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Mark Robinson/Matchroom
Derek Chisora takes on Joseph Parker, Katie Taylor defends her lightweight crown against Natasha Jonas, and Dmitry Bivol puts his light heavyweight belt up against Craig Richards tomorrow on DAZN and Sky Box Office.
Let’s dive in!
Note: Lewis Watson is taking a leave of absence so, for now, the prediction squad is down to three.
Dmitry Bivol vs Craig Richards
Scott Christ (26-8-2)
I am certain Dmitry Bivol wins. Craig Richards is just not on his level and this is not exactly the “bizarre” Bivol comeback idea that Eddie Hearn promised. It’s bizarre in that nobody expected this to be a fight that happened because nobody was thinking of Richards as a world title contender, but other than that, no. I thought Dmitry Bivol was going to fight a YouChoober or the like the way Eduardo Grande was talking it up. This is just a rust-shaker on paper. Bivol has a habit of boxing to his competition now that he’s no longer trying to make his name en route to a
Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions
Andy Ruiz Jr is back Saturday night on FOX pay-per-view, facing Chris Arreola in a match we all pretty well agree doesn’t belong on pay-per-view.
But there are some fights here. Ruiz-Arreola, of course, plus three more bouts on PPV, as well as Erislandy Lara headlining the FOX undercard that starts at 7 pm ET.
Let’s just get to the picks.
Note: Lewis Watson is taking a leave of absence so, for now, the prediction squad is down to three.
Erislandy Lara vs Thomas Lamanna
Scott Christ (26-8-2)
Lara stepping up to middleweight at 38 is fine. If it sets up Lara against Jermall Charlo, neat. Charlo needs opponents. This being for the vacant WBA “world” (“regular”) middleweight title is an absolute laugh. Cornflake Lamanna is a tough dude who comes to fight, but he has no business being in anything called a world title fight. That is leaps beyond his ability and record. Lara will do what he wants to in this one. He’ll drag it out for
Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images
Saturday night on ESPN+ and ESPN, Emanuel Navarrete will return to defend his WBO featherweight title against Christopher Diaz.
Does Navarrete retain or will Diaz pull a shocker?
Scott Christ (24-7-2)
Christopher Diaz has to this point in his career been a nice, solid, second-tier fighter. Top Rank tried to get a 130 lb belt on him in 2018, but he wasn’t quite up to the task against Masayuki Ito. He moved down to 126 and Top Rank fed him to Shakur Stevenson as a Madison Square Garden showcase. He’s won a couple and now they’re sending him in against Navarrete, who is a good fighter everyone enjoys watching and is still mostly being handled with kid gloves.
Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images
Saturday night on ESPN+ and ESPN, power punching super middleweight sensation Edgar Berlanga takes on Demond Nicholson in the Navarrete-Diaz co-feature.
Does Berlanga extend his run to 17 straight first round knockouts? Can Nicholson hang around or even win?
Scott Christ (24-7-2)
Demond Nicholson is an alright young vet sort of fighter, 28 and has been around, the book is mostly written on him unless he throws some curveballs. He can crack a little, not a guy whose power you can ignore. The terrible news for him in this particular matchup is he doesn’t take the best shot in the world; he was dropped three times and stopped by Jesse Hart in 2018, he got caught and dropped by Mike Guy in his last fight in Feb. 2020, which Nicholson did win by decision.