Three Fall Matchroom USA Cards on DAZN in Works; Jacobs, Haney, Chocolatito
While Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn formally announced a slate of fall fights that will take place in the United Kingdom, including the Alexander Povetkin-Dillian Whyte heavyweight rematch on Nov. 21, the schedule for his Matchroom Boxing USA remains a work in progress.
However, multiple sources told Boxing Scene that there are three cards in the works that would stream on DAZN -- one in October and two in November -- as follow-ups to the one card Matchroom USA has put on since boxing returned during the coronavirus pandemic.
The next show is penciled in for Thanksgiving weekend, either Nov. 27 or Nov. 28, and will be headlined by former middleweight world titlist Daniel Jacobs (36-3, 30 KOs), 33, of Brooklyn, New York, the sources said. Jacobs, who is now fighting at super middleweight, is coming off making Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. quit after the fifth round in December.
Jacobs does not have a set opponent but the discussion centers around a pair of former world title challengers, per sources: Gabriel Rosado (25-12-1, 14 KOs), 34, of Philadelphia, who was on standby to fill in for Chavez in case there was an issue and wound up instead winning on the undercard, and England’s John Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs), 32, who is coming off a controversial decision loss challenging super middleweight titlist Callum Smith last November.
According to the sources, DAZN prefers Ryder because it plans to launch the streaming service in England later in the year and would like to see Jacobs against a British opponent.
Middleweight world titlist Demetrius Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs), of Providence, Rhode Island, who retained his title by ninth-round knockout of Luke Keeler on DAZN’s Jan. 30 card in Miami, could also appear on the card in a nontitle bout. However, there is also discussion of Andrade being on the Nov. 7 show instead, sources said.
Another bout being penciled in for the Jacobs card, according to sources, would see unified junior featherweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev (8-0, 6 KOs), 25, the Uzbekistan native fighting out of Indio, California, defend the belts he won from Daniel Roman on Jan. 30 in Miami. One potential opponent “MJ” could face is interim titleholder and mandatory challenger Ryosuke Iwasa (27-3, 17 KOs), 30, of Japan.
Matchroom prospects ticketed for the undercard include New York super middleweight Nikita “White Chocolate” Ababiy (9-0, 6 KOs); Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams (5-0, 4 KOs); and Fresno, California, featherweight Marc Castro, a standout amateur who has yet to make his professional debut.
Castro was slated to turn pro in April but the card was canceled when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sports world. Then Castro was scheduled for his pro debut on the Tulsa card but was removed when he tested positive for Covid-19.
Always bloodied.