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TODAY - at Chicago (ESPN2) - 12 rounds, super bantamweights: Antonio Escalante (19-2, 12 KOs) vs. Gary Stark Jr. (22-2, 8 KOs); 8 rounds, super middleweights: Daniel Jacobs (14-0, 13 KOs) vs. Jose Varela (23-5, 16 KOs).
TODAY - at St. Louis (Showtime) - 12 rounds, vacant IBF junior middleweight title: Cory Spinks (36-5, 11 KOs) vs. Deandre Latimore (19-1, 16 KOs); 10 rounds, light welterweights: Devon Alexander (17-0, 10 KOs) vs. Jesus Rodriguez (19-3, 5 KOs).
TODAY - at Newark, New Jersey - 10 rounds, middleweights: John Duddy (26-0, 17 KOs) vs. Billy Lyell (18-7, 3 KOs); 10 rounds, light middleweights: Kassim Ouma (26-5-1, 16 KOs) vs. Gabriel Rosado (11-3, 7 KOs).
SATURDAY - at Krefend, Germany - 12 rounds, WBA middleweight title: Felix Sturm (31-2-1, 13 KOs) vs. Koji Sato (14-0, 13 KOs); 12 rounds, super middleweights: Karoly Balzsay (20-0, 14 KOs) vs. Maselino Masoe (29-5, 27 KOs); 10 rounds, middleweights: Gennady Golovkin (15-0, 12 KOs) vs. Anthony Greenidge (13-2-1, 5 KOs).
SATURDAY - at Bayamon, Puerto Rico (HBO) - 12 rounds, junior featherweights: Juan Manuel Lopez (24-0, 22 KOs) vs. Gerry Penalosa (54-6-2, 36 KOs); 12 rounds, junior welterweights: Lamont Peterson (26-0, 12 KOs) vs. Willy Blain (20-0, 3 KOs).
SATURDAY - at Mashantucket, Connecticut (Showtime) - 12 rounds, WBC super middleweight title: Carl Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) vs. Jermain Taylor (28-2-1, 17 KOs); 10 rounds, super middleweights: Allan Green (27-1, 19 KOs) vs. Carlos De Leon Jr. (21-2-2, 14 KOs); 10 rounds, heavyweights: Dominick Guinn (30-6-1, 20 KOs) vs. Johnnie White (21-0, 18 KOs); 8 rounds, light welterweights: Paul Malignaggi (25-2, 5 KOs) vs. Christopher Fernandez (16-6-1, 9 KOs).
This is an interesting weekend for boxing fans. There are four fight cards being televised in the US, plus two important cards – one in NYC and one in Germany – that will help to define which boxers will be at or near the top in some of the sport’s most competitive divisions.
The ESPN card will continue to keep pace with the network’s attempt to provide a higher quality of fights in 2009. Thank you, Teddy Atlas, for doing that. Both fights should be interesting. I think that Daniel Jacobs has the potential to fight with the top guys at super middleweight, a division that will provide fans with exciting fights in the next two years.
The Showtime card tonight features Cory Spinks, who is not an exciting fighter for casual boxing fans. But for those who appreciate the skills needed to hit and not get hit, he is entertaining. Plus, Latimore has enough punching power to end the fiht at any time, with a single punch. Spinks does not have a strong set of whiskers, and so even if he has a big lead in a slow fight, he could find himself being counted out if he makes a single mistake.
Alexander should win the junior welterweight fight, but as always, anything can happen in that ring. If he does win, there are plenty of dangerous opponents in that division for him to face later this year.
John Duddy and Felix Sturm are featured in middleweight bouts. Duddy is taking a relatively easy fight, which should show if the skin around his eyes has healed to the point that he won’t be stopped on cuts when he competes against a top fighter. Sturm is fighting against a young, undefeated fighter; he should outbox the opponent, but there is always a risk in meeting a relatively unknown kid with an undefeated record. (Kassim Ouma is on the NYC card in the co-feature. It’s sad to see him at the journeyman status so soon. He lacked the discipline to stay at the top. Way too much of the "night life" distracted him from training.)
Saturday’s HBO card is going to be outstanding. The Lopez fight will provide further evidence of why boxing’s "little men" can be the most exciting to watch. Though he is facing a tough foe, I expect that viewers will appreciate that in boxing, balance plus speed equals power.
Both Peterson and Blain are good junior welterweights. It should be a tough fight. I do not think either of them has the potential to compete well at the top of that division. But that doesn’t mean that two relatively equally skilled fighters at the third tier won’t make for an interesting fight.
Showtime features the weekend’s highlight, when Jermain Taylor challenges undefeated WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch. Taylor has yet to regain the skills he showed in his two fights with Bernard Hopkins. Many fans measure him more by his two loses to Kelly Pavlik (the 2nd fight was close). Froch is "unknown" to many American fans. He obviously has skills, and punches hard. I think Taylor can outbox him, but will have trouble if he tires after the sixth round. Taylor is a prime example of a guy who can’t relax in the ring; while that may sound understandable – hard to relax when a guy is looking to take your head off – his getting tired in the final four rounds is purely psychological.
The undercard features an important super middleweight elimination bout between Green and De Leon. I favor Green, but it could go either way. Green also has some issues that surface when he is frustrated, and De Leon is a clever fighter.
Journeyman Dominick Guinn, who never reached his potential, fights hard-hitting Johnnie White. Guinn defines what self-doubt can do to a fighter who once had all of the skills needed to be champion.
Also, Paul Malignaggi fights in an 8-round bout against Chris Fernandez, a fighter who should, at best, be a sparring partner for Paul. I assume that Malignaggi is testing to see if his hands hold up, in a fight that poses less risk than working out on the heavy bag.
Enjoy these fights. In a week’s time, we’ll be getting ready for the big fight between Pacquiao and Hatton. I’m going to post a thread today, just to get some early DU predictions on that one.
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