FIGHT WEEK
MICHAEL CONLAN VS. TJ DOHENY AND KID GALAHAD VS. JAZZA DICKENS HEADLINE BIG CARDS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM THIS WEEKEND
***
MICHAEL CONLAN (15-0 8 KOs)
VS. TJ DOHENY (22-2, 16 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu8-ZOy3JjU
- When: Friday, Aug. 6
- Where: Falls Spark, Belfast, Ireland
- TV/Stream: ESPN+
- Division: Featherweight
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Conlan 5-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Lee McGregor vs. Vincent Legrand, featherweights; Tyrone McKenna vs. Jose Felix, junior welterweights; Sergei Gorokhov vs. Padraig McCrory, super middleweights
- Prediction: Conlan UD
- Background: The highly regarded 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Belfast is coming off the toughest fight of his career, a majority-decision victory over capable Ionut Baluta of Romania in London. Things probably won’t get much easier against Ireland-born Doheny in a showdown for the “interim” WBA featherweight title. Doheny, who lives in Australia, is a former 122-pound titleholder who is a capable boxer and punches hard. He’s 1-2 in his past three fights but the losses came against Daniel Roman (by a majority decision to lose his belt in April 2019) and Baluta (by a unanimous decision in March of last year). Doheny will have been out of the ring for 17 months. Conlan will be fighting in front of his hometown fans for the first time since he stopped Diego Ruiz in August 2019.
***
KID GALAHAD (27-1, 16 KOs)
VS. JAZZA DICKENS (30-3, 11 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gyzNCJzJBc
- When: Saturday, Aug. 7
- Where: Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Featherweight
- At stake: Vacant IBF title
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Galahad 2½-1 favorite
- Also on the card: Fabio Wardley vs. Nick Webb, heavyweights; Florian Marku vs. Maxim Prodan, welterweights
- Prediction: Galahad SD
- Background: Galahad and Dickens will both be vying for a major title after failing in previous attempts. Galahad, a native of Qatar who lives in Sheffield, lost a split decision to then-IBF 126-pound beltholder Josh Warrington in June 2019. He rebounded by stopping Claudio Marrero in eight rounds in February of last year, which was his most-recent fight. That means he will have been out of the ring for 18 months. Dickens, from Liverpool, was stopped in two rounds by then-WBA junior featherweight champ Guillermo Rigondeaux in 2016. It was later learned that Dickens had suffered a broken jaw. He then lost a technical decision to Thomas Patrick Ward 10 months later, which brought his future into questions. However, he has won eight consecutive fights since to earn a shot at the vacant title. He’s coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Ryan Walsh in December of last year, eight months ago.
***
EIMANTAS STANIONIS (13-0, 9 KOs)
VS. LUIS COLLAZO (39-8, 20 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJf-sbIbDNo
- When: Saturday, Aug. 7
- Where: The Armory, Minneapolis
- TV/Stream: Fox
- Division: Welterweight
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Gabriel Maestre vs. Mykal Fox, welterweights; Devon Alexander vs. Luke Santamaria, welterweights
- Prediction: Stanionis KO 10
- Background: The main event was supposed to have been Gabriel Maestre vs. Cody Crowley but Crowley tested positive for COVID-19 and had to pull out. Stanionis vs. Collazo was then elevated to main event status. Stanionis, a welterweight contender, is a polished boxer who fights with controlled aggression. The 2016 Olympian for his native Lithuania is coming off his biggest victory, a unanimous decision over veteran Thomas Dulorme this past April. Stanionis is ranked No. 1 by the WBA but he sits below four other 147-pounders as a result of the sanctioning body’s bizarre title designations. Collazo, the longtime contender who is now 40, was a slick technician at his peak. The New Yorker’s last major fight was a seventh-round knockout loss to Keith Thurman in 2015. He took some time off and then rebounded by outpointing Sammy Vasquez, Bryant Perrella and Samuel Vargas in succession. He then lost a 10-round technical decision to Kudratillo Abdukakhorov in October 2019, his most-recent fight. Collazo will be fighting to remain relevant.
Also fighting this weekend: Heavyweight Michael Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs) faces Mike Wilson (21-1, 10 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round Tuesday, Aug. 3. in New York City (FITE). Chris Algieri (24-3, 9 KOs) will take on Mikkel LesPierre (22-2-1, 10 KOs) on the undercard. And Kendrick Ball Jr. (16-1-2, 11 KOs) fights Tyi Edmonds (14-3, 9 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round super middleweight bout Saturday in Springfield, Mass. (UFC Fight Pass).