Alycia Baumgardner, Ben Whittaker and a busy boxing weekend: 5 things to watch

After back-to-back heavyweight weekends, boxing is back to its bread-and-butter schedule over the next few days as we put talk of Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury negotiations on ice.

Pah, who are we kidding?

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Despite being five or six years past its prime sell-by date, the long-awaited “Battle of Britain” is once again front and center of the boxing news agenda and it’s proving impossible to go an hour, let alone a day, without rumblings of this potential heavyweight bout topping the headlines.

But as Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, explained last weekend, until both parties have signed on the dotted line, it’s pointless getting too excited about this clash of former heavyweight world champions.

If only someone would tell the trigger-happy Turki Alalshikh this.

So, let’s take a look at some of the confirmed boxing action over this weekend — leaving a little room for some speculation.

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1. Baumgardner’s latest push to become the “face” of women’s boxing

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have made no secret of their desires for retirement in the near future, leaving the door open for a new queen of the ring to rival the likes of Claressa Shields in becoming the “face” of women’s boxing.

Alycia Baumgardner ticks a lot of boxes to be a contender for that crown.

The 31-year-old returns to the ring on Friday night defending her unified WBO, IBF and WBA super featherweight titles against South Korea’s Bo Mi Re Shin inside the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and a convincing win on this MVPW 02 card will catapult the American’s name into the headlines once again.

Baumgardner is 17-1 (7 KOs) looks the part, talks the talk, and has, so far, walked the walk in the ring.

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If she is successful this weekend, expect the typically brash Ohio fighter to call out the biggest and best names in the sport as she attempts to strike while her iron is hot.

“Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano and Mikaela Mayer, those are all three great fights. Let’s get them all,” she told MVP’s UK broadcaster, Sky Sports, this past week.

2. Collins and Lorente run it back in Glasgow

After fighting to a split draw last October, featherweights Nathaniel Collins (17-0-1, 8 KOs) and Cristobal Lorente (20-0-3, 8 KOs) are going straight back at it, headlining a Queensberry Promotions card inside Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on Friday night.

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This time there’s a WBC silver trinket on the line for the victor, and it’s Collins that heads to his home venue as a big favorite (-286 with BetMGM) against the Spaniard despite splitting three cards just seven months ago.

Collins knows the significance of a victory on Friday night with a shot at the WBC title within reach, and is vowing to fight with his head rather than his heart this time around.

“I let my heart control my head last time. I need to be focused. That’s the difference for a world-level fighter. You need to be able to use the skills you’ve got and stay switched on,” the 29-year-old southpaw explained during fight week.

But Lorente is no pushover. Unbeaten across 23 fights, the Catalunian is well-travelled, and after registering back-to-back draws as an underdog, is proving very hard to beat.

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3. Whittaker grabs unexpected headline slot in Liverpool

I can’t imagine Ben Whittaker is the type of character to be overwhelmed by the spotlight.

The 28-year-old light heavyweight has been bumped up to headline Saturday night’s Matchroom Boxing show in Liverpool, England, after Callum Smith was forced to withdraw from his fight with David Morrell due to injury.

Smith-Morrell topped our best fights in April list, so the spunky Whittaker has a big task on his hands to provide the Liverpool Arena crowd with the level of entertainment they were expecting when they booked tickets earlier this year.

Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) hasn’t been as active as many would have hoped since crossing the promotional road and joining Matchroom late last year, so a highlight-reel knockout and a dazzling performance will be just the tonic against Argentinean Braian Suarez (21-4, 20 KOs) — a man who has lost half of his past eight contests, three via stoppages.

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The moment is there for Whittaker to grab. If he doesn’t, the Liverpudlian crowd won’t be shy in telling him what they think.

4. Can Joshua and Fury thrash out their Ts and Cs?

We’ve waited more than 10 years for Joshua vs. Fury, so what’s another few weeks, right?

The pair of heavyweights clashed — sort of — after Fury’s comeback win over Arslanbek Makhmudov inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Alalshikh misleading the boxing public into believing that this fight was done.

There are still obvious hurdles to jump on the side of Team Joshua, and internal battles for Joshua to navigate following the heartbreaking passing of his two friends and teammates at the end of 2025, but the noises appear to be positive.

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It’s been said before: It’s now or never for these two to fight. But this time we mean it.

There’s no space past 2026 for this rivalry to drag on, so keep your ears to the ground for movement over this weekend as deadlines come into view.

5. Moloney sets his sights on another world title run

There aren’t many fighters who we’d drag the weekend into NEXT THURSDAY for, but Australia’s Jason Moloney is certainly one of them.

The affable 35-year-old owns a dogged 28-4 (20 KOs) record but insists there is plenty of fire left in the belly for a final tilt at world honors in the bantamweight division.

“Mayhem” Moloney headlines a Fortitude Valley card in Australia next Thursday, challenging Ohio fighter Andre Donovan (12-2, 8 KOs) for the vacant IBF inter-continental strap. It will be his second fight under Mick Francis’ Tasman Fighters banner, in association with Spencer Brown and Goldstar Promotions.

After parting ways with Top Rank, Moloney sees this as a fresh start in his career at a vital stage, and an increase in activity should bear fruit in his charge to become a two-time world champion.