Pick It: World Champion Kenshiro Teraji vs. TBRB #4 Carlos Canizales (Tuesday, ESPN+, 4:00 AM EST)   

One of the centerpieces of a fabulous era in Japanese boxing will take center stage to defend the lineal junior flyweight crown.

The 32-year old Kenshiro (22-1, 14 KO), also the unified WBC/WBA titlist, will look to score his fifth consecutive knockout when he faces Venezuela’s 30-year old Carlos Canizales (26-1-1, 19 KO). Canizales has won four straight since a stunning knockout loss to Esteban Bermudez. This one should have solid action. Also on the card, WBA flyweight tiltist Artem Dalakian will defend against TBRB #9 contender Seigo Akui, giving the main event some quality support.  

Additional Shows to Watch 

Saturday - Jonas vs. Mayer (ESPN+, 2:00 PM EST)

39-year old IBF welterweight titlist Natasha Jonas (14-2-1, 9 KO) traveled quite the road to get to her second divisional throne. A draw versus Teri Harper at junior lightweight, and a loss in her next fight to lightweight queen Katie Taylor, kept her from titles in both those classes. Harper then jumped all the way from 135 to 154 pounds, winning the WBO crown and then adding the WBC and IBF titles in her next two fights, all of those title wins coming in 2022. Last year, Jonas moved down to 147 pounds, stopping Kandi Wyatt to expand her trophy chest. Her reward is her biggest name foe since the loss to Taylor: 33-year old 2016 US Olympian Mikaela Mayer (19-1, 6 KO). Mayer has won twice since losing a junior lightweight unification match with Alycia Baumgardner, competing once at lightweight and then just over the junior welterweight limit. Can Mayer win her second crown at welterweight?

Saturday - Cyborg vs. Wickstrum (SpectationSports.com, 10 PM EST)

Completists who need to see every second of boxing they can will be able to subscribe to see this card from the World Fight Championships. 38-year old Cris Cyborg (2-0), a former Bellator and UFC champion in MMA, is giving boxing another turn. She will face 36-year old Kelsey Wickstrum (2-0, 1 KO) in the junior middleweight main event.   

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com