Some of the world’s best boxers are in action in July, and this month also will feature the return of a boxing legend at the age of 46. From Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez at junior bantamweight, this month has world title fights featuring the best in several divisions — and on the pound-for-pound list.
Manny Pacquiao, one of the best boxers of the modern era, makes his ring return after nearly four years out, and there’s also the trilogy fight between undisputed junior welterweight champ Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, which is perhaps the hardest fight to predict the outcome.
Such is the quality of this month’s offerings that there is no place on our best-of-July list for fights such as Alberto Puello vs. Subriel Matias for the WBC junior welterweight title, undisputed women’s junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner vs. Jennifer Miranda and the welterweight clash between Jack Catterall and Harlem Eubank.
What are the best fights this month and why should you watch them? ESPN ranks the fights for you.
Odds accurate as of July 3. All odds by ESPN BET
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10. Claressa Shields (-2500) vs. Lani Daniels (+1100) – July 26 in Detroit (DAZN)
What’s at stake: Shields’ undisputed women’s heavyweight championship
Shields, boxing’s first undisputed world champion in three weight classes, defends her women’s heavyweight titles in front of her home fans against an experienced opponent. The odds might seem stacked in Shields’ favor, but Daniels is a former IBF champion who has won her last seven fights. The New Zealand-based boxer should give the local hero a closer fight than her last one, in which Shields widely outpointed Danielle Perkins to be crowned undisputed heavyweight champ in February.
9. Bruce Carrington (-5000) vs. Mateus Heita (+1600) – July 26 in New York (ESPN/ESPN+)
What’s at stake: The vacant WBC interim featherweight title
“Shu Shu” Carrington can book himself a world title shot with a victory over Heita, and in his current form, he looks good to achieve that. Carrington could even be made full champion if he extends his unbeaten record, as WBC featherweight champion Stephen Fulton is stepping up a division for his next fight (against O’Shaquie Foster on Aug. 16) and must decide which division he is staying in. Carrington has been calling out the champions, but this is his first 12-round scheduled fight. The Brooklyn-based boxer looked convincing in March when he became the first boxer to stop Enrique Vivas, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him go looking for a KO.
8. Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia – July 26 in New York (ESPN/ESPN+)
What’s at stake: The vacant WBO junior middleweight title
Zayas faces a tough opponent in his first attempt to win a world title, but he has enough quality to prevail and be hailed as the successor to the likes of Puerto Rican boxing greats Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad. Garcia looked impressive when he stopped Charles Conwell in April, and the tough Mexican’s power punching could be a problem for Zayas if he gets drawn into a brawl. But Zayas, who has been a professional since he was 17, is a talented and well trained boxer, and this should be his moment of glory. When he outpointed Patrick Teixeira in June 2024, Zayas effectively targeted the body. And if he boxes to his potential again, he will have too much variety for Garcia to overcome.
7. Edgar Berlanga (-120) vs. Hamzah Sheeraz (-105) – July 12 in Queens, New York (DAZN)
What’s at stake: A chance for Sheeraz at a superfight against Canelo Alvarez
Sheeraz is one of the options for a lucrative fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo in February, according to Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority. But first Sheeraz needs to win his super middleweight debut against a former world title challenger. Berlanga looked subdued and cautious in a wide decision loss to Alvarez in September, but he bounced back with a first-round win over Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz in March. Talk of Sheeraz fighting Canelo next year annoyed Berlanga during DAZN’s “Face Off” show released on June 30, and consequently you might see him go looking for the KO. There is a lot on the line for Sheeraz, and he will have to do better than in his last fight, in which he challenged Carlos Adames for the WBC middleweight title. Sheeraz failed to come to grips with Adames, who ended Sheeraz’s 15-fight knockout streak in a split draw in February. Does Sheeraz have what it takes against elite-level opposition, and will the move up in weight class suit him?
6. Sebastian Fundora (+120) vs. Tim Tszyu (-150) 2 – July 19 in Las Vegas (Amazon Prime Video PPV)
What’s at stake: Fundora’s WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles
After a disastrous 2024, Tszyu will be out to restore his reputation and mend his career — if he can beat 6-foot-5 Fundora in a rematch. Tszyu lost a split decision in a bloodbath of an encounter with Fundora in March 2024, when the 5-foot-9 Tszyu suffered a cut over his hairline in Round 2, and he was dropped four times in an even more damaging third-round TKO loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev in another world title fight in October. Tszyu gained some confidence with a fourth-round stoppage win over Joseph Spencer in April, but the question remains unanswered: How much damage did last year’s two defeats do? Fundora stopped Chordale Booker in four rounds in March, and Tszyu will have to produce a career-best performance to beat the giant American.
5. Shakur Stevenson (-1200) vs. William Zepeda (+650) – July 12 in Queens, New York (DAZN)
What’s at stake: Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title
0:45
How Shakur Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title
Recap Shakur Stevenson’s second WBC lightweight title defense with his win over Josh Padley.
Stevenson looked sharp in his last outing against substitute opponent Josh Padley — but now comes a harder test. The 27-year-old from New Jersey splits fan opinion, with some saying his defensive style is a turn-off. Other fighters may generate more excitement, but there is no denying Stevenson’s technical ability, precision and defense. Zepeda is unbeaten but he needed to get up from the canvas in Round 4 to defeat Tevin Farmer by split decision last November, before going the distance once again against Farmer in the rematch. His aggressive, pressure-fighting style may suit Stevenson’s counterpunching on the back foot.
It is worth keeping the faith in Stevenson’s undoubted talent, but he needs to show more than a tight, backpedalling defense against Zepeda if he is to create interest in fans and promoters. A cautious, safety-first approach is not going to help him make a clash with Gervonta Davis. If Stevenson adopts a more aggressive approach, it will not only be good for his popularity but also make for a better fight, as Zepeda is a high-volume puncher.
4. Jesse Rodriguez (-2500) vs. Phumelele Cafu (+1100) – July 19 in Frisco, Texas (DAZN)
What’s at stake: Rodriguez’s WBC junior bantamweight title and Cafu’s WBO junior bantamweight title
This is the first opportunity this year to see arguably boxing’s most exciting fighter.
“Bam” Rodriguez, from San Antonio, is in ruthless form and could bulldoze his way to becoming a unified champion at a second weight class. “Bam” defeated Pedro Guevara in Round 3 in November to defend his WBC junior bantamweight title, after knocking out Juan Francisco Estrada a year ago and, before that, forcing Sunny Edwards to retire in a flyweight title unification bout in December 2023. The win over two-division champion Estrada was particularly impressive, and the uppercut that left Guevara stretched out on the canvas was brutal.
Rodriguez will have to be wary of Cafu’s power — the South African dropped Kosei Tanka in a split decision win in October 2024 — but Rodriguez is currently one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, so expect excitement against Cafu.
3. Manny Pacquiao (+260) vs. Mario Barrios (-350) – July 19 in Las Vegas (Amazon Prime Video PPV)
What’s at stake: Barrios’ WBC welterweight title
One fact says it all about this fight: Barrios was born four months after Pacquiao began his professional career 30 years ago.
Many believe Pacquiao should not be anywhere near a professional boxing ring at 46 and after nearly four years retired. But that will not stop millions in his native Philippines and elsewhere from tuning in to follow Pac Man’s quest to become the oldest welterweight champion in history. Only two boxers, heavyweight George Foreman and light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins, have won world title fights at the age of 46 or older.
The last time we saw Pacquiao he was a much slower version of himself in a unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas in August 2021. Pacquiao has had 72 professional fights and has conquered eight weight divisions. If there’s one boxer that can defy Father Time, it is Pacquiao, who is also trying to break his own record as boxing’s oldest 147-pound world champion (he previously did it at 40 years, 215 days). If Pacquiao pulls it off, there will be no greater sports story this year.
2. Oleksandr Usyk (-400) vs. Daniel Dubois (+300) 2 – July 19 in London (DAZN PPV)
What’s at stake: Usyk’s WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles and Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title
0:30
Dubois vows to leave ‘no doubt’ ahead of Usyk rematch
Daniel Dubois speaks about the controversial low blow from his first fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk has a two-fight exit plan for his career, and when he’s gone we will miss him. He has dominated in a four-year reign as heavyweight champion, twice beating each of the two best other boxers of his era, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. But Dubois brings knockout power — just ask Joshua, whom Dubois stopped in the fifth round in September. Dubois challenged Usyk two years ago and claims he scored a legitimate knockdown with a body punch, but it was ruled a low blow. Usyk was given time to recover and eventually overwhelmed Dubois, stopping him in Round 9. Undisputed heavyweight title fights are rare, and if Usyk achieves undisputed status for a third time (he has already done it once at cruiserweight, once at heavyweight), you will be witnessing history.
1. Katie Taylor (+135) vs. Amanda Serrano (-170) 3 – July 11 in New York (Netflix)
What’s at stake: Taylor’s undisputed women’s junior welterweight championship
0:56
Katie Taylor edges out Amanda Serrano in controversial decision
Katie Taylor defeats Amanda Serrano to remain undisputed champion at AT&T Stadium.
Their first two fights were so good and competitive that Taylor and Serrano will run it back for a third time at Madison Square Garden. Women’s boxing has not seen a greater rivalry, which has produced two enthralling fights decided by razor-thin — and disputable — decisions. In 2022, they became the first women to headline a boxing card at the Garden, and it was such a good fight that it led to a 2024 rematch that was streamed on Netflix and shattered records by averaging 74 million viewers globally, becoming the most-watched women’s sporting event in U.S. history. The rematch was named Women’s Fight of the Year by ESPN. Taylor earned scores of 95-94 from all three judges, but Serrano was unhappy after suffering a cut over her right eye in Round 4 from a headbutt (Taylor was deducted a point in Round 8 for headbutting). Serrano was ambitious and effective despite the injury, which makes this trilogy fight hard to call. Will Taylor get penalized again for more use of the head, and how decisive will that be? Can Taylor repel Serrano’s early pressure to once again dominate the later rounds?