Top Boxing Fights to Watch in November 2023
November has stripped away the Halloween masks and emptied the pumpkin bins, but boxing isn’t cooling down with the weather. If anything, the sport is heating up. World titles from heavyweight down to junior bantamweight are in play, with Germany, Texas and Tokyo all taking turns under the spotlight.
Here are the five fights that will shape the month — and maybe the early part of 2027.
5. Agit Kabayel vs. Nelson Hysa
12 rounds, for WBC heavyweight title, Nov. 28
Agit Kabayel has spent most of his reign being talked around rather than talked about. Upgraded to full WBC heavyweight champion, he’s still often mentioned after Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois when fans and promoters sketch out the division’s dream nights.
He’s heard that noise. He doesn’t like it.
At 27-0 (19 KOs), Kabayel has done almost everything asked of him on the way up boxing’s most lucrative mountain. Now he gets a chance to plant a flag in front of a home crowd in Dusseldorf, with Nelson Hysa trying to ruin the party.
Hysa’s record is glossy: 25-0, 23 knockouts, a trail that’s bounced from Albania to Germany to the United Kingdom. He can punch, no question. But he has not yet shared a ring with a heavyweight as complete and as disciplined as Kabayel.
On paper, the champion should be able to control this. If he does more than that — if he dominates and closes the show in style — the win becomes a statement, not a formality. It becomes the key to the big-money doors that have been kept just ajar.
Germany has been waiting for a heavyweight to drag it back towards the Klitschko-era nights, when the division’s center of gravity briefly sat in its arenas. Kabayel’s performance on Nov. 28 will tell us how serious that revival might be.
4. Alycia Baumgardner vs. Elif Nur Turhan
10 rounds, for IBF women’s lightweight title, Nov. 8
Alycia Baumgardner isn’t just moving up in weight. She’s chasing legacy.
The former undisputed super featherweight champion steps into lightweight in Arlington, Texas, with the IBF belt around the waist of Elif Nur Turhan and a two-weight world title on the line.
Baumgardner (18-1, 7 KOs) has grown into one of the sport’s most polished operators. Her timing, her combinations, her composure in big moments — all sharpened at the elite level. But Turhan is a different kind of puzzle.
Unbeaten at 14-0 with 8 knockouts, the “Golden Turkish Warrior” fights like her nickname suggests: forward, heavy-handed, unforgiving. She ripped the title away from Olympic gold medallist Beatriz Ferreira, stopping a fighter many expected to dominate the division.
This is a clash of styles with real teeth. Baumgardner will want to keep it clean, sharp and technical, picking her spots and turning Turhan’s aggression against her. Turhan will try to drag the American into a fight that’s less about skill and more about stubbornness, strength and pain tolerance.
The reward is huge. Victory would push Baumgardner toward one of the biggest possible fights in women’s boxing: a showdown with Britain’s Caroline Dubois and another run at undisputed status.
But before she can look across the Atlantic, she has to walk through the fire in Texas. Against a champion who doesn’t take backward steps, that’s a dangerous way to earn history.
3. Riku Masuda vs. Seiya Tsutsumi 2
12 rounds, for WBA "regular" bantamweight title, Nov. 29
Some rematches feel manufactured. This one has been brewing for three years.
In August 2023, Seiya Tsutsumi handed Riku Masuda the only defeat of his professional career, a unanimous decision that left Masuda chasing shadows and answers. Now they meet again in Tokyo, this time with the WBA “Regular” bantamweight title in the middle.
Masuda (11-1, 9 KOs) is not the same fighter Tsutsumi beat. The 29-year-old southpaw has grown into one of Japan’s most dangerous punchers at 118 pounds, stopping former world champion Nonito Donaire and edging Daigo Higa to claim the belt. That run has hardened him and, crucially, given him belief.
Tsutsumi (13-0-3, 8 KOs) has not stood still either. The unbeaten 30-year-old has victories over current WBC champion Takuma Inoue and Donaire on his résumé, proof that his first win over Masuda was no fluke and no ceiling.
Stylistically, it’s a dream fight. Masuda brings explosive southpaw power and a clear reach advantage, looking to keep the action at his preferred distance and punish mistakes. Tsutsumi is a switch-hitting pressure fighter who loves to suffocate opponents, forcing them into frantic exchanges where his engine and toughness take over.
The belt matters, of course. But pride might matter more. Tsutsumi believes he is the rightful standard-bearer at bantamweight. Masuda wants to show that the first fight was a lesson, not a prophecy.
Tokyo gets a rematch with genuine tension attached. Someone’s story of that 2023 night is going to be rewritten.
2. David Jimenez vs. Seigo Yuri Akui
12 rounds, for WBA junior bantamweight title, Nov. 29
David Jimenez arrives in Tokyo with a world title and a point to prove.
The Costa Rican (18-1, 12 KOs) was elevated to full WBA super flyweight champion in June after Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vacated the belt, having earlier claimed the interim version by beating John Ramirez. The paperwork says “world champion.” Jimenez wants the performance to match.
Across from him stands Seigo Yuri Akui, a man who has already worn a world crown and is hunting another. The Japanese contender (23-3, 13 KOs) is aiming to become a two-weight world champion after his reign as WBA flyweight king ended against Kenshiro Teraji in a unification bout.
Akui has rebuilt with back-to-back wins, regaining momentum and confidence. He knows the level, knows the pressure, and knows what it takes to get back.
There’s another wrinkle: activity. Jimenez fought four times in four different countries between 2024 and 2025, then disappeared from the ring for 14 months. That layoff hangs over this fight. Rust is real, especially against an opponent as seasoned as Akui.
Inside the ropes, the contrast is clear. Jimenez fights in surges, throwing in volume, trying to overwhelm with combinations and tempo. Akui is more measured, built around a disciplined jab, sharp counters and a right hand that can change the direction of a round in a heartbeat.
Tokyo cards often slip under the global radar until the first bell sounds. This one has all the ingredients to remind people why that’s a mistake.
1. Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson 2
12 rounds, for vacant WBC light heavyweight title, Nov. 7
They shared 12 brutal rounds in 2024. Neither man left satisfied.
Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson run it back with far more at stake this time: the vacant WBC light heavyweight title and the chance to become Britain’s fifth active male world champion.
Their first meeting was a tense, bruising affair. Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) scraped a split-decision victory, dropping Hutchinson twice but never quite taking control. Hutchinson (20-2, 14 KOs) walked away furious with the verdict; Buatsi, despite the win, knew it wasn’t the defining performance he’d been chasing.
Now they pick up the story at Round 13.
Form tells its own tale. Hutchinson has rebuilt with solid wins over Ezra Taylor and Mark Jeffers, steadying his career and sharpening his confidence. Buatsi’s path has been rougher: a spirited but punishing defeat to Callum Smith, followed by a narrow victory over Zach Parker that raised as many questions as it answered.
Both men come into this with something to prove and a lot to lose. Hutchinson wants vindication and a belt. Buatsi wants to show that the hype around his potential wasn’t misplaced, that he can rise when the stakes are highest, not just survive.
On paper, it’s a 50/50 fight. In reality, it might come down to who can impose their will when the familiar patterns of the first bout start to reappear — who dares to break them, who refuses to blink.
The winner doesn’t just claim a green belt. He walks out as the new face of a British light heavyweight scene waiting for a standard-bearer.
