Unfortunately an injury has seen the entire card postponed and pushed back to the end of March, but that may be the start of a busy run for some of the top Heavyweights around the world.
Rumours are strengthening that Deontay Wilder will face Dereck Chisora in London in early April, while both Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury are both due back in the same month.
The last time Dubois and Fury were out in the ring were in contests against Undisputed Heavyweight King Oleksandr Usyk- at one stage it sounded like Usyk would next defend his status against the aforementioned Deontay Wilder, but that might be revisited later in the year and the Ukrainian may instead face another former Unified Heavyweight Champion in one Andy Ruiz Jr.
That does leave Fabio Wardley and Agit Kabayel looking in from the outside, although it may then make sense for the two to meet instead in a battle of top quality Heavyweights vying to be next in line to take on Oleksandr Usyk.
We do hope to have some news sooner than later with some of the top Promoters looking to announce some of the cards that are coming up in the first half of the year.
Some of those have been released by Matchroom and Queensberry who have some good looking shows for the fans in February and March, while a big fight night has been announced in America headlined by Ryan Garcia three weeks after Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson have squared off at Madison Square Garden.
A big Heavyweight name is not in action this weekend, but we have a World Title fight in the Lightweight Division taking place in Las Vegas, while Zuffa Boxing has its first show on Friday evening.
Credit has to be given to Dana White in announcing at least one more date and another to be rumoured for February, while the signing of Jai Opetaia is of high quality (even if it means having to work with other Promoters, which is not part of the business model).
There are still questions whether this UFC-style model can work in Boxing... Dana White continues to insist he wants to end the control of the Boxing organisations and he is well backed with Turki Alalshikh on board and the start of the Promotional cards will generate plenty of interest.
Raymond Muratalla vs Andy Cruz
Just seven fights into his professional career, Andy Cruz has fast-tracked his way into a World Title fight and he is the favourite this weekend.
At 30 years old, Andy Cruz did not want to wait around after putting together a deep amateur career and he has not eased his way into the pro ranks.
The Lightweight Division has lost some big names in recent years and there is every chance Andy Cruz could soon follow the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis in moving into the Light-Welterweight ranks to chase bigger names and challenges.
However, it would be a big mistake to overlook Champion Raymond Muratalla who is unbeaten in twenty-three fights and who has been elevated into full IBF World Champion.
This is another fighter who may choose to leave the Division sooner, rather than later, but Raymond Muratalla will want to show that he has learned plenty from his narrow win over Tevin Farmer and deserves to be recognised as a full World Champion. Criticism of becoming an 'email Champion' has hurt others, but Muratalla did want the big fights in the Division and ultimately it is not his fault that they were not arranged.
There has been plenty to like about the Champion- he has solid punching power, but is also capable of boxing really well and will need all of that if he is going to hold off Andy Cruz.
The blueprint has been given to Cruz by the performance put together by Tevin Farmer, who gave Raymond Muratalla a lot of problems.
Andy Cruz is faster and fresher than the veteran Farmer, and that is expected to be a difference in this Title Fight with the Cuban likely doing enough to secure the victory on the cards.
Working with the Ennis team in Philadelphia means Andy Cruz is more willing to sit down on his punches than you may expect, but the game plan here will be to frustrate the Champion with his skills and movement likely to be really important.
Raymond Muratalla is a very good fighter, but there is this feeling that he might be able to be out-boxed by someone of the talent of Andy Cruz and the likelihood is that the Challenger can become the Champion thanks to the Judges' cards.
It is a solid undercard designed to give some fighters exposure and others a spot to begin the rebuild.
Omari Jones and Israil Madrimov could both earn Stoppages on the undercard, but those prices are plenty short.
The likelihood is that Madrimov is not going to need too much time in the ring to get the better of Luis David Salazar- his opponent has been as low as the Light-Welterweight limit as recently as 2021 and Salazer was fighting at below the Light-Middleweight limit the last time he headed out to the ring.
He has fought at Middleweight before, but Israil Madrimov has been in with a much higher class of opponent and should make a really early statement in this one.
Khalil Coe is also expected to be victorious on the undercard against veteran Jesse Hart, but he missed weight and will lose his USA Light Heavyweight Title on the scales.
He may still put on a solid show to win this one late on, although it is difficult to dismiss the toughness of Hart to be able to get to the cards and at least give the favourite something to think about.
On Friday night, Zuffa Boxing 01 takes place and the first card is headlined by Callum Walsh who has long been aligned with Dana White.
This is one of the names that the new Promotion are looking to build around and the unbeaten fighter put on a good performance on the undercard of the Terence Crawford win over Canelo Alvarez to have more people take interest.
He is only 24 years old and the Irishman may have some real room for development.
Callum Walsh is moving up to Middleweight and will be looking to see if he can carry his power against Carlos Ocampo who has only been beaten in very good company.
The 30 year old Ocampo was blitzed by both Errol Spence Jr and Tim Tsyzu with neither fight lasting more than a single Round, but he did take Sebastian Fundora to the cards.
Carlos Ocampo took eighteen months away from the ring after being blown away by Tim Tszyu in 2023 and has started fighting above the Light-Middleweight limit and he has three wins in a row. Of course it should be stated that those have been at a lower level compared with those defeats and Carlos Ocampo may come up short again, even if Callum Walsh is perhaps not going to be as strong as those fighters that have wins over the Mexican.
However, the younger fighter hits hard and Carlos Ocampo should not make it too difficult for Callum Walsh to find him.
It will be a test for Walsh to see where he is in his career, but this is an opportunity to show people why the upper management at Zuffa Boxing are so keen to get behind him and he can break down Carlos Ocampo for a Stoppage win.
MY PICKS: Andy Cruz to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Israil Madrimov to Win Between 1-2 @ 3.00 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Callum Walsh to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Boxing 2026: 1-2, + 0.74 Units (5 Units Staked, + 14.80% Yield)
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