Fight Week: Joshua-Helenius and Navarrete-Valdez, Rodriguez-Lopez title fights
FIGHT WEEK
Emanuel Navarrete will defend his 130-pound belt against former champ Oscar Valdez in Arizona while Emmanuel Rodriguez and Melvin Lopez fight for a vacant 118-pound title in Maryland. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua’s fight is up in the air.
ANTHONY JOSHUA (25-3, 22 KOs) VS. ROBERT HELENIUS (32-4, 21 KOs)
Editor’s note: This article will be updated when the status of Anthony Joshua’s fight on Saturday is announced.
Date: Saturday, Aug. 12
Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: O2 Arena, London
TV/Stream: DAZN (in U.S.)
Division: Heavyweight (no limit)
At stake: No major titles
Odds: NA
Pound-for-pound: None
Also on the card: Filip Hrgovic vs. Demsey McKean; Heavyweight; Johnny Fisher vs. Harry Armstrong; Heavyweight
Prediction: Joshua UD
Background: Joshua was supposed to have faced Dillian Whyte in a rematch but Whyte was pulled from the card after failing a drug test. Organizers were searching for replacement at the time this item was posted. Longtime contender Robert Helenius agreed on Tuesday to step in. Joshua, the former heavyweight champion, is coming off a one-sided unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin this past April. That was his first fight since back-to-back decision losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and last year that cost him his titles and damaged his reputation. The Englishman has been working with American trainer Derrick James. He reportedly has been in talks to face former titleholder Deontay Wilder in his next fight. Helenius will have fought on consecutive weekends. He knocked out Mika Mielonen in three rounds on Aug. 5 in Finland, which obviously wasn’t a physically taxing fight. Helenius was stopped by Wilder in the first round last October.
EMANUEL NAVARRETE (37-1, 31 KOs)
VS. OSCAR VALDEZ (31-1, 23 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Aug. 12
Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona
TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
Division: Junior lightweight (130 pounds)
At stake: Navarrete’s WBO title
Odds: Valdez 1½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Pound-for-pound: None
Also on the card: Raymond Muratalla vs. Diego Torres, lightweights; Lindolfo Delgado vs. Jair Valtierra, junior welterweights; Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Willie Jake Jr., heavyweights
Prediction: Valdez UD
Background: Navarrete will be making the first defense of the title he won by knocking out Liam Wilson in the ninth round of a wild fight in which both men went down this past February in the same venue. The volume-punching Mexican, a former 122- and 126-pound titleholder, has been undefeated since he lost a decision in a four-rounder in his sixth professional fight. Valdez, also Mexican, is on the comeback trail after he was outclassed in a 130-pound title-unification bout against the gifted Shakur Stevenson in April of last year. Stevenson won a one-sided decision. Valdez bounced back to defeat capable Adam Lopez by a wide decision this past May, which earned him a shot at Navarrete’s title. Valdez also held the WBO 126-pound title between 2016 and 2019.
EMMANUEL RODRIGUEZ (21-2, 13 KOs)
VS. MELVIN LOPEZ (29-1, 19 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Aug. 12
Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino, Oxon Hill, Maryland
TV/Stream: Showtime
Division: Bantamweight (118 pounds)
At stake: Vacant IBF title
Odds: Rodriguez 5½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Pound-for-pound: None
Also on the card: Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Kent Cruz, junior welterweights; Travon Marshall vs. Gabriel Maestre, welterweights; Marcus Browne vs. Adrian Taylor, cruiserweights
Prediction: Rodriguez UD
Background: Rodriguez had an outstanding 2018, when he easily outpointed Paul Butler to win the vacant IBF title and then narrowly outpointed Jason Moloney in his first defense. Then came disaster. He lost his perfect record and belt to Naoya Inoue in May 2019, when the Japanese star put him down three times and stopped in the second round. That was followed by a split-decision loss against to Reymart Gaballo and a no-contest against Gary Antonio Russell (as the result of a cut). Then the 30-year-old Puerto Rican reasserted himself as a top fighter. He stopped Roberto Cantu in one round this past March and easily outpointed Russell to win an impressive 10-round technical decision in another fight cut short by a cut in October. Lopez is a formidable boxer-puncher from Nicaragua who will be taking part in his first title fight. He has won eight consecutive fights since he was stopped by Jose Velasquez in 2019. Rodriguez is a significant step up in opposition for Lopez.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
Otar Eranosyan vs. Roger Gutierrez, junior lightweights, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV)
FRIDAY
Albert Bell vs. Presco Carcosia, junior lightweights, Atlanta (DAZN)
