Fans in the United States will celebrate the nation’s birthday on the Fourth of July. 

Boxing fans in the US and around the world will get the real fireworks in the last week of the year. There will be several explosions along the way as we get to the best of the month and, arguably, the best of boxing so far in a fantastic 2023:

    07/25: 122 - TBRB #1 Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO, WBC/WBO) vs. Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO) 

    07/29: 147 - #1 Errol Spence (28-0, 22 KO, WBA/WBC/IBF) vs. #2 Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KO, WBO)

Live from Japan, Fulton-Inoue may be the best piece of matchmaking all year. As big as the fight later in the week will be, this one carries no even mild disclaimers. Both are in their prime, the fight is happening exactly when it should, and the stakes are real. Inoue, the first undisputed bantamweight champion in roughly fifty years, is gunning for the top of the next class up and his fourth divisional belt. Fulton is looking to cement his place as one of the best in the sport at any weight and is traveling to defend his titles, putting the world in world title. The winner has a path to an undisputed clash with dual titlist Marlon Tapales later this year. Can Fulton outfox Inoue or is the most talented offensive fighter in the world going to bring the same devastation he’s wrought at every stop on the scale? 

The fight on paper couldn’t be better.

If there’s one thing the end of the week can trump it with, it will be years of anticipation. As soon as Terence Crawford arrived at welterweight in 2018, it seemed the question was when. The former lineal lightweight and lineal/undisputed Jr. welterweight champion continued to add wins over the last five years but the bulk of the division was out of reach due in part to promotional and network alignments and in part due to injuries and layoffs for Spence. 

Despite setbacks, Spence cleared out his side of the field and won every major belt sans the one around Crawford’s waist. It’s a welterweight superfight, the first genuine superfight in the class since Mayweather-Pacquiao. Where will it find its place in the lore of arguably boxing’s most storied divisions outside welterweight? They are fighting to be the very best in the domain of Walker, Robinson, Griffith, Napoles, and Leonard.

That’s the company you keep when you prove that at one point you were the best welterweight in the world. Will the fight, between the ropes, prove worth the wait?   

Cliff’s Notes…

One of the best fights of the month won’t have a primary title on the line. On July 8th, Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis will face off in a guaranteed welterweight war. This clash of young guns will strap a rocket on the winner as a looming threat to the Spence-Crawford winner…Jarron Ennis will also fight this month against Roiman Villa. The two shared the Tank Davis-Hector Garcia undercard and the winner there will also have momentum towards a title shot…The month starts strong with a clash at super middleweight between champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn and Savannah Marshall. The women’s side of boxing is keeping their run going as well with Marlen Esparza and Seniesa Estrada also in action in July.  

Additional Title Fights in July

Men

07/01: 160 - #9 Esquiva Falcao (30-0, 20 KO) vs. Vincenzo Gualtieri (20-0-1, 7 KO); vacant IBF

07/02: 108 - #6 Sivenathi Nontshinga (11-0, 9 KO, IBF) vs. Regie Suganob (13-0, 4 KO)

07/15: 118 - #3 Nonito Donaire (42-7, 28 KO) vs. #7 Alejandro Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KO); vacant WBC

07/25: 126 - #8 Robeisy Ramirez (12-1, 7 KO, WBO) vs. Satoshi Shimizu (11-1, 10 KO)

Women

07/01: 168 - World Champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KO, WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO) vs. Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KO)

07/01: 147 - Natasha Jonas (13-2-1, 8 KO) vs. Kandi Wyatt (11-4, 3 KO); vacant IBF

07/08: 112 - World Champion Marlen Esparza (13-1, 1 KO, WBA/WBC/WBO) vs. Gabriela Alaniz (14-0, 6 KO)

07/15: 130 - World Champion Alycia Baumgardner (14-1, 7 KO, WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO) vs. Christina Linardatou (14-2, 6 KO) 

07/28: 105 - Seniesa Estrada (24-0, 9 KO, WBA/WBC) vs. Leonela Yudica (19-1-3, 1 KO)

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.