5 things this weekend in boxing: Adames vs. 'Ammo' for all the glory, plus a debut you won't want to miss

Listen up, boxing hipsters! This is the weekend you might well be referencing for years to come: The professional debut of Oleksandr Khyzhniak. The popular Ukrainian won middleweight gold for his nation at the Paris Olympics in 2024 and makes his long-awaited debut in the paid ranks this Saturday on an Oleksandr Usyk-promoted show in Lesniki, Ukraine, under the Usyk17 Promotion banner.

So, if Khyzhniak is to have even a slither of the success that the likes of Usyk, Vasyl Lomachenko and the Klitschko brothers have had in the sport, you can be the one educating your mates down at the pub about him in a couple years time, just before he irons out <insert random British prospect here>. Alongside Khyzhniak’s debut, let’s take a closer look at this weekend’s unmissable boxing action. 1.

Adames and “Ammo” get their main event upgrade Roll back a couple of years and Austin "Ammo" Williams was hotly tipped as being one of the brightest young stars in the sport, before a bruising loss to Hamzah Sheeraz derailed his hype train and forced him to rethink his path to the top. He spoke with Uncrowned in-depth ahead of the original date for Saturday's WBC middleweight title bout at the end of January, and exudes the confidence of a man who is going to force Adames to dig deep if he is to retain his 160-pound crown this weekend in Orlando, Florida. Adames is no mug.

The Dominican looked good last time out against shared opponent Sheeraz in Saudi Arabia , unlucky to leave that evening with a draw after nailing his game plan against the Briton. But Adames should expect to have to engage in a different type of fight for the third defense of his crown. Williams is an aggressive, come-forward fighter, and with plenty to prove, the challenger won’t be expected to wilt in their DAZN main event.