Fight Week Preview
On a very quiet weekend of boxing, there is just one major card, and it takes place in the UK, meaning that US fight fans will have all evening to watch the first week of college football.
The weekend's only action takes place at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. In the evening's main event, we get a thrilling rematch between Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr. The pair fought in a thrilling scrap back in January after Smith outboxed Eubank over the first two rounds. Eubank rallied back in the third and tagged Smith up on the inside in round three. However, his little rally did not phase Smith came back and stopped Eubank in the fourth. Liam Smith has a record of 33-3-1 (20) and scored four consecutive stoppages, all of which are over high-caliber fighters, Eubank, Hassan Mwakinyo, Jessie Vargas, and Anthony Fowler, since his loss to Magomed Kurbanov in May of 2021. Eubank, 32-3 (23), had won six fights in a row, including stopping Matvey Korbov, before losing to Smith earlier this year.
The undercard features an intriguing bout between American Olympian and former World Champion Mikaela Mayer, 18-1 (5), and Silvia Bortot 11-2-1 (3). Bortot is coming off a controversial loss for the EBU Super Lightweight strap to Italian Flora Pili in Italy, back in May. Mayer bounced back from her first career defeat, a thorough beating from Alycia Baumgardner, by beating down Lucy Wildheart in April.
The undercard also features British Super Middleweight and surging upstart Mark Heffron, 29-2-1 (23), who has scored four consecutive stoppage victories since being stopped by Denzel Bentley in 2020. Heffron battles fan favorite Jack Cullen 21-4-1 (9). Cullen last fought in March and was annihilated by Diego Pacheco in March.
Also on the card is Adam Azim, 8-0 (6), who scored a dominant victory over unbeaten Nicaraguan prospect Santos Reyes in a matchup of unbeaten 140-pounders. Azim will step in with Aram Faniian, 23-1 (5), of Brovari, Ukraine. Faniian scored a career-best win back in 2021 when he dominated Timo Schwarzkopf back in 2021 in Germany to capture the 140-pound IBO strap.
