Bivol triumphed in the sequel with Beterbiev to become undisputed but vacated his WBC title. Benavidez has since been upgraded, and this bout against Yarde will be the first defense for the 28-year-old from Arizona.

It might be tempting to dismiss Yarde, 27-3 (24 KOs), given Benavidez’s formidable talents and those three defeats on the record of the 34-year-old from Ilford, England.

After all, two of those losses came when Yarde stepped up against the top tier of light heavyweights. He was taken out in the 11th round by Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and by Artur Beterbiev in eight rounds in 2023. But he was competitive at times in both bouts before being put away. Benavidez can’t (and likely won’t) take him lightly. Yarde’s other loss came in 2020, a split decision against Lyndon Arthur. Yarde twice avenged it, toppling Arthur in the fourth round in 2021 and taking a unanimous decision in their rubber match this past April.

Benavidez-Yarde is supported by a junior bantamweight unification bout between Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez” and Fernando Martinez; Brian Norman Jnr defending his WBO welterweight title against Devin Haney; and lightweights Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes competing for the vacant WBO belt.

Rodriguez, 22-0 (15 KOs), has been on a tear in his second stint at 115lbs. He knocked out Juan Francisco Estrada with a body shot for the WBC belt and Ring Magazine championship, summarily dismissed Pedro Guevara in three rounds, and then took out Phumelele Cafu in the 10th round this past July to add the WBO title.

That means three world titles and the Ring championship will be on the line against Martinez, who owns the WBA belt and a record of 18-0 (9 KOs). While Martinez hasn’t been getting the attention that Rodriguez has, he earned his spot with two wins over Jerwin Ancajas and a pair of victories over Kazuto Ioka.

(The IBF belt, which Martinez vacated ahead of the Ioka rematch, now belongs to Willibaldo Garcia, who will defend against Kenshiro Teraji on December 27.)

Norman, 28-0 (22 KOs), never got the unification bout he wanted with Jaron “Boots” Ennis and since has sought to make a name for himself, impressing with stoppage victories this year over Derrieck Cuevas and Jin Sasaki. 

In terms of talent, Haney represents a significant step up for Norman. But Haney, 32-0 (15 KOs), a former undisputed lightweight champion and junior welterweight titleholder, also has a lot to prove himself, and not just because he’s in his third weight division. Haney looked highly vulnerable while visiting the canvas three times against Ryan Garcia in April 2024, though that majority decision loss was rightly overturned given Garcia’s positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. And then Haney stunk out the joint while boxing his way to a decision over Jose Ramirez this past May.

Mason, 19-0 (17 KOs), was labeled the future of the lightweight division early on, though he had to get off the canvas twice a year ago to win a thrilling two-rounder with Yohan Vasquez. Plenty of other top talents had to get through scary moments and tough tests while young. Mason has steadied himself since and is coming off a five-round victory over gatekeeper Jeremia Nakathila.

Noakes, 17-0 (15 KOs), is moving into the deep end after things went swimmingly against lower levels of opposition. In recent outings, he nearly shut out the 29-4-2 Ryan Walsh and then won a third-round TKO over an injured 13-4-1 Patrik Balaz.

More Fights to Watch

Friday, November 21: Harlem Eubank vs. Josh Wagner (Channel 5)

The broadcast begins at 4 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. GMT).

Harlem Eubank, 21-1 (9 KOs), is the son of the late Simon Eubank, a pro boxer who died in 2023. His uncle is Chris Eubank Snr and his cousin Chris Eubank Jnr. Harlem is a 31-year-old welterweight from Brighton, England – this fight is being held at the Brighton Centre. He is 1-1 in 2025. In March, he stopped the 24-5-1 Tyrone McKenna in the 10th round. Eubank suffered his first defeat in July, dropping a technical decision to Jack Catterall in a cut-shortened bout.

Wagner, 19-1 (10 KOs), is a 33-year-old from Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, about an hour outside of Toronto. Wagner’s loss came about a year ago, when he was knocked out in the seventh round by then-unbeaten prospect David Papot. Wagner returned this past May with a one-round KO of an 11-9-5 foe.

The undercard includes a bout between super middleweight prospect Niall Brown, 16-0 (6 KOs), and Darren Johnstone, 12-1 (3 KOs).

Friday, November 21: Francisco Veron vs Roiman Villa (ProBox TV)

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

Veron, 15-1-1 (10 KOs), is a 27-year-old from Argentina living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he’ll be headlining at the War Memorial Auditorium. Veron’s had a decent stretch of late, going 3-1-1 in his past five fights. He took a split decision over previously unbeaten Timur Kerefov at middleweight, then dropped down to junior middleweight, where he’s fought to a draw with the 10-1 Jahi Tucker, outpointed the 18-2-1 Angel Ruiz Astorga, lost a decision to contender Brandon Adams, and ended the Cinderella run of Vladimir Hernandez.

Villa, 27-3 (25 KOs), is moving up from welterweight. The 32-year-old Venezuelan gave Janelson Figueroa Bocachica and Rashidi Ellis their first defeats in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Villa then faced Jaron “Boots” Ennis for the interim IBF belt in July 2023, losing via 10th-round knockout. The next defeat was even more damaging to his reputation: a third-round KO against the 19-2-2 Ricardo Salas Rodriguez in September 2024. In Villa’s last outing, he scored a fourth-round TKO in January over the 21-2 Alexander Duran.

The undercard includes a bout between welterweight prospect Ruben Aguilar, 23-0-1 (20 KOs), and Louie Lopez, 16-2-4 (5 KOs).

(Note: BoxingScene and ProBox TV are both owned by Garry Jonas.)

Friday, November 21: Damien Davila vs. Nestor Ramirez (DAZN)

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

Davila, 7-0 (3 KOs), is an 18-year-old from Mexico who’s been competing at bantamweight and junior featherweight. He’ll be headlining in Mexico City.

Ramirez, 4-1-2 (2 KOs), is a 17-year-old, also from Mexico.

Saturday, November 22: Mizuki Hiruta vs. Gloria Gallardo (UFC Fight Pass)

The main broadcast begins on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. GMT). A preliminary undercard will stream on the UFC Fight Pass YouTube page beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET (11 p.m. GMT).

Hiruta, 9-0 (2 KOs), will be making the sixth defense of her WBO junior bantamweight title and her second defense as Ring Magazine’s champion at 115lbs. This will be the fourth fight of 2025 for the 29-year-old from Japan. She won clear decisions over Maribel Ramirez in January, Carla Merino in May and Naomy Cardenas Gomez in August.

Gallardo, 16-3-3 (7 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Mexico. She lost a wide decision last December to the 23-5-1 Irma Garcia and then bounced back this past March, taking just 95 seconds to dispatch the 6-4 Maria de Lourdes Garcia.

Several other prospects will be featured on this show at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, including strawweight Guadalupe Medina, 11-0 (2 KOs); junior lightweight Abel Mejia, 9-0 (6 KOs); junior featherweight Adan Palma, 13-0 (8 KOs); and featherweight Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco, 6-0 (1 KO).

Saturday, November 22: Freddy Kiwitt vs. Suleiman Jafaru (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. GMT).

Kiwitt, 28-3 (18 KOs), is a 35-year-old junior middleweight from Germany. He is also listed on BoxRec as the promoter and matchmaker for this card at GP Joule Arena in Flensburg. Kiwitt has won 11 straight since dropping a unanimous decision to the 12-1 Luther Clay in 2019.

Jafaru, 17-1 (14 KOs), is a 30-year-old from Nigeria. In early 2024, he traveled to hostile territory for the first time and was knocked out in two rounds by the 21-1 Milan Prat. Two wins have followed back at home for Jafaru, both by knockout: one against a foe with a record of 1-6, the other whose record was 18-3.

Saturday, November 22: Jon Fernandez vs. Armando Casamonica (ESPN+)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. GMT).

Fernandez, 27-3 (22 KOs), is a 30-year-old from Bilbao, Spain, which is where he’ll be headlining. The junior welterweight’s name may be familiar to those who recall him losing to O’Shaquie Foster (UD10 in 2018) and Michel Rivera (TKO8 in 2021). Fernandez’s third defeat came against Samuel Molina via decision in 2022. He’s won four straight since, including a fourth-round TKO of Petr Petrov, a wide decision over faded former junior lightweight titleholder Jezreel Corrales, and a DQ over Ricardo Nunez.

Casamonica, 15-1 (3 KOs), is a 25-year-old from Italy. He lost a majority decision to Lucas Bahdi last year on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and then returned this past May with a razor-thin split decision over the 16-1 Charlemagne Metonyekpon.

Saturday, November 22: Sergio Mendoza Cordova vs. Mpumelelo Tshabalala (ESPN+)

The broadcast begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. GMT).

This fight is an eliminator bout for a chance to challenge for the IBF title at 108lbs, which currently belongs to Thanongsak Simsri.

Mendoza Cordova, 26-0 (22 KOs), hails from Hermosillo, Mexico, which is where this show is taking place. The 25-year-old is ranked third, though he hasn’t actually competed at junior flyweight in nearly two years. He was instead at flyweight and, most recently, junior bantamweight when he outpointed the 14-11-2 Joel Cordova.

Tshabalala, 11-1 (5 KOs), is ranked fourth. The South African fighter was last in the ring about 14 months ago, when he won a split decision over Junior Zarate (now ranked fifth by the IBF).

Sunday, November 23: Luka Plantic vs. Shadiri Bwogi (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. GMT).

Plantic, 12-0 (9 KOs), is a super middleweight prospect ranked seventh by the WBC. The 29-year-old hails from Croatia and will be headlining in the Albanian capital of Tirana. This is Plantic’s second fight of the year. In May, he outpointed the 11-0 Bruno Damian Acosta.

Bwogi, a 29-year-old from Uganda, is also undefeated at 9-0 (5 KOs). He is coming off a majority decision victory in March against the 10-1 Jason Medi.

Per BoxRec, a number of other familiar names are also scheduled to perform on this show, including junior middleweight prospect Ermal Hadribeaj (ranked sixth by the WBC), once-beaten heavyweight Mourad Aliev, and former super middleweight title challenger Avni Yildirim.

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.