I obsess so you don't have to

Jones, Gualtieri square off with 160 title shot at stake; MVP bans Shields after Baumgardner altercation; Quick hits; Show & tell double

Middleweight Amari Jones is ready for his homecoming. Jones tipped the scales at 159.2 lbs., while former IBF titleholder Vincenzo Gualtieri weighed in at 158.2 lbs., for Friday’s bout at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Jones, 16-0 (14 KOs), will main event his first fight with Golden Boy Promotions. Jones signed with the promoter last year, as the 24-year-old from Oakland, California, has stopped his last two opponents, including stopping Luis “Cuba” Arias in his last outing in February. Jones had vocal support screaming his nickname, “The Reaper,” during the weigh-in.

Cruiserweight Robin Safar has been doing a lot of thinking but not much fighting in 2026. That will change Friday night when he faces Yamil Alberto Peralta in a 10-round co-feature at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Safar, 19-0 (13 KOs), has been in talks to fight Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, but an injury derailed his chance at the rumored January fight. Then, according to his team, they were in talks with Chris Billam-Smith, Ryan Rozicki, and Yuniel Dorticos. None of those bouts came to fruition, but his first bout will come five months into the year when he faces a veteran contender, Peralta.

Middleweight contender Amari Jones will be in a homecoming-ish fight on Friday night, live from the SAP Center in San Jose, California, near Oakland, where Jones was born and raised. The undefeated 24-year-old Jones (16-0, 14 KOs) will take on former IBF middleweight champion Vincenzo Gualtieri (25-1-1, 8 KOs) in an IBF title eliminator live on DAZN. With Golden Boy Promotions backing Jones and giving him this opportunity as part of the main event, Jones knows this is his time to shine on a global scale. When you speak to Jones, you quickly realize he has something of a Jekyll & Hyde personality.

Cruiserweight Tristan Kalkreuth wants to read the boogeymen of his division a bedtime story starting with the winner of Friday night’s co-feature between Robin Safar and Yamil Alberto. Kalkreuth will face Marco Canedo on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Kalkreuth, 16-1 (11 KOs), is on an eight-fight win streak since a shocking 2021 loss to Demetrius Banks, when Kalkreuth was unable to continue due to an injury. Since the loss, the 24-year-old Texan training in Las Vegas has fought mostly on undercards. He hopes to change that soon.

Middleweight Amari Jones is ready to solidify his ascent to a main-event fighter in his own way. Jones faces the former IBF titleholder Vincenzo Gualtieri in a 12-round fight from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Jones, 16-0 (14 KOs), will be getting a homecoming fight of sorts. Jones is from Oakland, California, and his family runs Lion’s Den Boxing Gym in Pittsburg, California. The bout is hoped to be the start of a new era of Bay Area boxing. The Amari Jones era. Jones, a former national champion amateur boxer, who trained with Devin Haney for a good period of time, now trains in Hayward, California, with Virgil Hunter.

Junior bantamweight John “Scrappy” Ramirez hopes to accomplish two goals later this year: win a title and avenge his lone defeat. To do that, he must get by Lucas Emanuel Fernandez on Friday from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Ramirez, 16-1 (9 KOs), is currently on a three-fight winning streak, after losing a vacant interim WBA junior bantamweight title fight to David Jimenez. Most notably, Ramirez is ranked No.1 by the WBA. Trained by Julian Chua at Brickhouse Boxing, the 30-year-old Ramirez looks to revisit that fight…

Darius Fulghum wants a world title shot in 2026 but is thinking of nothing beyond his upcoming fight. Fulghum (14-1-1, 12 KOs) will face Yoanki Urrutia in a super middleweight bout on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. 2025 was a hard year for the former USA Boxing amateur standout. Fulghum won a bout early in the year, stopping Winfred Harris Jr. In May, he would lose a split decision to Bektemir Melikuziev and have a disappointing November draw to David Stevens. Fulghum went from being one fight away from a title, when he fought Melikuziev in a WBA super middleweight eliminator bout, to being at a crossroads on Friday night in Silicon Valley.

Golden Boy Promotions is back this week with a Friday card, hosting an event on Friday, May 22, live from the SAP Center in San Jose, CA, exclusively on DAZN. Undefeated middleweight contender Amari Jones (16-0, 14 KOs) faces veteran Vincenzo Gualtieri (25-1-1, 8 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout as the card’s main event. The 24-year-old Jones from nearby Oakland has been busy since signing with Golden Boy last summer, as this will be his third fight in less than 12 months. He has come up the rankings quickly and on Friday will face the veteran Gualtieri, who last fought just four months ago in Germany, where he scored a six-round unanimous decision over Attila Koros.

Amari Jones has a goal: to become Oakland’s next world champion. Jones will main event his first card against former titleholder Vincenzo Gualtieri on Friday at the SAP Center. Jones, 16-0 (14 KOs), landed a major promotional deal in June. He fought on two undercards, winning both bouts by knockout. Most recently, he was the pay-per-view opening bout for Ryan Garcia, winning the WBC welterweight title over Mario Barrios. Jones, a 24-year-old from Oakland, California, brings back the glory that Hall of Fame boxer Andre Ward once brought to the region.

Junior bantamweight John “Scrappy” Ramirez's competitive drive is both a gift and a curse. Ramirez returns Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, in a fight he hopes vaults him one step closer to a title. Ramirez, 16-1 (9 KOs), started boxing as an adult after playing football at the collegiate level. Ramirez of Los Angeles was, by his own accord, the one who held his teammates accountable during his football days. Now, he serves as his own enforcer in the boxing gym, not for others, but himself, as he finds himself as his harshest critic at times.