How to watch: DAZN

Why to Watch: Rivera-Cordova is one of two interim title fights on a show that also features two women’s title matches on the undercard.

Rivera-Cordova would’ve been of interest even if the flyweight division hadn’t been jolted last month, when unified WBA and WBC titleholder Kenshiro Teraji was surprisingly dethroned by Ricardo Sandoval. After all, Teraji had already beaten the other two titleholders at 112lbs, Masamichi Yabuki and Anthony Olascuaga. The winner of Rivera-Cordova, then, would receive the WBA interim belt, a potential mandatory shot, and perception as the logical next challenger.

That remains the case. Just with a different target in sight.

Rivera, 7-0 (3 KOs), is a 27-year-old who represented Puerto Rico in the Olympics in 2021, losing his first bout to one of the eventual bronze medalists. He turned pro in 2022 and has been splitting his recent fights between his homeland and Florida, which has a sizable Puerto Rican population. He’ll be at the Caribe Royale Orlando for this main event.

While 2024 was active for Rivera, this will be his first bout of 2025. Last year, he won wide decisions over the 10-0 Andy Dominguez Velasquez and the 37-4 Victor Efrain Sandoval, then took out the 14-0 Angel Gonzalez in the fourth round.

Cordova, 19-0-1 (12 KOs), is hoping for a second shot at a world title. After outpointing former junior flyweight beltholder Angel Acosta in April 2023, Cordova challenged Julio Cesar Martinez for the WBC flyweight title in March 2024. Martinez won a narrow majority decision – but the result was overturned after the victor tested positive for banned substances. Cordova last fought in December, outpointing the 30-15-4 Jose Morales.

As for the undercard:

Yoenis Tellez, 10-0 (7 KOs), is the WBA’s interim titleholder at 154lbs but will most likely be upgraded soon given that the primary beltholder, Terence Crawford, is now fighting at super middleweight. Tellez will face his No. 1 contender, Abass Baraou, 16-1 (9 KOs), and the winner will most likely owe a mandatory defense down the line to the winner of the upcoming Jaron “Boots” Ennis-Uisma Lima fight.

Stephanie Han, 10-0 (3 KOs), will be making the first defense of her WBA lightweight title against Paulina Angel, 7-1-2 (3 KOs), who is ranked fourth at 130lbs.

Jasmine Artiga, 13-0-1 (6 KOs), will be defending her WBA junior bantamweight belt for the first time. Her opponent is the top-rated Linn Sandstrom, 10-3-3 (2 KOs).

Also scheduled for this show: Lightweight prospect Lucas Bahdi, 19-0 (15 KOs), will fight Roger Gutierrez, 29-6-1 (22 KOs), and junior welterweight Jamaine Ortiz, 19-2-1 (9 KOs), is waiting on a replacement opponent after an injured Steve Claggett pulled out.

More Fights to Watch

Wednesday, August 20: Nikita Tszyu vs. Lulzim Ismaili (Kayo Sports pay-per-view in Australia)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (5 a.m. Eastern Time in the U.S., 10 a.m. BST).

Tszyu, a 27-year-old junior middleweight prospect from Sydney, is returning after nearly a year away due to a hand injury, multiple surgeries, and pain that will likely continue on anyway. Nikita is the younger brother of former 154-pound titleholder Tim and another fighting son of Hall of Famer Kostya. Nikita is 10-0 (8 KOs) and was last seen stopping the 12-3-1 Koen Mazoudier in the ninth round in August 2024.

Ismaili, 12-0 (7 KOs), is a 28-year-old North Macedonian now living in Germany. He’s also coming off a long layoff; it has been nearly 13 months since his six-round decision over the 31-11-1 Florian Wildenhof. That was a step up from Ismaili’s recent foes, whose records were 8-52-3, 11-27-2 and 5-36-3.

In the co-feature at Sydney’s International Convention & Exhibition Centre, middleweight Michael Zerafa, 33-5 (21 KOs), will face Mikey Dahlman, 18-1 (16 KOs).

Friday, August 22: Jan Paul Rivera vs. Daniel Bailey (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST).

Rivera, 12-0 (6 KOs), is a 24-year-old featherweight prospect from Puerto Rico. He is currently ranked 12th by the WBA and 15th by the WBO. In 2024, Rivera picked up three wins over unbeaten opponents, outpointing the 9-0 David Perez, stopping the 8-0 Justin Goodson in seven rounds, and shutting out the 8-0 Andy Beltran. Most recently, Rivera won a clean slate on the scorecards in April over the 11-3-1 Alexis Eduardo Molina Jimenez.

Bailey, 15-2 (8 KOs), is a 29-year-old from Miami, Florida. Since losing a decision to Edward Vazquez at junior lightweight in May 2024, Bailey has won two straight against unheralded opposition.

The undercard at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Florida includes a lightweight match featuring Corey Marksman, 11-0-1 (8 KOs), against Luis Martinez, 9-1 (4 KOs); and a middleweight bout between Yoelvis Gomez, 8-1 (7 KOs), and Edwine Humaine Jnr, 9-1 (7 KOs).

Saturday, August 23: Jack Rafferty vs. Mark Chamberlain (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time (7:30 p.m. BST).

Rafferty, 26-0 (17 KOs), is a 29-year-old from outside of Manchester, England. He will be performing at home for the third straight time; this show is at Planet Ice in nearby Altrincham. 

The “Demolition Man” has scored six straight KOs, with his three most recent stoppages coming against the 13-0 Henry Turner (TKO9), the 17-1 Reece MacMillian (TKO7) and the 14-0 Cory O’Regan (TKO5). That has landed Rafferty on the lower end of the sanctioning body rankings; he is rated 12th by the WBO, 14th by the WBC and 15th by the IBF.

Chamberlain, 17-1 (12 KOs), is currently unrated, though that wasn’t the case a year ago for the 26-year-old from Portsmouth, England. He was rated and on the verge of a shot at then-lightweight titleholder Denis Berinchyk. But Chamberlain lost a decision to Josh Padley on the undercard of Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua. Since then, Padley took a confidence-builder just shy of 144lbs, winning on points in April over the 8-4 Miguel Angel Scaringi.

Saturday, August 23: Jake Wyllie vs. Youssef Dib (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 6 a.m. Eastern Time (11 a.m. BST).

Wyllie, 17-2 (16 KOs), is a 25-year-old from Warwick, Queensland, Australia, who will be headlining a couple hours away at Fortitude Music Hall in the state capital of Brisbane. Although Wyllie’s been a junior welterweight in recent years, this is listed as a lightweight bout.

The first of Wyllie’s two defeats was a shocker. In February 2023, an 8-0 Wyllie was taken out in the third round by an 0-2 foe named Faavesi Isaako. He rebuilt with eight more wins before coming in as a late replacement against George Kambosos Jnr this past March and losing a unanimous decision. Wyllie’s last bout was a quick 71-second win in April over the 9-5 Saharat Taehirun.

Dib, 21-3 (11 KOs), is a 32-year-old from Sydney, Australia, who is the younger brother of former featherweight title Billy Dib. Youssef has lost three of his last four, dropping a majority decision to the 15-2 Ibrahim Balla in December 2023; stopping the 19-6-1 Nort Beauchamp in four rounds in March 2024; and then suffering back-to-back defeats to Liam Wilson, knocked out in the eighth in July 2024 and then outpointed over 10 rounds this past March.

In the co-feature, former featherweight titleholder Skye Nicolson, 13-1 (2 KOs), is now down at 122lbs and fighting for the second time since losing her belt to Tiara Brown in March. She is facing Urvashi Singh, 12-3 (7 KOs).

Saturday, August 23: Abel Gonzalez vs. Alfonso Flores (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (3 a.m. BST).

Gonzalez, 8-0 (6 KOs), is a 27-year-old super middleweight from Safety Harbor, Florida. Four of his wins have come against opponents with undefeated records, including his last three performances: a decision over the 8-0-2 Robert Magee, a first-round TKO of the 6-0 Alarenz Reynolds and, in April, a fourth-round KO of the 11-0 Ryan Wilczak.

Flores, a 30-year-old from Venezuela and living in Mexico, isn’t undefeated at 13-3 (9 KOs). His first loss came via split decision in 2019 to the 16-26-2 Josue Obando. In his past four outings, Flores has gone 2-2: put away in just 43 seconds by the 8-0 Julio Porras Ruiz, winning via TKO2 against the 4-4-1 Amadeus de la Torre Ramirez, getting a split decision nod over the 4-1-1 Luis Reyes Acatitla, and getting stopped in five rounds by the 15-1 Aaron Silva.

This fight is taking place in Metepec, Mexico.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.