The show will feature WBC light heavyweight titleholder David Benavidez making his first defense against Anthony Yarde; Brian Norman Jnr putting his WBO welterweight belt on the line against Devin Haney; Abdullah Mason taking on Sam Noakes for the vacant WBO lightweight title; and a unification bout between junior bantamweights Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Fernando Martinez.
Boxing financier Turki Alalshikh announced the event, which will stream on DAZN, .
Benavidez, 30-0 (24 KOs), won the interim WBC title last year with a unanimous decision over Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez then added the secondary WBA “regular” belt this past February when he outpointed David Morrell. Benavidez was subsequently upgraded by the WBC after Dmitry Bivol vacated its title and his status as the undisputed four-belt champion. Bivol opted for a trilogy with Artur Beterbiev rather than his mandatory obligation against Benavidez, though that rubber match still hasn’t been locked in.
Yarde, 27-3 (24 KOs), has come up short in his previous two title fights, suffering stoppage losses to Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and Beterbiev in 2023, though he had moments in both defeats. Yarde has won four in a row, wrapping his trilogy with Lyndon Arthur in April with a unanimous decision victory.
Norman, 28-0 (22 KOs), was upgraded from interim to full titleholder by the WBO following Terence Crawford’s departure from the welterweight division. Norman has won both of his defenses via TKO, demolishing Derrieck Cuevas in three rounds in March and Jin Sasaki in five rounds last month in a contender for Knockout of the Year.
Haney, 32-0 (15 KOs), is a former undisputed lightweight champion and a former junior welterweight titleholder. His decision loss to Ryan Garcia in April 2024, in which he suffered three knockdowns and heavy damage, was changed to a no-contest after Garcia tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. Haney spent about a year away, coming back this past May with a much-derided decision win in which he moved his feet far more than his fists against Jose Ramirez.
Mason, 19-0 (17 KOs), is coming off a fifth-round TKO over Jeremia Nakathila in June on the same show that was supposed to feature Keyshawn Davis defending the WBO lightweight belt against Edwin De Los Santos. Davis came in overweight, the fight was canceled and the title was left vacant. Mason is ranked No. 1 by the sanctioning body.
Just behind Mason, at No. 2, is Noakes, 17-0 (15 KOs). He is coming off a near-shutout of the 29-4-2 Ryan Walsh in December and a three-round KO of the 13-4-1 Patrik Balaz in a stay-busy, over-the-limit appearance in May.
Rodriguez, 21-0 (14 KOs), established himself as a world-class fighter in February 2022 with a decision over Carlos Cuadras to capture the vacant WBC belt at 115lbs. After two more wins, including a TKO of former champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Rodriguez then moved down to 112lbs and won two titles there, finishing up with a dominant stoppage of Sunny Edwards. Rodriguez then returned to junior bantamweight last year, putting away Juan Francisco Estrada to regain the WBC title and add the Ring Magazine championship.
Rodriguez also has a fight scheduled less than two weeks from now, a July 19 unification bout with WBO titleholder Phumelele Cafu.
Martinez, 18-0 (9 KOs), was previously a unified titleholder himself. He won the IBF title from Jerwin Ancajas in 2022 and added the WBA belt with a decision over Kazuto Ioka in 2024. Martinez then vacated the IBF title ahead of a rematch with Ioka, which Martinez won by decision this May.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter. David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.
