Ranking this weekend's fights: From Lopez-Shakur to Zayas-Baraou

Teofimo Lopez Jr.‘s must-see clash with Shakur Stevenson is not the only fight this Saturday that you should be aware of. There are many excellent matchups taking place on five boxing cards around the globe.

Lopez’s junior welterweight title defense against Stevenson is the weekend’s best fight, a clash that sees two of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers settle a festering rivalry. There are also two junior middleweight title fights and the welcome return to the ring of Dina Thorslund, one of the best in women’s boxing, who endured a difficult 2025 in which she suffered a miscarriage.

ESPN picks out eight of the best contests happening on fight cards from Newcastle, England, to New York.

All odds by DraftKings Sportsbook.

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1. Teofimo Lopez Jr. (+250) vs. Shakur Stevenson (-330) | New York

Lopez has produced some of his best performances when he has stepped up against top-caliber opponents, such as Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020 and Josh Taylor in 2023. He will need to find that inspiration again when he faces Stevenson. But Lopez has also had off nights as he did in a split decision loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021 and decision wins against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett in 2024.

Which Lopez turns up on Saturday to defend his WBO junior welterweight title will determine the course of the fight. He has a size advantage (Stevenson is stepping up from lightweight) and has adapted to opponents’ style mid-fight to get wins.

Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) is a skilled, defensive-minded southpaw. He can secure a decision win if he produces a disciplined performance that avoids getting dragged into toe-to-toe exchanges. Lopez likely would come out on top if the fight became a brawl at Madison Square Garden.

Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) has called Stevenson “The Roadrunner,” but if Stevenson finds his range with his reliable jab early on, his footwork and control of distance could leave the champion frustrated. Lopez has struggled with counterpunchers, getting knocked down in Round 2 against Sandor Martin in an eventual decision win in 2021.

Stevenson shone in his lightweight title defense against William Zepeda last July, but he will have to produce his best performance yet to beat Lopez and become a four-division world champion.

Few fights this year will be as big as this.

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2. Keyshawn Davis (-600) vs. Jamaine Ortiz (+400) | New York

Davis has shown a ruthless streak in recent fights, destroying Denys Berinchyk in four rounds almost a year ago to win the WBO lightweight title. But can he do the same at 140 pounds?

Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) is stepping up to junior welterweight to face Ortiz after missing weight in June, which caused a planned lightweight title defense against Edwin De Los Santos to be canceled. Following that damaging disappointment, Davis needs to make a statement, with the possibility of lucrative fights in his new division.

Ortiz (20-2-1, 10 KOs) has competed with elite opponents such as Lomachenko in 2022 and Lopez in 2024, both decision losses, and he has the potential to compete with Davis’ speed. Ortiz won his two fights in 2025, and his versatility could see him pull off an upset. Like the Lopez-Stevenson main event, it is hard to pick a winner with any confidence.

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3. Bakhram Murtazaliev (-350) vs. Josh Kelly (+260) | Newcastle, England

Kelly will feed off the fervent support of his home crowd in Newcastle, England, when he faces Murtazaliev for his IBF junior middleweight title, but he must keep his emotions in check against the Russian power puncher. Kelly is capable of boxing cleverly, which is what he will have to do to avoid meeting the same fate as Tim Tszyu and Jack Culcay, who were both knocked out by Murtazaliev in 2024.

We’ve not seen much of either recently. Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) did not fight last year, while Kelly spent only two minutes in the ring in a Round 1 KO of Flavius Biea in June.

Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs) was stopped the last time he faced someone as dangerous as Murtazaliev, suffering a sixth-round TKO loss to David Avanesyan down at welterweight in 2021. Kelly has improved since then but has to be in supreme condition to jab his way to a decision win. Many will tune into this one expecting to see a Murtazaliev KO, but don’t be surprised if Kelly produces an unexpected twist.

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4. Carlos Adames (-425) vs. Austin Williams (+300) | New York

After earning a split draw with knockout specialist Hamzah Sheeraz in February, Adames needs to produce a more convincing display in a second defense of his WBC middleweight world title. Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) took a while to get going against Sheeraz, but in the second half of the fight he was bolder and busier. However, his strong finish was not enough to get the win, as the judges scored it 115-114 to Sheeraz, 118-110 to Adames and 114-114.

Sheeraz stopped Williams (19-1, 13 KOs) in Round 11 in June 2024, but since then Williams has recorded three wins. If the southpaw can have some success with his counterattacks against Adames, he can make this a close fight.

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5. Xander Zayas (-400) vs. Abass Baraou (+295) | San Juan, Puerto Rico

While Zayas knows former sparring partner Baraou well, this is still a step up in competition from his last fight. Zayas, the WBO junior middleweight champion takes on Baraou, the WBA champion in a unification bout in the main event.

Zayas dominated Jorge Garcia in July to win a unanimous decision and claim his first world title at just 22 years old. Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) showed great footwork and counterpunches to earn scores of 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109.

Zayas’s jab was crucial to establishing authority, and he showed a maturity beyond his years as he opted to box his way to a comfortable victory. It’s a strategy that could serve him well against Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs), who likes to march forward.

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6. Adam Azim (-1000) vs. Gustavo Daniel Lemos (+600) | London

There has been a lot of talk about a potential fight between Azim and English rival Dalton Smith, who won the WBC junior welterweight title earlier this month. Smith is obligated to defend his belt against Alberto Puello next, but Azim will still want to produce something special after Smith’s upset win over Subriel Matias in January.

Azim (14-0, 11 KOs) was measured as he patiently dismantled Kurt Scoby in November, scoring a Round 12 TKO win. A victory over Lemos (30-2, 20 KOs), expected to be quicker than his last fight, would put Azim firmly in contention for a shot at the IBF title, held by Richardson Hitchins.

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7. Bruce Carrington (-900) vs. Carlos Castro (+550) | New York

Brooklyn’s “Shu Shu” Carrington will attempt to justify the hype around his rise when he tries to win his first world title in front of his home crowd at Madison Square Garden against the experienced Castro.

Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) is a red-hot favorite to win the vacant WBC featherweight belt, but it is still worth tuning in to see a fighter who looks destined to break into the pound-for-pound top 10 in the next few years.

Castro (30-3, 14 KOs) lost a split decision to Stephen Fulton in September 2024 and has not boxed since. That inactivity will not do Castro any favors, and considering he has been beaten every time he has stepped up to face a quality opponent — against Fulton, Luis Nery and Brandon Figueroa — this fight could be a tough matchup for the former title contender.

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8. Dina Thorslund vs. Almudena Alvarez | Kolding, Denmark

Thorslund (23-0, 9 KOs) did not make a single appearance in 2025 after she withdrew from a title unification bout because of pregnancy, and relinquished her WBC and WBO bantamweight belts. The former two-division world champion faces substitute opponent Alvarez (7-3, 2 KOs) for the WBC interim featherweight title in what is expected to be a comfortable win for Thorslund in her first fight since October 2024.