The championship fight. The pinnacle of achievement across combat sports for centuries. A premiere attraction that draws millions every year. But not all title bouts are created equally.
So which title bouts every week are the ones to watch? We’ll look over every title fight from across the combat sports landscape and give you the five best based on five criteria:
- Competitiveness: Is this an even matchup? Or just a warm body to throw at a champion? It’s a title fight, so we want the best possible at that division in that promotion.
- Excitement: How exciting will this fight be? A clash of two elite talents throwing everything they have at each other in an attempt to win the gold? Or a half-dead plod-fest devoid of action or risk?
- Juice: A sort of catch-all term for all the factors behind the matchup. Is there a story leading up to the match? A true rivalry? Anticipated rematch? Do the fighters dislike each other? Were the circumstances leading to the fight extraordinary, or was it just a promoter putting two names against each other? Is there a lot of excitement or hype going into it?
- Prestige: Applies to the belt itself, but also to the fighter wearing it. Is this a long-tenured champion defending? Is this an interim title or one that was vacated? Has the champion increased the prestige of the title or is this a fight that will increase the prestige of it?
- Viewing Ease: We all don’t mind suffering for our art (or hobbies), but sometimes paying twenty dollars for a choppy stream, or searching your cable plan for a channel you’re pretty sure was just invented three days ago in the 6000s isn’t the best of times. How easy, affordable, and stress-free is this bout to watch?
So here are your five best gold options for the weekend.
5. WBA/IBO/IBF/WBC World Heavyweight Championships: Anthony Joshua (c) (22-0) vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. (32-1)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:30pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 2: A late replacement for an already-booked mismatch isn’t exactly an Ali-Frazier matchup.
Excitement: 2
Juice: 1: Ice-cold. Absolutely nothing behind this whatsoever. At least Jerrell Miller would have tried to sell it. Not that I like fake hype, but this is the coldest AJ fight in recent memory.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 14
t3. WBA Super/WBC Diamond Super Middleweight Championships: Callum Smith (c) (25-0) vs. Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (37-3)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:30pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 3: N’Dam is always a fringe world title contender hanging around the title picture, but I think this is a showcase for Callum on an AJ card.
Excitement: 4: Callum has rounded-out his game since his younger days as a first-round knockout machine, but as he proved against George Groves, he can still land the thunder when he needs to.
Juice: 1
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 17
t3. Vacant ISKA World Featherweight Championship: Martin Blanco (8-1-1) vs. Tenshin Nasukawa (29-0)
When/Where: Sunday, 1:00am, Fite.tv
Competitiveness: 4
Excitement: 5: It’s Tenshin, man! Enter the fireworks factory!
Juice: 1
Prestige: 4: ISKA is the top name in kickboxing, but the fact that they have roughly 450 titles isn’t a fantastic look for them.
Viewing Ease: 3
Total: 17
2. RIZIN Women’s Super Atomweight Championship: Ayaka Hamasaki (c) (17-2) vs. Jinh Yu Frey (8-3)
When/Where: Sunday, 1:00am, Fite.tv
Competitiveness: 5
Excitement: 4
Juice: 4: The two met in October of 2016 for Hamasaki’s Invicta Atomweight title. Frey started out strong, winning the first round before an evenly-matched second that was stopped late after a punch opened up a gusher on Frey. It was a disappointed ending, and Frey has waited two and a half years for a rematch, this time for a different championship.
Prestige: 2
Viewing Ease: 3: 1am is never preferable, but it’s still relatively early by Japanese card standard, and twenty bucks isn’t horrible for a RIZIN card, admittedly, one not nearly as stacked as their usual.
Total: 18
1. WBA/WBC/WBO/IBF World Women’s Lightweight Championships: Delfine Persoon (c) (43-1) vs. Katie Taylor (c) (13-0)
When/Where: Saturday, 8:30pm, DAZN
Competitiveness: 5: Undefeated gold medalist against 43-1 five-year reigning champion. Two of the best of the best.
Excitement: 3
Juice: 3: This is the final boss for Taylor on a journey that started after her gold medal in the 2012 Olympics. She turned pro after the 2016 Olympic Games and started climbing the lightweight rankings immediately. She won the WBA title in October of 2017, the IBF in April in 2018, and the WBO in March of this year. Now, 43-1 Delfine Persoon, the longtime queenpin of the division, awaits, making her U.S. debut and a full unification of the women’s lightweight division.
Prestige: 5
Viewing Ease: 4
Total: 20
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