Queensberry unveils first slate of DAZN cards: Anthony Cacace vs. Leigh Wood, Josh Taylor, lots of heavyweights and more
Starting April 1, Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions will have all its shows broadcast by DAZN worldwide. Queensberry announced its initial slate of cards that will air on DAZN on Monday at a press conference in Manchester, England.
Queensberry opens its new TV deal with an all-British heavyweight triple-header, as Dillan Whyte and Joe Joyce look to revive their careers at a world level when they clash in the main event on April 5 at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena — a fight that Uncrowned broke news of this past Friday.
Since losing to Tyson Fury for the WBC heavyweight championship in April 2022, Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) has strung together three wins and now heads into another big-time fight against Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs), who at age 39 knows he has no time for rebuilding and must emerge victorious against Whyte to secure his future in the sport in major fights.
Accompanying Whyte vs. Joyce is a matchup years in the making between Lawrence Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs) and Richard Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KOs). The pair were previously building toward a fight when they both competed in the cruiserweight division, however both ultimately lost to Chris Billam-Smith in world title bouts, scuttling those plans. Okolie made his heavyweight debut in December, knocking out Hussein Muhamed in the opening round, while Riakporhe has yet to fight at the weight class.
Rounding out the card is English heavyweight champion David Adeleye (13-1, 12 KOs), who defends his strap against the once-beaten Jeamie Tshikeva (8-1, 5 KOs), better known as "Jeamie TKV." One of Warren's latest signings, 2024 British Olympian Delicious Orie, also makes his professional debut.
Then, on May 10 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, Belfast's Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) travels to the hometown of Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs) to defend his IBO super featherweight strap against former featherweight champion Wood in a domestic thriller. Cacace, who won the title with an eighth-round stoppage win over Joe Cordina this past May in Riyadh, vacated his IBF world title to pursue the matchup with Wood instead of facing his mandatory challenger, Eduardo "Sugar" Nunez.
Additionally, Warren has signed former undisputed champion Josh Taylor to a promotional deal, and Taylor will make his Queensberry debut — which will double as his welterweight debut — on a date to be confirmed in May in Glasgow, Scotland.
Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) will take on former British and Commonwealth welterweight champion Ekow Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs). It will be Taylor's first fight since the Scotland native's defeat to Jack Catterall in May 2024. Essuman lost his unbeaten record to Harry Scarff in November 2023 but has rebounded with two wins in 2024 and now looks to upset Taylor in his biggest fight to date.