It looks like boxing didn’t get the memo for the typical summer break over July this year.
Sure, the slate isn’t #megastacked like we’ve become accustomed to over this crazy period in the fight game, but there’s enough to keep you satisfied as eyes turn toward the final hurdle in the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua steeplechase.
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Will this month finally see the sport get this heavyweight grudge match over the line?
Let’s run down the top five fights in July.
5. Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga, heavyweight, July 25
If you want, you can also throw Tyson Fury vs. Mariusz Wach (on July 24 in Thailand) into this spot.
Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) is one step away from his long-awaited date with Tyson Fury and has chosen to get more rust off his gloves in a tune-up against the unknown, unheralded, American-based Albanian, Kristian Prenga.
They head to the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia for an event with an unknown number of bouts, with Prenga looking to add a major scalp to his 20-1 (20 KOs) record.
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Spoiler alert: He won’t.
Both Joshua and Fury have accepted walkovers on the same weekend for a reason, and if they don’t announce this dubbed “Battle of Britain” by the time July 26 rolls around, then we might as well all give up and go home.
Listen, neither of these July bouts are worthy of a spot on this list, but the fruits they may bear mean at least some kind of recognition is needed.
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua remain on a collision course … hopefully.
(Mark Robinson via Getty Images)
4. Murat Gassiev vs. Tony Yoka, 12 rounds for WBA “regular” heavyweight title, July 11
By the time this fight rolls into Moscow’s VTB Arena, Murat Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs) may well be a fully fledged heavyweight world champion.
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After Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to relinquish his hold on the sanctioning-body titles, the 32-year-old Russian — who has held the WBA’s “regular” strap for the past year — is expected to move up a rung, and his first defense will be against French enigma Tony Yoka.
Nobody knows how good Yoka (15-3, 12 KOs) is.
He lost three fights in a row between 2022-23 and was thrown to the bottom of the heavyweight pile, but has since rebuilt away from home and is on a four-fight win streak.
The Frenchman was scheduled to face Lawrence Okolie in Paris in April, but the fight was canceled after Okolie failed a drug test during fight week — but Queensbury looks to have done one better for “The Artist.”
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Gassiev has been around for what seems like forever.
His nip-and-tuck, razor-thin loss to Usyk in 2018 seems like a lifetime ago, but after starching Kubrat Pulev in December, he’s back looking to make a splash up at heavyweight.
This one could be a dud. But with two well-known names probably duking it out for a heavyweight world title, it’s one of July’s biggest hits.
3. Edgar Berlanga vs. Steven Butler, 10 rounds, super middleweight, July 26
It’s Zuffa 09 time on July 26, as we head to the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
And instead of a knockover in his first return since losing to Hamzah Sheeraz last summer, Edgar Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) has been handed a genuine test against Montreal’s Steven Butler (38-5-1, 32 KOs) in front of home support in the “Big Apple.”
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Zuffa Boxing is still in its infancy as a major promotional outfit, but is continuing to push its self-proclaimed UFC model of “the best fighting the best.”
It’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that Berlanga and Butler are the “best” at 168 pounds, but it’s nowhere close to a ceremonial return Berlanga might have been handed as part of another stable.
Butler is a bit of a ring veteran at age 30, but having stopped his past four opponents at super middleweight, he’ll arrive in New York with way more than a puncher’s chance.
2. Errol Spence Jr. vs. Tim Tszyu, 12 rounds, junior middleweight, July 25
Sometimes it’s not all about young whippersnappers and shiny titles.
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Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) returns from a three-year hiatus here to take on the battle-hardened Tim Tszyu (27-3, 18 KOs) in Sydney in a super welterweight question: Who has the most left in the tank?
Errol Spence Jr. hasn’t fought since his 2023 loss to Terence Crawford.
(Al Bello via Getty Images)
Tszyu, 31, has been through hell against Bakhram Murtazaliev and Sebastian Fundora over the past three years, going 3-3 since the start of 2024 and coming up short whenever he has attempted to sit at the 154-pound top table.
Spence hasn’t been seen over that same span since a 2023 loss to Terence Crawford, let alone attempt to reclaim honors at the top end of any division.
“It’s the last hurrah for Errol Spence. Get in and watch his last fight,” Tszyu told Ring Magazine, in what has become quite a spicy build-up.
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Even if these two have limited resources left, it’s the unknown that makes this one unmissable Down Under.
1. Shokichi Iwata vs. Erik Badillo, 12 rounds for WBC light flyweight title, July 20
Just four months after his big win over Thammanoon Niyomtrong to lift the WBC’s 108-pound title, Japan’s Shokichi Iwata (16-2, 13 KOs) has already been ordered to face the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger, Erik Badillo (19-0, 8 KOs).
Iwata’s potential loss here is our gain, as these two little guys throw it down in Tokyo as part of a loaded U-Next card.
It’s become a little bit less niche to want to tune into these Japanese cards — time zones are usually the biggest hurdle — but it’s hard to remember a disappointing event coming out of Tokyo, especially when you throw such volume punchers into a fight with such high stakes.
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Badillo is a Mexican southpaw who has featured on American cards in his last two outings, gaining notoriety in wins over Gerardo Zapata and Elwin Soto.
Iwata — who regained a 108-pound title after a head clash ended his bout with Niyomtrong in the eighth round — will start as the slight favorite inside the Kokugikan, but down at light flyweight the margins for victory can often shrink.
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