Javon Walton stepped into Henry Cejudo’s professional boxing debut on short notice, and the matchup now lands on Sept. 26 in Miami. The change puts a retired UFC champion opposite a 20-year-old prospect who already owns a 3-0-1 record with 1 KO.
Henry Cejudo will face Javon "Wanna" Walton in the main event of Misfits Boxing inside James L. Knight Arena. Walton turned professional in 2023 and has gone 2-0 in appearances in December 2024 and September 2025, giving the card a crossover angle that is built around a boxer who is already active, not a debutant.
Walton in Miami
Walton said the opportunity arrived fast. "This fight came up out of nowhere and I stepped up without hesitation. I stay ready for moments like this. This is boxing, and this is my world." That is the operational change for this card: Misfits did not just replace an opponent, it shifted Cejudo’s first pro boxing assignment to a younger fighter with a live record and an existing promotional footprint.
Walton is also signed to Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, and Nakisa Bidarian said Misfits offered a significant financial guarantee for him to step in on short notice against Cejudo, whom he described as an Olympic gold medalist and two-division UFC champion. That creates a cleaner business read on the booking: the replacement was not a warm-body switch, but a priced-in move for a recognizable athlete with upside.
Shabazz and Cejudo
Nurideen Shabazz was the original opponent, but he withdrew because of injury. Cejudo said he was not surprised, saying, "I knew all along that Dean The B---- would back out, and so I am not surprised," then added, "But I have a new opponent now, who thinks he's a fighter, but Wanna will be playing another robot by the time I'm done with him."
That contradiction matters because the matchup no longer reads like a straightforward debut against a single announced opponent. It has become a late-swap main event, and those cards usually live or die on whether the replacement can carry interest without a long runway. Walton’s record, age, and recent activity give this one more structure than a last-minute substitution usually has.
Sept. 26 in James L
The practical bottom line is simple: Cejudo still gets his debut date, and Walton gets a high-visibility assignment in Miami on Sept. 26. For a reader tracking the event, the key change is not the venue or the schedule; it is the opponent, which now pairs Cejudo’s UFC pedigree with a younger boxer who has already shown he can handle professional rounds. The card has moved from a cancellation risk to a matchup with enough athletic logic to stand on its own.
