There’s some debate over exactly when May 4 became known as “Star Wars Day.” Written records of the play on words “May the fourth be with you” go as far back as 1979. Facebook groups began calling May 4 “Luke Skywalker Day” in 2008. The first known organized in-person celebration of the day took place in Toronto in 2011. And Disney as a company began officially observing the “holiday” in 2013.
At this point, it is entrenched. May the 4th is Star Wars Day.
I’ve never been a big Star Wars guy. But I’m fine with it getting celebrated for a day.
I am a big boxing guy. So I’m giving boxing a whole month. (Yes, I know there already is a Boxing Day, but that doesn’t count.)
It may or may not become an annual thing, but this May is Boxing Month, as far as I’m concerned.
With the announcement last week that O’Shaquie Foster vs. Raymond Ford is coming May 30, that bookends the month with the multiple major cards on May 2. Throw in the way the calendar aligns nicely to make this a five-Saturday month, with all five Saturdays offering at least one high-quality fight, and yeah, I’m declaring it: May the fights be with you.
The remainder of April is rather ho-hum, and there’s nothing terribly exciting on the schedule for June or beyond yet except Jaron “Boots” Ennis vs. Xander Zayas. But May is sexy. I look at it the same way coming-of-age me looked at Princess Leia in her Jabba’s-prisoner outfit.
In anticipation of Boxing Month, I offer a countdown of the 10 fights on the May calendar I’m looking forward to most:
10. Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven, May 23, DAZN PPV
On the one hand, it says something about how potentially farcical this matchup is that the legit heavyweight champion of the world is defending his title and the best I can do is rank it 10th. On the other hand, it says something about how stacked the month of May is that the legit heavyweight champion of the world is defending his title and the best I can do is rank it 10th.
It’s a gimmick fight, somewhat like Floyd Mayweather taking on MMA star Conor McGregor or Floyd Patterson defending the heavyweight title against Pete Rademacher in the latter’s pro debut. Verhoeven is apparently an all-time great kickboxer, which could be enough of a hook to make mainstream media perk up, while Usyk, who hasn’t gotten to enjoy a soft touch since Chazz Witherspoon in 2019, pockets some well-deserved easy money.
Verhoeven has had only one pro boxing match, back in 2014 when Usyk was just 3-0 as a pro, and the Dutchman’s opponent, Janos Finfera, was 0-5 with all five losses by stoppage. But the heavyweight championship of the world is on the line. Even if this proves a pointless and disgusting mismatch, as it most likely will, it’s still a chance to watch the king do his thing.
Plus, it’s taking place at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Sure, that figures to result in a setting as sterile as a COVID-bubble card or, say, a boxing event in a curtained-off corner of Times Square. But it’ll probably look cool on your television screen.
9. Takuma Inoue vs. Kazuto Ioka, May 2, DAZN
Spoiler: There’s another fight starring an Inoue at the Tokyo Dome on the first weekend of May still to come on this list. But as co-features go, younger bro Takuma defending his bantamweight strap against the veteran Ioka ain’t bad.
Ioka appears to be fading somewhat at age 37, having lost decisions to Fernando Martinez in his last two title fights. But he’s a four-division beltholder with a chance to become Japan’s first-ever male five-division titlist. And while Inoue isn’t fighting to make any such history, he is looking to build on the momentum of his win last November over Tenshin Nasukawa.
The betting line reflects the likely competitiveness of the bout, with FanDuel tabbing Inoue as a -230 favorite and Ioka a +176 underdog. (For comparison, Usyk is -3000 to beat +1360 ’dog Verhoeven.)
8. Jose Armando Resendiz vs. Jaime Munguia, May 2, Prime Video PPV/DAZN PPV/PPV.com
Speaking of outstanding May 2 co-features with close odds (in this case, Munguia is -215 and Resendiz +164), this all-Mexican battle serves as a reminder that boxers don’t need to be pound-for-pound elite to make them worth watching.
Resendiz has been sidelined for a year, waiting for something to come together, since his 2025 Upset of the Year over Caleb Plant. Well, something came together. Munguia has also been out of action for a year, since avenging his loss to Bruno Sarace in 2024’s Upset of the Year.
If these guys were a couple of cuties who relied heavily on rhythm and timing, I’d be concerned about ring rust having a negative impact on the entertainment value. But they aren’t, and I’m not.
Sure, Resendiz can make clever moves and has sharpened his skills nicely of late under trainer Manny Robles, but he’s still more slugger than stylist.
And unless he’s cutting hair on the side and I don’t know about it, Munguia has never in his life been called a stylist.
Perhaps more than any other May fight, Resendiz-Munguia does not appear to have the word “boring” anywhere in its range of outcomes.
7. Frank Sanchez vs. Richard Torrez Jnr, May 23, DAZN PPV
Usyk is the chief attraction, but this is the most intriguing bout taking place in the shadow of those Egyptian pyramids, as we’re about to find out what 2020 U.S. Olympian Torrez is made of.
We got some answers last April when Torrez won comfortably over the 10-round distance against Guido Vianello, but most of the rest of his fights have been over in a round or two or three. If that’s also the case with Sanchez, it will mean Torrez is a legit title contender.
The Cuban-born Sanchez represents far and away Torrez’ toughest test. Sanchez is the only man to defeat Efe Ajagba and his only loss came against the outstanding Agit Kabayel. He’s sturdier and more dangerous than anyone Torrez has shared the ring with yet, and he’s a legit threat to upset the mustachioed American.
At the very least, he’s a measuring stick. If Torrez is able to duplicate what Kabayel did, then a heavyweight division where the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board’s ratings are somehow currently devoid of Americans ought to instantly feature one again.
6. Keyshawn Davis vs. Nahir Albright II, May 16, DAZN
If there were no subplots – if this were just a rematch to a mega-prospect turned elite contender’s toughest professional bout – it would be must-see. Davis is seen by many as a future pound-for-pounder, but in October 2023, he stumbled against Albright, eking out a 10-round majority decision that was later changed to a no-contest when Davis tested positive for marijuana.
But how’s this for a subplot: Albright went on in 2025 to upset Keyshawn’s then-undefeated brother Kelvin in the Davis family’s hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, and in the aftermath, Keyshawn and another brother, Keon, allegedly attacked Albright backstage.
This isn’t just a rematch. It’s a grudge match.
And for good measure, it’s the headliner of Top Rank’s debut DAZN card.
This is the ultimate test of whether Davis has matured as a fighter since 2023 and as a person since 2025, and it comes against a tough Philly fighter who might just have the Davis family’s number.
5. O’Shaquie Foster vs. Raymond Ford, May 30, DAZN
The FanDuel odds are again very telling here, with Foster just a -190 favorite over +148 underdog Ford in a meeting of TBRB’s No. 1 (Foster) and No. 4 (Ford) junior lightweights. They may be the two best at 130lbs, and at the very least, they’ll be fighting for the unofficial title of best American at the weight (they’re the only two from the U.S. in the TBRB top 10).
Foster looked better than ever in schooling Stephen Fulton last time out, and his only loss since July 2016 was a highly disputed (and subsequently avenged) decision to Robson Conceicao. The Houston fighter is peaking at 32 and may well be the class of the division.
But 27-year-old New Jersey southpaw Ford figures to have something to say about that. The only loss on his record was a coulda-gone-either-way decision to Nick Ball at featherweight two years ago, and he’s since won three in a row, all at junior lightweight.
Both of these guys are highly skilled but they can certainly be lured – or lure themselves – into brawls, and each has a dramatic come-from-behind 12th-round KO win on his resume. It’s almost as can’t-miss from a matchup perspective as Resendiz-Munguia, with considerably more craft mixed in.
4. Angelo Leo vs. Ra’eese Aleem, May 9, DAZN
Full disclosure: Leo is a ProBox TV fighter, and BoxingScene has the same owner as ProBox. So, be as suspect as you want to be of me ranking this featherweight title fight so high.
But the truth is, I followed the careers of both Leo and Aleem closely when they fought regularly on ShoBox and I was podcasting for Showtime, and I have been high on the potential of both since before either they or I had any connection to ProBox.
Enough disclosures and disclaimers. The simple truth is, these are two first-rate one-loss boxers, both into their 30s now and at risk of significant setback with a second defeat. And they’re both action-oriented and evenly enough matched that this is yet another fight on this list all but guaranteed to deliver.
Fights and fighters like this are why ProBox exists and why ShoBox once did – to test future champs and give them the experience and exposure they need to make an eventual showdown such as this worthy of our attention.
3. Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois, May 9, DAZN PPV
What can I say? I love me some big-punching heavyweights, especially when they’re meeting in a clash with massive consequences for the entire championship picture.
It wasn’t so long ago that there was a debate over who was most deserving of a shot at Usyk – Dubois or Joseph Parker. If Wardley turns away his countryman Dubois in Manchester, he will have beaten both of them and will be, without question, the top contender to the lineal championship.
And if Dubois wins, well, he already had two cracks at Usyk and was stopped both times, so a Wardley loss clears the path for Kabayel to declare himself next in line for a shot at Usyk.
Future implications aside, this is just a massively intriguing clash of big men who can throw bombs. And the oddsmakers agree that it’s intriguing, as this is the closest matchup on the board in May, with Wardley favored at -136 and Dubois sitting at +106.
2. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez vs. David Benavidez, May 2, Prime Video PPV/DAZN PPV/PPV.com
Want to know who Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s last three Cinco de Mayo weekend opponents were? John Ryder, Munguia and William Scull. If that’s how it’s going to be, it’s time to hand the holiday over to someone else – and Ramirez-Benavidez sounds like a perfect alternative to a Canelo mismatch.
It’s a Mexican vs. a Mexican-American (who’s known as “The Mexican Monster”) with the aforementioned all-Mexico Resendiz-Munguia clash on the undercard, so we’re covered on the Me-hee-co front.
There’s the potentially interesting question of how much difference 25lbs makes, as light heavyweight beltholder Benavidez is moving up to take on unified cruiserweight titlist Ramirez.
And there’s simply the chance to see Benavidez, one of the world’s best and most consistently entertaining fighters, putting his talents on display against an opponent who has won 48 of his 49 fights and looks more comfortable just under 200 lbs than he ever did at 175.
Ramirez vs. Benavidez ought to be more than enough to tide us over until Canelo gets back in the ring in September.
1. Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani, May 2, DAZN
How could the No. 1 spot possibly go to anything else? This is the centerpiece of the month for serious fight fans – a top-two pound-for-pounder against an opponent firmly in the back half of the P4P top 10, the undisputed junior featherweight championship on the line, in the biggest all-Japanese fight ever.
On this countdown, we go from the Mexican Monster to a Monster who needs no modifier. Inoue is one of a handful of fighters who is arcing toward going down as not just a standout of his era but as an all-time great – although the case that he belongs somewhere in the Floyd Mayweather/Terence Crawford/Manny Pacquiao conversation would take a serious hit if +310 underdog Nakatani were to knock him off.
It's perhaps a mild shame that Nakatani is coming off a disappointing, too-close-for-comfort showing against Sebastian Hernandez last December, but that just means our excitement level for his battle with Inoue dipped from a 100 out of 100 to perhaps a 99.5. Nakatani had stopped five straight before that, all within six rounds, and if he’s a little more comfortable for his second fight at 122lbs than he was for his first, Inoue should be in for a rare test.
The month of May is set to begin with one hell of a bang.
And that will be followed by four more weekends of bangs and not a single whimper (save for the anguished noises made by some beaten fighters).
And the best part is all the action is taking place right here on Earth and not in some galaxy far, far away.
Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with nearly 30 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn, or via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.
