Foster, who holds the WBC title, is mindful, however, of what defeating Ford in the fashion he expects could do to help him secure the legacy-defining fight he wants later this year — a shot at Shakur Stevenson.

The Ring and WBO junior welterweight champion is expected to sit ringside to support Ford in a main event DAZN will stream from Fertitta Center on the campus of the University of Houston (8 p.m. ET; 1 a.m. BST).

Foster (24-3, 12 KOs) is The Ring’s second-ranked junior lightweight for a vacant championship. Facing Stevenson, who is No. 3 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, at lightweight would provide the Orange, Texas, native the type of opportunity he has long sought, though.

“It’s all on him,” Foster told The Ring regarding Stevenson. “Everybody knows I’m willing to fight anybody. They know I’m willing to go anywhere and willing to be across the ring from anybody. But I think with this fight coming up [against Ford], that’s gonna put the pressure on [Stevenson]. I’m not sure, though. He not trying to fight me. He done said it plenty of times. He said he would rather fight me outside the ring. That don’t make no sense, neither.”

Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs), a four-division champion from Newark, New Jersey, has indicated he could come back down to the lightweight division after his impressive victory over Teofimo Lopez in their 140-pound fight January 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Foster fought at the lightweight limit of 135 in his last appearance, a dominant points defeat of Stephen Fulton on December 6, a day after his foe came in two pounds overweight for their 130-pound championship clash.

Foster, 32, wants a unification fight with IBF/WBO champ Emanuel Navarrete as well, but challenging Stevenson interests him more. Foster and Stevenson used to train together in Alexandria, Virginia, which is why his strong support of Ford (18-1-1, 8 KOs) is surprising.

“[Stevenson] came to my inbox and said he never gonna fight me,” Foster said. “But the world gonna call for it and I feel like after this fight right here, they gonna be asking for it, and it’s gonna be on him.”

Dmitry Bivol’s insistence on going through with a meaningless mandatory title defense against huge underdog Michael Eifert on Saturday night is inconsistent with how he has operated since he edged Artur Beterbiev in their rematch to become undisputed light heavyweight champ.

Bivol’s contention is that he needs to fight Eifert to keep his IBF belt, but the same principle didn’t apply when David Benavidez was the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt Bivol held. Bivol gave up that title in April 2025 rather than facing Benavidez, who wants to finally box him next.

To be fair, Russia’s Bivol has fought top competition in recent years — Canelo Alvarez, then-unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez and Beterbiev twice in four of his past six bouts. He also hasn’t boxed since undergoing back surgery in August.

It’s still disappointing, with a rubber match versus Beterbiev and a showdown with Benavidez looming, to watch one of the sport's best boxers waste the first half of 2026 by taking this useless fight. Bivol is 35 and usually fights just twice per calendar year, which makes each appearance important.

Bivol could’ve given up the IBF belt and battled Beterbiev or Benavidez next. He would’ve made a lot more money and it would’ve made no difference whatsoever to fans whether the IBF title was at stake in either of those much more significant fights.

This simply seems like Bivol wanted a less threatening assignment, under the guise of obligation, in his first fight since beating Beterbiev by majority decision in February 2025.

Most sportsbooks list Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) as at least a 30-1 favorite to defeat Eifert, who was positioned for this title shot when he defeated former WBC light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal by unanimous decision in an IBF elimination match three years ago.

Germany’s Eifert (13-1, 5 KOs) has fought only once since he upset Pascal in March 2023 and not since he stopped Venezuelan journeyman Carlos Jimenez after the second round in August 2024.

DAZN will stream Bivol versus Eifert from UMMC Arena in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Yes, Rico Verhoeven went down and appeared exhausted toward the end of the 11th round last weekend.

Referee Mark Lyson still should’ve been more mindful of how little time remained in the round when he stepped between Verhoeven and Oleksandr Usyk to stop their shockingly competitive heavyweight title fight in Giza, Egypt.

Lyson would likely argue that Verhoeven hadn’t thrown any punches back at Usyk as the Ukrainian southpaw unloaded on him after he got up from a knockdown. While that’s true, Lyson is required to hear the 10-second warning, should’ve had a better feel for what transpired in real time and afforded Verhoeven an opportunity to at least start the 12th round.

The kickboxing legend more than earned that right based on how he handled himself to that point in a fight Usyk was a 25-1 favorite to win.

■ At what point amid all these never-ending legal entanglements does the WBA simply strip Gervonta Davis of its lightweight title? The WBA naturally wants its cut from Davis' next seven-figure purse, but he hasn’t fought in almost 15 months, doesn’t have a fight scheduled and there is yet another warrant out for the embattled Baltimore native's arrest.

■ Alvarez suggested a super middleweight title unification bout between IBF champ Osleys Iglesias and newly crowned WBO champ Hamzah Sheeraz, so that the winner would “earn” a huge payday for facing the Mexican superstar. Even if Alvarez were to lose to Christian Mbilli on September 12 and the monetary motivation from potentially fighting him is eliminated, Iglesias versus Sheeraz is one of the more intriguing fights that can be made in 2026. Cuba’s Iglesias obviously looks like a monster, and it isn’t his fault top contenders and champions have avoided him. We nonetheless need to see how The Ring’s No. 2-ranked super middleweight reacts to adversity against a formidable fighter in the loaded 168-pound division.

■ Can’t imagine top heavyweights will continue taking supposedly easy fights against champions from other combat sports after the trouble Verhoeven gave Usyk and how Francis Ngannou tested Tyson Fury.

■ Who would’ve thought Usyk-Verhoeven would’ve been the only one of four pay-per-view fights that was remotely competitive at the Pyramids of Giza?