Manny Pacquiao vs Mario Barrios and Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois are taking center-stage on July 19th, but five more overlooked fights are happening on boxing’s biggest night.
Fans are eagerly awaiting Manny Pacquiao‘s ring return and Daniel Dubois‘ bid for the undisputed crown against his former foe in Usyk, but many fights have gone under the radar as a result of these two huge occasions.
July 19th is the date for the biggest night of boxing in 2025, and is not limited to Dubois vs Usyk and Pacquiao vs Barrios.
Here are five more overlooked fights happening on July 19th:
Diego Pacheco vs Trevor McCumby
Headlining in a double-bill in Texas, Diego Pacheco seeks to extend his dominant unbeaten run against 28-1 McCumby, who dropped Caleb Plant in his last outing.
McCumby gave Plant some difficulty early on, before being stopped in the ninth round.
Pacheco outpointed 20-0 Steven Nelson, one of BoMac’s charges and Terence Crawford‘s stablemates, last time out.
A win over the capable American will set Pacheco up for some huge nights in boxing, with Canelo being a potential future opponent.
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez vs Phumelela Cafu
Super flyweight sensation, Bam Rodriguez will return to the ring to cement himself as a pound-for-pound fighter after defeating Juan Francisco Estrada, and more recently, Pedro Guevara. Bam was the first man to KO Estrada in the veteran’s entire career.
The fight will be a unification of Bam’s WBC title and Cafu’s WBO title.
Cafu drew with a journeyman earlier in his career, but has since skyrocketed to world level, claiming the title with a split decision win over 20-1 Kosei Tanaka in his last fight.
Bam has recently been announced to face Fernando ‘Puma’ Martinez, should he get past Cafu.
Kevin Lerena vs Lawrence Okolie
British former-cruiserweight and bridgerweight world champion, Lawrence Okolie, made his heavyweight debut in December 2024, stopping 18-1 Hussein Muhamed in just one round.
Okolie was since set to face Richard Riakporhe, but withdrew with injury.
Now, on the Dubois vs Usyk undercard, Okolie will face Kevin Lerena, who dropped Dubois three times in their fight.
Dubois predicts Okolie will KO Lerena. Lerena’s only losses in the past 10 years have come against Dubois and Justis Huni, whom he wobbled.
Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro 2
Though a rematch that wasn’t necessarily warranted, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz is set to take on Angel Fierro for a second time on the Pacquiao vs Barrios undercard.
Cruz, whose only losses in the last eight years have come against Gervonta Davis and Jose Valenzuela, both via close points decisions, faced Fierro for the first time in his last fight.
Cruz won a unanimous decision after 10 hard-fought rounds, though Fierro believes the fight was closer than scored.
He told The Ring: “I’m here to remove the bitter taste from my mouth from the first fight with Cruz. […] I figured Isaac Cruz out in our first fight, and now he’s gonna have to figure me out. Isaac doesn’t have the chin that people say he has. So let’s see if he can figure out what to do in the rematch.”
“We’re here because he didn’t win so convincingly.”
Tim Tszyu vs Sebastian Fundora 2
In March 2024, Aussie fighter and son of Kostya Tszyu, Tim Tszyu, was set to face Keith Thurman in Las Vegas.
Thurman was forced to withdraw and, on less than two weeks’ notice, Sebastian Fundora stepped up to the plate.
Fundora, who is bizarrely boxing’s tallest current champion, standing at 6’6″, is huge for his division, and made use of his physical advantages against Tszyu.
The fight turned into a bloodbath after a cut opened up on Tszyu’s head, and, after the final bell, Tszyu’s bravery for fighting on with such a cut failed to pay off, as he dropped a split decision loss, losing his WBO world title.
Tszyu has fought twice since, and was decimated in three rounds by Bakhram Murtazaliev before Tszyu channeled David Benavidez to KO Joey Spencer. Fundora stopped Chordale Booker in his only fight since the win. Tszyu and Fundora will run it back on Manny Pacquiao’s undercard.
This is just five of the fights landing on the same night as Pacquiao vs Barrios and Usyk vs Dubois, but others include Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams, Brandon Figueroa vs Joet Gonzalez, and Usyk’s pupil, Daniel Lapin, facing his toughest test yet.