 KOs), is a 29-year-old lightweight from Marietta, Georgia. He hasn’t fought in 37 months, dating back to a ninth-round TKO of 10-0 Jesus Saracho in March 2022.

Contreras, 24-17-1 (22 KOs), is a 32-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico. He has made a living as a mostly sturdy opponent, failing to make it to the final bell only four times in his 17 defeats. Contreras’ last win was in March 2021; seven straight losses followed.

They will make up the main event at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston.

Saturday, April 5: Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue (ESPN+)

The broadcast begins at 10 a.m. ET (3 p.m. BST).

Alimkhanuly, the unified IBF/WBO middleweight titleholder, will fight in his home country of Kazakhstan for the first time since his second pro bout, all the way back in September 2017. Back then he was on the undercard of a show headlined by Kanat Islam. This time Alimkhanuly will be in the main event at the Barys Arena in Astana.

Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian, is now 31 years old and carries a professional record of 16-0 (11 KOs). He won the WBO’s interim belt at 160lbs in May 2022, was upgraded later that year and defeated Vincenzo Gualtieri in October 2023 to add the IBF title. In Alimkhanuly’s sole appearance of 2024, he took out Andrei Mikhailovich in nine rounds in October.

Ngamissengue, 14-0 (9 KOs), is a 29-year-old French resident originally from Congo. His best win came in August 2023, when he took an eight-round majority decision over 22-0 Fiodor Czerkaszyn. Since then, Ngamissengue’s only fight saw him make quick work of 12-32-2 Sandro Jajanidze last June.

A number of notable Kazakh and Uzbek fighters are scheduled to appear on the show in separate bouts, including junior lightweight prospect Sultan Zaurbek, 19-0 (13 KOs), against Azinga Fuzile, 18-2 (12 KOs), of South Africa; junior welterweight fringe contender Batyrzhan Jukembayev, 23-1 (17 KOs), against Kane Gardner, 17-4 (7 KOs), of England; two-time Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov, 14-0 (14 KOs), as a pro against Ihor Shevadzutskyi, 12-2 (10 KOs), of Ukraine; and featherweight contender Otabek Kholmatov, 12-1 (11 KOs), returning for the first time since getting stopped in the final seconds of a war with Raymond Ford in March 2024. Kholmatov will meet 30-12-2 Jason Canoy Manigos, of the Philippines.

Saturday, April 5: Tim Tszyu vs Joey Spencer (Amazon Prime)

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

Tszyu is returning after a year in which he lost his world title, lost his recognition as one of the top junior middleweights and lost twice overall – the second time worse than the first.

That’s because Tszyu’s first loss, via split decision against Sebastian Fundora in March 2024, saw him suffer a bad cut early on from an accidental elbow. Tszyu fought through lots of bleeding and obscured vision for the remaining 10 rounds.

But when Tszyu, 30, tried to bounce back in October, he was instead bounced off the canvas several times before being stopped by IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev in the third round.

For his first bout back, Tszyu, 24-2 (17 KOs), will fight in his home country of Australia at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Broadmeadow. He will face Joey Spencer, 19-1 (11 KOs), a 25-year-old from Fenton, Michigan. Spencer was stopped in seven rounds by Jesus Ramos Jnr in March 2023 and has scored three victories in a row since – including a majority decision over 9-0 Miguel Angel Hernandez in December.

Saturday, April 5: Ricardo Salas vs Kent Cruz (ProBoxTV.com)

The broadcast begins at 5 p.m. ET (10 p.m. BST).

Salas, 20-2-2 (15 KOs), is a 26-year-old welterweight from Mexico City. He has gone 4-0-2 since his last loss. In Salas’ most recent appearance, he picked up the best win yet of his career when he took out Roiman Villa in three rounds on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga.

Cruz, 17-1-3 (11 KOs), is a 32-year-old from St. Louis. He was beaten in less than a round by Gary Antuanne Russell in August 2023 and then returned last November with a two-round knockout of 20-11 Braulio Rodriguez.

On the undercard at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, junior welterweight prospect Mykquan Williams will face Antonio Moran in the co-feature and junior lightweight prospect Jonathan “Geo” Lopez will take on former contender Rene Alvarado.

Williams, 22-0-2 (11 KOs), was held to a draw by 12-7-1 Paulo Cesar Galdino in June 2023. Williams has scored three straight knockouts since, taking out 17-0 Luis Feliciano in six rounds in January 2024, putting away 12-5-2 Willmank Canonico Brito in June and dispatching 10-1-1 Lavisas Williams in eight rounds in October.

Moran, 30-7-1 (21 KOs), will be a good test even if he is essentially a measuring-stick opponent these days. Many of his recent losses have come against familiar names: Jose Pedraza (a close decision in 2018), Devin Haney (KO7 in 2019), Arnold Barboza Jnr (UD10 in 2021), Jamaine Ortiz (UD10 in 2023) and Andy Cruz (TKO7 in August).

Lopez, 17-0 (12 KOs), picked up three victories in 2024, including a September shutout of 15-2 Richard Medina.

Alvarado, 34-15 (22 KOs), is long in the tooth from the years in which he held a secondary title at 130lbs. His reign began in November 2019 with a seventh-round stoppage of Andrew Cancio and ended in January 2021 in Alvarado’s first defense, when he was edged on the scorecards by Roger Gutierrez. The scores were wider in their immediate rematch. Alvarado has won only twice since. He has gone from losing decisions to the likes of Lamont Roach Jnr and William Zepeda to getting stopped in eight rounds last December by 5-0 Hayato Tsutsumi.

(Note: BoxingScene.com is owned by ProBox.)

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.