​It’s another quiet week for boxing, albeit with at least a Saturday night DAZN show to break the silence. The schedule should pick up again for the final weekend of July, when Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Errol Spence Jr. make their big returns, giving us something to look forward to. Summers in boxing tend to go one of two ways: either scorching hot or a bit forgettable, and it’s fair—even a little frustrating—to admit that 2026 is leaning toward the latter.
In Rai Sport 1 (Italy), check the listings for Eros Seghetti vs Enid Numanovic, light heavies from Marche. Yes, that’s in Italy, and you probably guessed as much.
On DAZN, at 2:00 pm ET, Harlem Eubank faces David Papot in MF Pro from the Copper Box in London. This isn’t a bad fight. On paper it’s fairly well-matched between the 32-year-old Eubank and the 35-year-old Papot. They’re both mid-level welterweights, and outside of potential IBF ranking implications and the distant possibility of a future IBF title fight, there isn’t a lot riding on it. The rest of the card has surface-level decent matchmaking at the lower levels.
From Carson, California, at the Venue Formerly Known As StubHub Center (now Dignity Health Sports Park—a reminder of how long it’s been since we last heard about “StubHub Magic” fights). It was the Home Depot Center from 2003 to 2013, then StubHub from 2013 to 2018, and now this. Anyway, I’m not a fan of this main event, or at least not the way Matchroom and DAZN have tried to sell it as significant or particularly interesting. BoxRec has it as a two-star fight, which feels about right. Aleem (22-4-3, 14 KO) is 32, coming off a clear and wide loss to Lester Martinez, and while he’s never truly broken through, he’s had some questionable losses and draws, notably on PBC cards—though those were years ago (2019–2021). He’s the kind of opponent Pacheco (25-0, 18 KO) might have been lined up to face if Pacheco had lost to Kevin Sadjo in December.
There’s a sense that Pacheco isn’t progressing, stuck in the same gear for a while, and the buzz around him has faded. Perhaps because of that, Matchroom had both he and Aleem sprawl out in the middle of an Arizona ring, trading awkward trash talk for what felt like an eternity on the Bam Rodriguez card a few weeks back, which didn’t help anyone’s perception of this fight. The promotion has felt unusually aggressive in selling it as something more than it is. But you never truly know until the bell rings, and there can be yellow flags even when you’re otherwise skeptical. If either fighter truly regroups or has a late gear shift, there might be a surprise—perhaps a shocker if Pacheco looks flat. I can convince myself of a sliver of intrigue, or at least keep an eye on it, even if I don’t expect much.
On the undercard: Andy Cruz returns to face Abraham Montoya, a matchup that’s there for better SEO and for the curious, even if it doesn’t exactly scream blockbuster. The rest of the night’s card will be watchable but not defining, a reminder that not every week is a victory lap for boxing in the spring and summer.