This is a slow week for boxing, the final week of August bringing just a few minor broadcasts before September kicks us back into gear with major events as well as several notable names.
Until then, here are the highlights for August 28-31:
When to Watch: Sunday, August 31 at 4 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. BST)
How to watch: BXNG TV pay-per-view
Why to Watch: Two former world titleholders – Sadam Ali and Richard Commey – are returning from long layoffs on this show.
The main event is for those who are either Ali fans, boxing addicts, or anyone who is curious enough to pay to see how Ali looks more than six years after his last boxing match and more than seven years after his brief world title reign ended.
Ali, now 36 years old, hung up his gloves after being taken out in three rounds by an unheralded 20-2 fighter named Anthony Young in May 2019.
Ali competed in the 2008 Olympics at lightweight, losing in his only contest. He turned pro in 2009 and lost in his first title shot in 2016, stopped in the ninth round by Jessie Vargas in a bout for the vacant WBO welterweight belt.
But four fights later, Ali surprisingly outpointed Miguel Cotto in December 2017 for the WBO title at 154lbs, sending Cotto off into retirement. Ali lost to Jaime Munguia in May 2018 in his first defense.
“My whole life has been about boxing since I was eight years old,” Ali said in a press release. “I achieved becoming an Olympian and world champion as a professional. It was time for me to take a break. As time went by, the hunger grew more and more; I really missed being in the ring.”
Ali originally scheduled his comeback fight for February 23 against Victoriano Santillan in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York. The show – postponed when Ali suffered an injury in training camp – was relocated to the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit, Michigan. And instead of Santillan, Ali is taking on Cody Wilson.
Wilson is a 31-year-old from West Virginia with a record of 14-5 (9 KOs). He is coming off an eight-round decision loss in April to the 5-1 Ivan Dancha.
Also on this show, former lightweight titleholder Commey will face an opponent still to be determined. Commey, 30-5-1 (27 KOs), last fought in March 2023, when he was stopped by Jose Ramirez in the 11th round of a junior welterweight elimination bout.
He is 1-3-1 in his last five outings, which also included defeats against Teofimo Lopez (who took Commey’s IBF belt by second-round TKO in 2019), a win over Jackson Marinez, a wide decision loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2021, and a draw with Jose Pedraza in 2022.
More Fights to Watch
Thursday, August 28: Jesse Gonzalez vs. Christian Seals (Triller TV)
The broadcast begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (3 a.m. BST).
This show features both boxing and MMA matches at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California. The boxing main event is a junior middleweight fight between Jesse Gonzalez and Christian Seals.
Gonzalez, 7-4-1 (2 KOs), is a 23-year-old from Riverside County, California. He has lost three in a row, most recently dropping a majority decision to the 19-2 Bryan Flores in May.
Seals, 4-2-2 (2 KOs), is a 33-year-old from Carson, California. He last fought two years ago, dating back to an August 2023 draw with the 5-2 Ruben Torres. Seals is 0-2-2 in his last four appearances and has not won a bout since November 2021.
Friday, August 29: Jonathan Guzman vs Bernardo Gomez Uribe (Combat Sports Now pay-per-view)
The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight BST).
Guzman is a 36-year-old former world titleholder originally from the Dominican Republic and now living in Braintree, Massachusetts, about half an hour from this show at the Melrose Memorial Hall.
Guzman’s name may be familiar to those who remember his brief title reign many years ago at 122lbs. He stopped Shingo Wake in the 11th round in July 2016 to capture the vacant IBF belt, then lost in his sole defense that December, dropping a unanimous decision to Yukinori Oguni.
Guzman is still at junior featherweight but has fought only sporadically since: one fight apiece in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024. The 2021 bout was a split decision loss to the 17-1 Carlos Jackson. Most recently, Guzman returned from a 32-month layoff last December and took just two rounds to dispatch the 24-17 Wilner Soto. That victory brought him to 26-2 (25 KOs).
Uribe, 17-11 (10 KOs), is a 35-year-old from Mexico. He left the sport after a July 2017 loss to a young Robson Conceicao, who plowed through Uribe in just 53 seconds. Uribe returned last December and has only added to his losing streak, which stands at five following three more stoppage defeats. In his most recent loss, Uribe was sent packing in the third round of his May bout against the 8-0-1 Karlo Rodriguez.
Saturday, August 30: Kittipong Jian Hao Ho vs Harpreet Singh (DAZN)
The broadcast begins at 6 a.m. Eastern Time (11 a.m. BST).
Ho is a light heavyweight from Singapore. The 27-year-old is 11-1-1 (10 KOs). His first six fights were in his home country, but Ho has since become a staple in Thailand, and he’ll be back in Bangkok for this bout. He is coming off a June fight at the city’s World Siam Stadium where he stopped the 2-0 Bhavesh Amarjeet in two rounds.
Singh, a 31-year-old from India, is 11-2 (6 KOs). He will be the naturally smaller fighter. Although Singh has fought at light heavyweight before, he was just shy of 164lbs in April for an eight-round unanimous decision win over the 3-0 Nitesh Vasisht. Singh is riding a two-fight winning streak; he was stopped after five rounds with the 23-9-1 Twaha Kassimu in April 2024.
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.
