Fight Weekend Preview
It's not a super-busy weekend of prizefighting, but it's a sneaky good weekend for fight fans who get two highly intriguing cards on each side of the Atlantic.
The action starts in the UK with Joe Joyce looking to exact revenge on the man who took his "0" as he rematches with Zhilei Zhang. Zhang, 25-1-1(20), stopped Joyce in the sixth round back in April. It was the biggest win of Zhang's career and the first loss of Joyce's. The Brit ran off 15 straight wins before being stopped by Zhang. Also on the card is hot-shot 140-pound prospect Piece O'leary, 12-0 (7) of Ireland. The Irishman will take a big step up bout and battle Kane Gardner, whose win over Conah Walker in the Spring now looks spectacular. O'leary last fought in May on the undercard of Lopez-Conlan and destroyed Alin Florin Ciorceri in one round.
Also on the card is undefeated lightweight prospect Sam Nokes, 11-0 (11). He will look to continue his knockout streak against Carlos Perez. We will also get to see the return of Zach Parker, who has been out of the ring since he quit against John Ryder and suffered his first loss last November.
We move to the US for a really compelling 140-pound match-up as Richardson Hitchens, 16-0 (7), battles Jose Zepeda 37-3 (28). Zepeda is now 34 years old and has come up close and fought competitively in world title fights against Regis Prograis, Jose Carlos Ramirez, and Turbo Flanagan. This is likely his last chance to get himself into the title picture; a loss would likely end that. Hitchins last fought at Madison Square Garden and outpointed John Bauza in February. A win would likely propel the 25-year-old to a title shot at one of the four majors. The co-main event is for all three of the four belts at the 147-pound woman's division as Jessica McCaskill defends her belts against Sandy Ryan, 6-1 (2) from Derbyshire, United Kingdom. Ryan last fought in April on the Cordina-Rakhimov card and upset the undefeated Marie Pier Houle.
The card also features Austin "Ammo" Williams and the return of Conor Benn.
