Usyk at the Pyramids Headlines International Fight Weekend Following Rousey-Carano Record Breaking Match

Rousey vs Carano

Stop whining and complaining about Rhonda Rousey’s quick win.

Most of the complaints regarding Rousey’s quick armbar win over Gina Carano seem to stem from non-MMA followers. Fans that follow MMA were fully aware of Rousey’s ability to end a fight quickly via the armbar. She had done it before, especially against Carano’s kickboxing style.

The battle between Rousey and Carano staged by Most Valuable Promotions was more an opportunity to see the two legends perform once more, and finally against each other. An attempt to match them was made over a decade ago but did not take place.

Carano was the first female combatant to prove an audience existed for women. Then came Rousey, who further cemented the drawing power women possess to sell tickets and draw viewers. Last Saturday, May 16, more than 12 million people, via Netflix, viewed Rousey submit Carano in 17 seconds.

It established a record for most views of an MMA fight regardless of gender.

Two things were accomplished: 1. Female fighters are popular. 2. Boxing is more popular than MMA. When Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano fought in their second and third boxing match, both surpassed the 12 million views of Rousey-Carano. The second Taylor-Serrano had more than 60 million views and the third was over 30 million.

Boxing is worldwide while MMA is mostly watched only in the U.S., Brazil, and a few other places.

 

DAZN in San Jose and Egypt

Beginning on Friday May 22, boxing fans can watch on DAZN a Golden Boy Promotions card from San Jose, California. Then, on Saturday on DAZN, a fight card featuring Oleksandr Usyk against kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven takes place in Giza, Egypt. It also features female Ring Magazine and WBO super flyweight titlist Mizuki Hiruta defending against Mai Soliman.

DAZN has basically taken over boxing as the main source to watch live pro boxing. Almost all the major promoters are tied to DAZN, including Matchroom Boxing, Queensberry Promotions, Top Rank, and Golden Boy Promotions.

Friday

Undefeated middleweight Amari Jones (16-0, 14 Kos) meets Vincenzo Gualtieri (25-1-1, 8 Kos) in the main event on Friday May 22, at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card.

The last time Jones fought was on the undercard of Ryan Garcia and Mario Barrios at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That night Jones overwhelmed Luis Arias in four rounds.

This time Jones faces a veteran in Germany’s Gualtieri, who fought once in the U.S. and lost to Zhanibek Alimkhanuly by stoppage. He has no other losses.

Saturday

On Saturday May 23, Egypt is fight central.

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs)  faces kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven (1-0) at Pyramids of Giza. DAZN pay-per-view will stream the Goldstar and Matchroom Boxing card.

Usyk has come a long ways since I first saw him perform 10 years ago at the Inglewood Forum on December 17, 2016. It was his first time fighting on American shores and he had an amateur style of running around. That night he ran around and, when his opponent dared to exchange, Usyk knocked him out. That same night on the same card was Bernard Hopkins’ final match and it was Ryan Garcia’s first fight under the Golden Boy banner.

The Ukrainian fighter no longer runs around, he is a complete professional heavyweight fighter daring to fight a kickboxing champion. Don’t knock kickboxers. Both Klitschko brothers Vitali and Wladimir come from kickboxing, and they did pretty well in the boxing world too.

It’s a large star-packed card but only two of the bouts are world title matches.

Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) fights Alem Begic (29-0-1, 23 K)s) for the vacant WBO super middleweight title. And the other title match features Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta (10-0) defending the female Ring and WBO super flyweight titles against Mai Soliman (10-1).

Other interesting bouts on the Pyramid card include Jack Catterall (32-2) versus Shakhram Giyasov (17-0) in a welter battle; Richard Torrez Jr. (14-0) versus Frank Sanchez (25-1) in a heavyweight match; and several other prelim fights.

It’s a solid boxing card that takes place in front of the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.

 

Fights to Watch (Pacific Time)

Fri. DAZN 5 p.m. Amari Jones (16-0) vs Vincenzo Gualtieri (25-1-1).

Sat. DAZN pay-per-view 8 a.m. Oleksandr Usyk (24-0) vs Rico Verhoeven (1-0); Mizuki Hiruta (10-0) vs Mai Soliman (10-1); Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1) vs Alem Begic (29-0-1).

 

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