July gets off to a slow start but picks up towards the end, highlighted by a rematch of 2009’s Fight of the Year on the very last day of the month. Check out all the big fights this month as well as where you can see them. Don’t forget to check out the staff picks for the must-see fight.
July 2
Demetrius Hopkins vs. Mike Arnaoutis – ESPN2
Francisco Contreras vs. Noe Bolanos – ESPN2
July 3
Mark Jason Melligen vs. Anges Adjaho – Fox Sports Net
Ulises Solis vs. Eric Ortiz – Fox Sports Net
Joey Gilbert vs. Billy Bailey – Fox Sports Net
Hugo Cazares vs. Everardo Morales
July 9
Mike Jones vs. Irving Garcia – Showtime
Antwone Smith vs. Lanardo Tyner – Showtime
Hank Lundy vs. John Molina – ESPN2
Vladine Biosse vs. Joe McCreedy – ESPN2
Vicente Escobedo vs. Raymundo Beltran – TeleFutura
July 10
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Bernabe Concepcion – Showtime
Nonito Donaire vs. Hernan Marquez – Showtime
Saul Alvarez vs. Luciano Leonel Cuello – Televisa
Brian Viloria vs. Omar Soto
July 16
Fernando Guererro vs. Ishe Smith – Showtime
Lanard Lane vs. Mike Dallas Jr. – Showtime
Zab Judah vs. Jose Armando Santa Cruz – ESPN2
Alex Perez vs. Vincent Arroyo – ESPN2
Carlos Ivan Velasquez vs. Alejandro Perez – TeleFutura
Matthew Hatton vs. Yuri Nuzhnenko – SKY Sports
July 17
Timothy Bradley vs. Luis Carlos Abregu – HBO
Alfredo Angulo vs. Joachim Alcine – HBO
Fernando Montiel vs. Eric Morel – Fox Sports Net
Alfonso Gomez vs. TBA – Fox Sports Net
Joksan Hernandez vs. Rogers Mtagwa – Fox Sports Net
David Tua vs. Monte Barrett – Integrated Sports PPV
Jurgen Brahmer vs. Alejandro Lakatos
Alexander Alekseev vs. Denis Lebedev
Johnny Tapia vs. Frankie Archuleta
July 21
Danny Green vs. Paul Briggs – Australia Main Event
July 23
Beibut Shumenov vs. Viacheslav Uzelkov – ESPN2
Sergio Mora vs. Juan Carlos Candelo – TeleFutura
Matthew Marsh vs. Kris Hughes – SKY Sports
Stuart Hall vs. Martin Power – SKY Sports
July 24
Johnreil Casimero vs. Ramon Garcia Hirales – Fox Sports Net
Deandre Latimore vs. Willie Lee
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Hisashi Amagasa
July 26
Chris John vs. Fernando Saucedo
July 30
Derek Ennis vs. Gabriel Rosado
July 31
Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz – HBO PPV
Joel Casamayor vs. Robert Guerrero – HBO PPV
Jorge Linares vs. Rocky Juarez – HBO PPV
Daniel Jacobs vs. Dmitry Pirog – HBO PPV
Giovanni Segura vs. TBA – Fox Sports Net
Gennady Golovkin vs. Milton Nunez – Fox Sports Net
Sebastian Zbik vs. Jorge Sebastian Heiland
Dimitri Sartison vs. Khoren Gevor
Staff Picks: Fight To Watch
Paul’s Pick: Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Bernabe Concepcion
July 10 on Showtime
Forget about the Luevano fight, this one will tell us whether Lopez is here to stay or if he’s just another solid prospect with a big punch, but no staying power. Physically, Concepcion has all the tools to beat Lopez and this will be the first time in his career where Juan Manuel won’t win the fight by just showing up and being so physically gifted. Concepcion has a penchant for making mental mistakes and costing himself the big fights, but if he can focus he can turn this into a real war.
Will’s Pick: Matthew Hatton v Yuri Nuzhenko
July 16 on SKY
Obviously, the only rational answer is Marquez vs Diaz II but let me go off the beaten track and highlight Matthew Hatton vs Yuri Nuzhenko. The younger brother of Ricky, Hatton has been trying to escape his brother’s shadow for some time; a quest not helped by his mechanical style and tendency to freeze in title fights. While he couldn’t escape the former he overcame the latter, winning the European Welterweight Title by defeating Italian veteran Gianluca Branco. Given the marketability of his family connections, a good victory may well move Hatton into the lower echelons of the world title scene. However to secure that victory he’ll have to add more variety and flair to his game as he was at times depressingly predictable against Branco. As an added bonus, the post-fight antics should give us our latest chance to hear his elder brother’s latest musings on a possible comeback.
Trent’s Pick: Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz II
July 31 on HBO PPV
My strategy for picking Fight To Watch each month is simple. If I could only watch one fight this month, what would it be? A rematch of the 2009 Fight of the Year is an easy way to sway my interest. While I’m more interested in the result of Lopez-Concepcion than Marquez-Diaz II, I’m more interested in the means to the result in Marquez-Diaz II than Lopez-Concepcion. Both Marquez and Diaz need a win so I expect just as much heart in the second affair than the first. It should be a great fight on top of a nice overall PPV card.
