Keyshawn, Nakatani, Opetaia, Wardley: Boxing schedule for June 5-8

Keyshawn Davis, Junto Nakatani, Fabio Wardley, Jai Opetaia, and more are back in the ring this coming week.

Thursday, June 5

ESPN+, 7:00 pm ET, Albert Ramirez vs Michael Alan Flannery. Light heavyweight main event from Montreal. Venezuela’s Ramirez is a fringe contender, Flannery is a UK guy coming over.

Friday, June 6

DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Brandon Moore vs Stanley Wright.

DAZN, 9:00 pm ET, Khalid Twaiti vs Emanuel Moreno.

Saturday, June 7

DAZN and Social Media, 11:30 am ET, Wardley vs Huni prelims.

DAZN, 2:00 pm ET, Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni. Taking place at Ipswich Town’s home ground, Portman Road. Wardley’s a big fan so it’s a neat deal for him. Huni stepped in as a replacement and is taking his own big crack at something here. I like the fight and Wardley is a really entertaining fighter to watch. Dillian Whyte will supposedly be on the undercard, along with Lewis Richardson’s pro debut and a European 140 lb title fight between Pierce O’Leary and Liam Dillon, plus more. BLH will have live coverage.

ESPN+, 5:10 pm ET, Davis vs De Los Santos prelims. Troy Isley, Tiger Johnson, Euri Cedeno, and Keyshawn Davis’ brothers in action.

DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Thomas O’Toole vs Laurent Humes. DAZN are listing Humes as the opponent, BoxRec have Vaughn Alexander. It doesn’t really matter. The fights are at Fenway Park, which is cool. Abraham Nova is also on the card.

DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Labinot Xhoxhaj vs Mourad Aliev. Look, this is what DAZN are listing as the time right now. But it’s a fight in Germany, so, seems unlikely. Or maybe they only have a replay for a few hours delay? I don’t know. Good matchup on paper, though.

DAZN, 8:30 pm ET, Beatriz Ferreira vs Maria Ines Ferreyra. Ferreira — the first one, to be extra clear, Beatriz — is one of the best in the sport and defends her lightweight belt. Another MVP card from the Caribe Royale, lots of prospects in action on the undercard. Not the greatest prospects, but MVP have taken a couple of smart paths for building their company. They’ve all but consolidated high-end women’s boxing, which is cornering a niche, and also they are stockpiling the types of prospects that might become something with decent backing. Many won’t, but the few that do pan out will make up for those who don’t. Golden Boy did this for years when they couldn’t afford blue chip guys. You give people a chance to earn it.

ESPN and ESPN+, 10:00 pm ET, Keyshawn Davis vs Edwin De Los Santos. How should Edwin De Los Santos be rewarded for his role in an all-time stinker against Shakur Stevenson? Why, with another title shot, in a main event on the same network that was embarrassed by that fight! But you have to admit he’s definitely earned it, going undefeated since then. He’s also gone winless, as he hasn’t fought since November 2023. To be fair, De Los Santos isn’t always that impossible to watch, and Davis doesn’t fight like Shakur. The point will be, I guess, trying to make clear that Davis is the REAL young star of the division, not the Top Rank-departed Stevenson. Abdullah Mason takes on Jeremia Nakathila. BLH will have live coverage.

Sunday, June 8

ESPN+, 4:00 am ET, Junto Nakatani vs Ryusuke Nishida. Bantamweight title unification from Tokyo. Nakatani will be a big favorite, because he’s pound-for-pound material. Nishida’s a good fighter and it’s a fight that makes obvious sense. Tenshin Nasukawa returns on the undercard. BLH will have live coverage.

DAZN, 5:00 am ET, Jai Opetaia vs Claudio Squeo. Not the fight Opetaia (or anyone) wanted (maybe Squeo), but an Opetaia fight all the same. Feel free to chat about this in the live post for the Nakatani show, I’m sure we’ll all be dual screening.