The highly ranked Joe Smith Jr. (23-1, 19 KOs) will be taking a risky fight this summer against the big punching Sullivan Barrera (19-1, 14 KOs) on July 15 the Forum in Inglewood, California. The Smith Jr. vs. Barrera fight will be televised on HBO’s Boxing After Dark. The start time for the fight is at 9:50 p.m. ET/6:50 p.m. PT.

The winner of the Smith Jr-Barrera fight should see themselves pushed up the rankings and in better position to get a world title shot than they are now.

Fighting Senator Manny Pacquiao, the world's only 8-division champion, will defend his world welterweight title against Horn on July 2 in Brisbane, Australia. 

The Brisbane boxer will continue his preparations today by sparring Mackay southpaw Liam Paro.

Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) is ready to take Kell Brook’s IBF welterweight strap from him on May 27 in front of his own fans at Bramall Lane, in Sheffield, England. Spence has done his homework in scouting out a number of Brook’s past fights, including his recent 5th round blowout loss to Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Spence has seen the flaws in Brook’s game that he feels he can take advantage of.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya says he made the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin fight because he cares about the boxing fans and he wanted to help the sport. De La Hoya maintains that he could have made 4 smaller fights for Canelo without risk, but he wanted to give the fans what they’ve been asking for.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin have history together with the two of them having sparred in the past in 2011 when Canelo was 20 and still learning. There were a number of flaws that Canelo showed during the sparing session that was noted by journalists. One of the flaws that were observed in Canelo’s game was his tendency not back off when he was hurt by Golovkin.

Despite his advanced age, 38-year-old Manny Pacquiao is looking blazing fast and quite powerful in a recent workout this week in preparing for his July 2 fight against Jeff Horn at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. In the video on his instagram, Pacquiao is seen working out with trainer Buboy Fernandez. The speed and the power of Pacquiao’s punches are extraordinary, as there aren’t any welterweights in the division right now with the speed that Pacquiao still has.

WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) will be inside the ring defending his titles this Saturday night against 2008 Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz (19-1, 8 KOs) on HBO World Championship Boxing at Madison Square Garden in New York. It’s nice to see Crawford fighting in a different venue than in Omaha, Nebraska, where he’s been fighting a lot lately.

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is picking Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) to beat IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) by a knockout in their fight this month on May 27. Da Hoya is really high on the talent of the 27-year-old American Spence, and he sees him as too good for Brook. De La Hoya sees Spence obliterating Brook on the night when the two of them go at it at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England.