Pick it, part 1: Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen II
When to Watch: Saturday, May 17 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. BST)
Why to Watch: Because it should be fun.
This isn’t an important boxing match in terms of what it will mean for the future of the heavyweight division. That much was clear before Johnny Fisher took on Dave Allen the first time. What Fisher lacked in gifts, he made up for with an ability to sell tickets.
Still, Fisher was unbeaten and favored heading into his fight with Allen on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II in Saudi Arabia in December, while Allen was thought of as no better than a fan-friendly domestic attraction who fell short whenever he stepped up in class. Allen briefly pondered his future in the sport after a 2023 stoppage loss to Frazer Clarke before deciding to continue.
Fisher and Allen were amiable with each other beforehand. That didn’t mean they were going to take it easy on each other once the bell rang. Allen dragged Fisher into a tough battle, dropping him in the fifth round. Fisher won a close split decision. It would be understandable if you believed the result should’ve gone the other way.
So now they’ll do it again, this time in the main event at the Copper Box Arena in London. Will Fisher, 13-0 (11 KOs), be able to show different facets to his game? Will he have learned from and improved on his mistakes? Or did Allen, 23-7-2 (18 KOs), reveal Fisher’s limits? Did he show us that Fisher’s ceiling is here, or at least somewhere near?
Beyond the action itself, the answers to those questions are what we will be watching for. And then we can get to wondering who Fisher and Allen might face next. There are plenty of entertaining and/or interesting matches to be made with heavyweights who won’t ever belong in or anywhere near the title picture.
Pick it, part 2: Serhii Bohachuk vs. Mykal Fox
When to Watch: Saturday, May 17 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (3 a.m. BST)
How to watch: UFC Fight Pass
Why to Watch: Bohachuk, 25-2 (24 KOs), continues to stay busy while awaiting bigger fights with the top names at 154lbs.
There were three setbacks for Bohachuk in 2024, even as the 30-year-old Ukrainian went 2-1 – and even that one loss was closely contested, highly entertaining and ended with a debatable decision.
Setback No. 1: Bohachuk was supposed to face Sebastian Fundora in March 2024 for the vacant WBC title on the undercard of Tim Tszyu-Keith Thurman. When Thurman pulled out with an injury, Fundora stepped in and the WBC belt was on the line in the Tszyu bout instead. Bohachuk took on and beat Brian Mendoza on the show, gaining the WBC’s interim title.
Setback No. 2: Bohachuk lost a narrow majority decision to Vergil Ortiz Jnr, scoring two knockdowns but coming up just short on two scorecards in the main event of their August match. Ortiz captured the interim WBC belt and the leverage to someday challenge for the primary title.
Setback No. 3: Bohachuk was supposed to face Israil Madrimov on the December undercard of Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II, but Madrimov pulled out with an illness (though some were skeptical of that news given that Madrimov was also scheduled to face Ortiz just two months later). Bohachuk took out his frustrations on late replacement Ishmael Davis, stopping him after six rounds.
Fox, 24-4 (5 KOs), would like to play the spoiler and give Bohachuk setback No. 4. The 29-year-old from Maryland is the younger brother of Alantez Fox, a middleweight and super middleweight who lost to Demetrius Andrade, David Morrell and Bektemir Melkuziev, among others.
Mykal Fox’s defeats have all come by decision: a UD10 to the then-15-0 Shohjahon Ergashev in 2019; a UD10 to the 10-1-1 Luke Santamaria in 2020; what many believe was a robbery UD12 to the 3-0 Gabriel Maestre in 2021; and a UD10 to fringe welterweight contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas in 2022.
Fox took 21 months off following the Kavaliauskas loss before returning last July. He has since won twice, outpointing foes with records of 18-12-2 and 3-5-2. Fox also will have more relief on the scales for his 6-foot-3 frame, which he somehow squeezed down as low as lightweight and junior welterweight from 2014 to 2019.
On the undercard at The Commerce Casino and Hotel near Los Angeles, featherweight Omar Trinidad will face Alexander Espinoza, plus junior bantamweight titleholder Mizuki Hiruta will defend against Carla Merino.
Trinidad, 18-0-1 (13 KOs), is continuing to work his way up the rankings as he develops from a prospect into a contender. Last year, Trinidad stopped the 11-2-2 Jose Perez in eight rounds and the 15-2-1 Viktor Slavinskyi in 10 rounds, then went 12 rounds for the first time with a unanimous decision over the 17-2 Hector Andres Sosa. In January, Trinidad outpointed the 31-4 Mike Plania over the course of 10 rounds. That has landed Trinidad in the ratings of all four sanctioning bodies: No. 2 with the IBF, No. 5 with the WBC, and No. 8 with both the WBA and WBO.
Espinoza is 23-6-3 (8 KOs). The most notable bouts on his record are stoppage losses to junior bantamweight Andrew Moloney and junior featherweight Peter McGrail, both in 2022. In February, Espinoza fought to a 10-round draw with the 14-0 Carlos Gonzalez.
Hiruta, 7-0 (2 KOs), won the vacant WBO title in December 2022 and has made three successful defenses, including a technical decision over the 15-10-4 Maribel Ramirez in January.
Merino is 16-2 (4 KOs). In her last fight, she scored a TKO7 over the 4-7-2 Rosana Ayelen Bermudez in November.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.