Pick It: Junto Nakatani vs. Vincent Astrolabio
When to Watch: Saturday, July 20. The main broadcast begins at 5 a.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. BST).
How to watch: ESPN+
Why to Watch: Don’t take this the wrong way. Junto Nakatani being in this top spot is not some moral stand against Jake Paul.
Rather, it’s because Nakatani is one of the best boxers in the world, ranked #10 on Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list. He’s also one of the best bantamweights, ranked #1 by Ring and #2 by the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board.
And our excitement is about more than just one man — and more than just this one bout. The winner of this fight will then have tons of options available at 118, which was left wide open when undisputed champion Naoya Inoue vacated all four world titles and headed off to junior featherweight
In the wake of Inoue's departure, the WBC title was picked up by Alexandro Santiago, who outpointed Nonito Donaire for that belt in 2023. Nakatani stopped Santiago in six rounds this February. That brought Nakatani, a 26-year-old from Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan, to 27-0 (20 KOs).
It also made Nakatani a three-division titleholder; he previously won belts at flyweight and junior bantamweight. While at 115, he scored one of the best knockouts of 2023 when he floored Andrew Moloney in the final round.
We can’t mention Astrolabio without mentioning another Moloney: Andrew’s twin brother, Jason.
Astrolabio is a 27-year-old originally from General Santos City in the Philippines and now fighting out of Las Vegas. He is 19-4 (14 KOs) and notched two notable wins in 2022, outpointing Guillermo Rigondeaux and knocking out Nikolai Potapov.
That landed Astrolabio a fight with Jason Moloney for the vacant WBO belt in May 2023. Jason Moloney won that fight by majority decision. Since then, Astrolabio stopped Nawaphon Sor Rungvisai in 11 rounds last August to earn this fight with Nakatani.
This match will headline at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. The winner of this fight will likely continue to main event in Japan, given that the other three titleholders are from the country: Takuma Inoue (WBA), Ryosuke Nishida (IBF) and Yoshiki Takei (WBO).
There’s also Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, the living legend who has fought many times in Japan in his career and is now competing at bantamweight. “Chocolatito” is coming off a 10th round TKO of Rober Barrera last week.
If that’s not enough reason to wake up early and watch — or to at least see it on-demand later — there’s the undercard, which includes two additional world title fights:
Kosei Tanaka vs. Jonathan Rodriguez: Tanaka will be making the first defense of his WBO junior bantamweight world title. The belt was left vacant when Nakatani moved up from 115 to 118. The 29-year-old from Nagoya outpointed Christian Bacasegua in February for the title, which made him a four-division titleholder and moved his record to 20-1 (11 KOs). Tanaka’s only loss came in his previous title shot at junior bantamweight, a TKO8 defeat at the hands of since-deposed Kazuto Ioka at the end of 2020.
This is Rodriguez’s second title shot altogether. Back in 2021, he lost a unanimous decision to Jerwin Ancajas in an IBF title bout. Rodriguez has fought four times since. His last appearance was about a year ago, when the 28-year-old from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, fought to a draw with Israel Gonzalez. Rodriguez is now 25-2-1 (17 KOs).
The winner of this fight will be in a good position as this weight class is beginning to reheat. He could aim to unify with Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (WBC) or Fernando Martinez (IBF and WBA), and there also are the many options at 118 mentioned earlier.
Riku Kano vs. Anthony Olascuaga: This bout is for the WBO flyweight title left vacant when “Bam” Rodriguez left the 112-pound division behind.
Kano, a 26-year-old from Sando, Hyogo, Japan, is 22-4-2 (11 KOs). This is his second title shot; he lost a technical decision to Katsunari Takayama in a 2016 fight for a vacant strawweight title.
This is also the second title shot for Olascuaga, a 25-year-old from Los Angeles. Olascuaga was stopped in the ninth round by unified junior flyweight titleholder Kenshiro Teraji in April 2023. Olascuaga stopped Giemel Magramo last September to move to 6-1 (4 KOs).
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Jonathan Rodriguez: And the show also will include a non-title bout featuring Nasukawa, the junior featherweight former kickboxer who lost an exhibition to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2018. Nasukawa became a pro boxer last year and is 3-0 (1 KO). The 25-year-old from Tokyo faces Jonathan Rodriguez — yes, there are two fighters with the same name on this show.
This Rodriguez is a 25-year-old originally from Puerto Rico and now living in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is 17-2-1 (7 KOs) and a good test for Nasukawa. Rodriguez sent Khalid Yafai into retirement after stopping the former 115-pound titleholder in 137 seconds in November 2023. Rodriguez went on to lose a seventh-round technical knockout to Antonio Vargas in February.
More Fights to Watch
Friday, July 19: Alexis Rocha vs. Santiago Dominguez (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Rocha is rebuilding after his second setback, hoping that he can still become a contender at welterweight now that the 147-pound division is in the process of reloading.
The 27-year-old from Irvine is 24-2 (16 KOs), suffering that latest loss last October, stopped in six rounds by Giovanni Santillan. Rocha returned this past March, scoring a seventh-round TKO over Fredrick Lawson.
Rocha’s first defeat came back in 2020 when he lost a unanimous decision to Rashidi Ellis. He bounced back from that with seven straight victories, including a technical knockout of Blair Cobbs.
Rocha wants another opportunity. For Dominguez, meanwhile, this is his first. Dominguez is unbeaten but taking a sizable step up in opposition. The 32-year-old is originally from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico and fights now out of Phoenix. He won a split decision over a 14-3-1 foe named Jose Luis Sanchez in March (on the same card as Rocha vs. Lawson) to move to 27-0 (20 KOs).
Their fight headlines at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Friday, July 19: Juergen Uldedaj vs. Steven Ward (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at noon Eastern Time (5 p.m. BST).
Uldejaj, 17-1 (6 KOs), is a 26-year-old cruiserweight from Albania now fighting out of Germany. He was outpointed in April 2023 by an 8-3 foe named Benoit Huber. Uldejaj has notched two decision wins since then and will headline this show in Dubai.
Ward, a 34-year-old from Northern Ireland, is 14-2 (4 KOs). He is a late replacement opponent, stepping in for an injured Claudio Squeo, 16-0 (8 KOs). Ward’s two losses came via TKO1 against light heavyweight Ricards Bolotniks in 2017 and a seven-round technical decision in 2021 against 2020 Olympic super heavyweight bronze medalist Kamshybek Kunkabayev, who’s now competing at cruiserweight. Ward then spent 27 months out of the ring before returning against a 5-12-1 foe this past March.
Friday, July 19: Deonte Walker vs. Rudy Montenegro (BXNG TV)
The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
Walker is a 23-year-old welterweight from Sioux City, Iowa. He is 11-1 (10 KOs). Montenegro is a 29-year-old from Amarillo, Texas. He is 7-1-1 (1 KO). This show takes place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Friday, July 19: Juan Zayas vs. Placido Rivera (TrillerTV)
The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
Zayas is a 27-year-old from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, who fights between bantamweight and junior featherweight. He is 9-0-1 (8 KOs). No record is listed on Triller’s website for Rivera, and we couldn’t find any boxer by that name on BoxRec.
The undercard also features junior welterweight Yomar Alamo, 21-2-1 (13 KOs), who’s won once since suffering back-to-back defeats to Liam Paro and Richardson Hitchins. Alamo faces Alejandro Frias Rodriguez, 15-10-2 (7 KOs).
Saturday, July 20: Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry (DAZN Pay-Per-View, PPV.com)
The preliminary broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (12 a.m. BST). The main broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. BST).
Jake Paul has traded in “Iron Mike” for “Platinum Mike.”
Paul was supposed to face Mike Tyson on this day in a sideshow extravaganza to take place in AT&T Stadium — home of the Dallas Cowboys — and streaming on Netflix.
Tyson had to pull out due to ulcers. Tyson vs. Paul has been rescheduled for November 15. And so Paul, a 27-year-old originally from Cleveland, will meet Perry instead at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on pay-per-view.
Paul of course is a social media icon who first laced up gloves against a fellow influencer but has since taken on faded former mixed martial artists, plus some actual pro boxers who had otherwise not accomplished anything of note in the sport. He lost to one of them, dropping a split decision to Tommy Fury in February 2023, but has since added wins over former UFC star Nate Diaz (UD10) and boxers Andre August (KO1) and Ryan Bourland (TKO1). Paul is now 9-1 (6 KOs).
Perry’s official boxing record is 0-1 — he lost via fourth-round KO to a 6-1 fighter named Kenneth McNeil back in 2015.
That’s under the Queensberry Rules, though. Most of Perry’s experience is under different confines. Perry is otherwise a former mixed martial artist who went 14-8 in MMA, including 7-8 in the UFC. In recent years, Perry has been part of the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship — boxing matches with wrapped hands but without gloves. He’s spent almost all of his career fighting at lighter weights than Paul. This bout will be held within the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds.
The undercard includes women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano — staying busy given that her rematch with Katie Taylor was supposed to be on the Tyson-Paul undercard. With Taylor-Serrano 2 also rescheduled for November, and with that fight taking place at junior welterweight, Serrano will be in the 140-pound division for this bout against Stevie Morgan.
That will allow Serrano, 46-2-1 (30 KOs), to keep some rust off given that her last performance was in October, when she shut out Danila Ramos. Serrano was supposed to face Nina Meinke in March but canceled that fight when a hair product got into her eye and affected her vision.
Morgan is 14-1 (13 KOs) but has never fought anyone near Serrano’s level.
Saturday, July 20: Nathan Heaney vs. Brad Pauls 2 (TNT Sports 1)
This broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. BST.
The first match between Heaney and Pauls was just four months ago, when the two British middleweights fought to a draw, one judge seeing it for each man, the third judge having it even.
So they’re back at it again, once again main eventing at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham.
Heaney, a 35-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent, is 18-0-1 (6 KOs). Prior to his first fight with Pauls, Heaney surprised Denzel Bentley via majority decision in November. Bentley had earned some praise for how he performed in defeat against 160-pound titleholder Zhanibek Alimkhanuly in 2022. Heaney, if he defeats Pauls, would likely take aim at Alimkhanuly.
Pauls is a 31-year-old from Harlow who is 18-1-1 (10 KOs). That loss came via decision to Tyler Denny in February 2023. He followed that with two straight wins, including an eighth-round TKO of previously unbeaten Mitchell Frearson last September, leading up to that first fight with Heaney.
The undercard includes former undisputed women’s junior welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron, 18-1 (8 KOs), against Elhem Mekhaled, 17-2 (3 KOs). This is Cameron’s first fight since losing the championship in the Katie Taylor rematch last November. Mekhaled is moving up in weight from junior lightweight. She suffered back-to-back defeats at 130 against Delfine Persoon in 2022 and Alycia Baumgardner in 2023, then notched two wins since.
Saturday, July 20: Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Ronal Ron (BLK Prime Pay-Per-View)
The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
Flores is a 24-year-old lightweight who was born in Stockton, California — and will be fighting in his hometown for the third straight time. This show will take place at the Banner Island Ballpark, home to a minor league baseball team. Fireworks are promised for after the fights. There’s no guarantee for figurative fireworks in the matches themselves.
Flores, 23-2 (8 KOs), suffered those defeats against a pair of familiar names, outpointed by Luis Alberto Lopez in a junior lightweight fight in 2021 and Giovanni Cabrera in a lightweight bout in 2022. Lopez has since become a featherweight titleholder while Cabrera has been defeated by Isaac Cruz and William Zepeda. Flores has added a pair of victories since, including a split decision in March over the 19-0-2 Julian Rodarte.
Ron is a 27-year-old originally from Caracas, Venezuela, now living in Chino Hills, California. He is 14-6 (11 KOs). The most notable names on Ron’s record are a TKO3 loss to future junior lightweight titleholder Hector Garcia in 2019 and, in his most recent appearance, a TKO4 loss to highly touted lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason in April.
Saturday, July 20: Helmand Meran Alekozai vs. Patrick Okine (BXNG TV)
The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
Alekozai is an undefeated junior welterweight from Toronto. The 31-year-old is 13-0 (5 KOs). Okine is a 33-year-old from Accra, Ghana. He is 21-7-2 (18 KOs). This show is being put on by Danny Garcia’s promotional company and so, fittingly, is in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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