Friday May 6, 2016

From DIVS, Ekaterinburg, Russia

Dmitry Mikhaylenko 21(9)-0 vs Charles Manyuchi 17(11)-2–1

12 rounds

welterweight division

Time is running out for the 30 year old Russian. His last fight was here in American and he made some waves beating Karim Mayfield with ease. If there is a hope that he can compete at the world level at welterweight, he’ll need to be tested properly and done so quickly. Manyuchi has mostly fought in Zimbabwe and Zambia throughout his career and only recently has he begun to pick up steam.

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From Toshiba Plaza, Las Vegas, Nevada

Time: 7:00 PM PDT, 10:00 PM EDT, 3:00 AM BST

TV: Estrella TV (US)

Pablo Cesar Cano 29(21)-4–1 vs Alan Sanchez 17(9)-3–1

10 rounds

welterweight division

Cano is one of those fighters who is so young, yet it’s easy to lose sight of his age because of the miles he’s put on his body. Cano is a former welterweight title holder who has gone to war with Erik Morales and Shane Molsey, bled all over canvases across Mexico and America, and continues to find himself a contender in whichever division he is placed in. If Cano’s skin wasn’t as frail as it is, Cano could very well have a much different career. His fight with Morales was close and I get the sense that the blood skewed how judges saw how the fight was playing out. Same in the Malignaggi fight and the Mosley fight. His loss to Fernando Angulo was solely because of a cut.

Alan Sanchez is a big welterweight, but this is going to be the biggest test of his career. Cano is still young and heavy handed.

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Saturday May 7

From Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, Germany

Time: 2:00 PM PDT, 5:00 PM EDT, 10:00 PM BST

TV: Sky (UK) SAT 1 (Germany) TyC Sports (Argentina)

Dereck Chisora 25(17)-5 vs Kubrat Pulev 22(12)-1

12 rounds

heavyweight division

Pulev was a promising heavyweight prospect who looked like he had a shot at being one of the best in the division. This all fell apart when Pulev decided he would go to war with Wladimir Klitschko instead of trying to box. Pulev was bounced off the canvas a few times before ultimately being stopped.

Pulev has slowly been picking up the pieces since his lost. Slowly meaning facing 2 opponents with a combined record of 82–33–3. What that implies is that Pulev hasn’t faced anyone remotely close to testing whether or not he’s lost a step or two in the wake of the Klitschko loss.

More importantly, Pulev is in a tough spot. He resides in a division where the barrier to entry at the highest level is a height over 6’6”. Pulev is 6’4 1/2” and while that is only an inch and a half smaller, he was dwarfed by Wladimir Klitschko and the size advantage Klitschko had was Pulev’s ultimate undoing. Chisora won’t teach us anything about Pulev because he’s severely undersized as a heavyweight, however maybe he pushes Pulev to show just how much toughness he’s got left.

Dereck Chisora is a hot and cold fighter. Well… maybe it’s more fair to say warm and cold because Chisora has never delivered a sensational performance that has put him in the category of must-watch or elite or even title contender. Looking over his resume, his best win was controversial stoppage of Malik Scott. That’s not exactly a trailblazing win.

Pulev will be capable of outboxing Chisora with ease. The question will be whether Pulev gets the itch to knock him out. That’s where things could get very interesting.

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From Manchester Arena, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Time: 11:30 AM PDT, 2:30 PM EDT, 7:30 PM BST

TV: AWE (US) Sky (UK) RPC Channel 4 (Panama) Sport 1 (Hungary)

Anthony Crolla 30(12)-4–3 vs Ismael Barroso 19(18)-0–2

12 rounds

lightweight division

There’s no question that Anthony Crolla’s story is an inspiration. A movie based on his life would be the next boxing classic. I mean, imagine this:

Daniel Radcliffe (sorry, this is the only British actor I really know with blackish hair) plays a boxer who one day aspires to be a British champion and maybe even go out and win a world title. In his 9th fight he loses a close points loss. At this point he has a choice to make. Give up or keep trying. Maybe you add a female into the story and she can try convincing him to give up the boxing life for a real job. Crolla doubles down and says, “Blimey, I’m in this for the long haul.” He rematches the guy who beats him (guy called Youssef Al Hamidi, we’ll have to get a Mexican to play since we have Indians playing Mexicans. see: Training Day) and then Crolla says I’m not finished. I know there’s more to my talent. I’m a boxer.

Crolla comes back and gets more dirt kicked in his face. Another close fight and another loss against a young up-and-comer named Gary Sykes. (This time we have the guy who played Dean Thomas play him. I know Sykes is a white guy, but who cares.)

Crolla this time has to fight on. We’ll say that he has a kid before the fight and needs to keep providing so he settles for being a journeyman. It will be real emotional where Crolla says he’s willing to take beatings to give his kid a life where boxing isn’t an option. Crolla will keep winning and winning. He wins the British world title and then some Liverpool guy starts to call him out. That guy will be Derry Mathews. Crolla will then have a montage of losses because we need to save time. We’ll breeze through his stoppage loss to Derry Mathews, his failed attempt at vengeance with Sykes, and a draw with Mathews.

At this point in the movie Crolla will say I’m done. I don’t think this is for me. I’ll go back to the old factory. Just as he’s about to sell his Mini Cooper, his prized possession, he meets Idris Elba AKA Eddie Hearn. Hearn says, “Look mate. I can make you into a star. You’re a great kid and I want the best for you. If it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll get paid unlike your previous promoter who paid you nothing.” (Previous promoter played by Tom Wilkinson. I think he’s American, but a British accent isn’t hard to fake.)

Crolla comes back and he doesn’t have his heart in it. He’s doing it for the money. He scores wins over tough guys like Gavin Rees, Stephen Foster, and John Murray. (They will play themselves.) We cut to the pivotal scene. Idris Elba announces a title shot. Anthony Crolla vs Darleys Perez (this time played by Gary Oldman because they’re nothing Gary can’t do.) We do a press conference where Crolla recounts how he got there and how he’s going to deliver a world title to his hometown.

Then the robbery happens. Not in the fight, but an actual robbery. Crolla runs to stop a robbery at his neighbors house, he’s smashed on the head with a cinderblock and they break both of his hands in an effort to ruin his life. After months of recovery, Crolla comes back and fights Darleys Perez! He beats him in the eyes of everyone watching, but gets a draw. The movie ends.

How are we going to sell a sequel? We’re trying to make millions here.

So the sequel is simple. He rematches Perez. Pundits played by themselves say that Crolla has already delivered a world class, once in a lifetime performance. There’s no way he could outdo himself. Well of course he does. He knocks out Darleys Perez and Nick Halling cries tears of joy (played by himself) as he declares Crolla the nicest guy in boxing. The story isn’t over though. This is only the beginning.

The biggest, baddest, hardest hitting lightweight is lurking for him. Ismael Barroso, fresh off a win over fellow Brit Kevin Mitchell (played by Orlando Bloom), is all that stands in Crolla’s path toward real respect.

Of course we don’t know how this plays out because the fight hasn’t happened. Crolla has an opportunity to make this a true Hollywood ending by upsetting the biggest puncher we’ve seen arrive on the scene in the past 12 months. We will see on Saturday, but it’s looking grim for Crolla. He’s already outdone his greatest performance. If that was the best we’ve seen of him, that might not be enough to beat Barroso.

Either way this is one of the very best matches of the month and could be an explosive fight.

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From T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

Time: 6:00 PM PDT, 9:00 PM EDT, 2:00 AM BST

TV: HBO PPV (US) BoxNation (UK) Azteca (Mexico) Main Event (Australia) RPC Channel 4 (Panama)

Saul Alvarez 46(32)-1–1 vs Amir Khan 31(19)-3

12 rounds

155 lb catchweight

We keep hearing these words in regard to this fight: Amir Khan is daring to be great. All over you will hear those words from everyone’s mouth about why this fight should be applauded why and Khan has done everything right in taking this fight. That sentiment has convinced many that this fight is closer than it was when first signed the more it is said.

It proves the premise of Amir Khan being great and how he could prove it in this fight. First, we would need to look at the qualities Khan has and how they could be considered great. What we know he has is world class hand speed and long legs that enable him to make big strides. From there a gameplan starts to come to fruition. If Khan can punch very fast and exit Canelo’s range quickly, maybe he can steal rounds. In a crude sense, can he employ the strategy that Floyd Mayweather used against Canelo? Can he steal rounds the way Ray Leonard did when he faced Marvin Hagler?

The more thought that one gives to it, the farther the reality of the situation moves. The truth about this matchup is that Amir Khan is moving from 147 pounds to 155. Those 8 pounds haven’t been a good look on Khan in any of the pre-fight build up shots or video. Khan looks soft and like the weight is being added on for the sake of weighing closer to what Alvarez will ultimately weigh on fight night.

Next is the conversation of power. Khan has already acknowledged that he knows he can’t hurt Alvarez. While this is something most fans have already thought of or know, Khan’s admission is a glaring one. Khan has never been known for humility or anything resembling a realistic take on his own abilities. This is a guy who thought he could beat Floyd Mayweather before he’d even beaten the best guy in his city, let alone won a world title. It’s telling that Khan is already sensing doubt heading into Saturday’s contest.

The other part about power is the power that Canelo has. While highlight reels suggest Canelo is a massive one punch knockout machine, the truth is that he isn’t. Unless an opponent is willing to stand there and get knocked out in the hopes that they can score one like James Kirkland did, Canelo doesn’t score many devastating knockouts. This is troubling for Khan because Khan may be able to avoid that moonshot for 12 rounds. What Canelo brings is even more dangerous. Canelo is a heavy handed, concussive puncher who punishes with each punch. Most punches won’t knock him out, but they will drain Khan of any resistance he has quicker than a normal fighter.

This brings us to our next portion. Discipline. Khan needs to stay disciplined for all 12 rounds in order to avoid getting consistently caught flush. This is a big ask as Khan has shown in his career that discipline is perhaps the attribute that he is worst at. Sticking to a gameplan or avoiding walking into traps has been his undoing more than once.

And finally this brings us to the final part. Khan’s ability to take a punch has been fair at best. The reality is that Khan has been down numerous times and stopped twice. This all came against fighters that didn’t bring the punching power that Alvarez does.

The deck is stacked against Khan heading into Saturday night and it would take a true out-of-body performance to score the upset win over Alvarez.

Alvarez has his own problems to worry about. He’s in a no-win situation with Khan as his opponent, but the check he cashes for this fight will make it all better. Alvarez will face criticism for an easy win for picking on a smaller guy and choosing money over his legacy. If he knocks Khan out, there is the whole “Khan has no chin” narrative to take credit away from whatever he did to set up the knockout. If Alvarez wins a decision, there’s the whole “Khan has no chin” narrative to take credit away from Alvarez’s power (which is exaggerated in the first place) because this is a fight where he is supposed to walk away with a knockout win. Then starts the headline machine that has some combination of “Canelo”, “struggle”, “Golovkin”, “No chance in hell!”.

Should Alvarez struggle in any way, then we have all the talk about hype job and Canelo really won’t fight Golovkin and all that comes with that.

The can’t win situation all stems from Canelo not picking Golovkin as his opponent. We could go over the pros and cons of letting that fight simmer for the time being, but fans don’t want to hear that. What fans want to hear is that people blow their load every year fighting the biggest and baddest boogeyman that promoter’s can convince everyone is really as scary as they look.

Either way, this is going to be a fascinating matchup and yet another page on Alvarez. Even after 48 fights, there’s no real book out on Alvarez and who he is as a fighter. He continues to reinvent himself and look different with every fight. It could be attributed to his brand new gameplans for each of his opponents where he fully buys into a new style, or that he’s young and still learning on the job.

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Frankie Gomez 20(13)-0 vs Mauricio Herrera 22(7)-5

10 rounds

welterweight division

Frankie Gomez has a ton of potential to be great, but the biggest battle of his career might be making weight. If Gomez does make weight, then he’ll have the biggest test of his career in front of him. Mauricio Herrera is one of the best fighters in the world with 5 or more losses. (Miguel Cotto, Miguel Roman, Eden Sonsona, Felix Sturm, Rey Loreto, Dante Jardon, Orlando Salido, Cornelius Bundrage, Arthur Abraham, Ganigan Lopez, Akira Yaegashi. Which one of these guys would you say is better than Herrera?)

Herrera brings a tricky defense that might be too much for a prospect like Gomez who hasn’t fought on a regular prospect schedule since he turned pro. If his inactivity and lack of competitive opposition haven’t sufficiently prepared him for the tricky smothering on the inside he’ll have to deal with against Herrera, Gomez will lose this fight. Even if he wins a decision, he will lose. Fans aren’t stupid when it comes to Herrera. We have all learned and know very well how he can shut down his opponents and make them look terrible. Herrera has had fights where he has been battered or pummeled at times, yet his shining ability is in making his opponent look terrible.

Let’s not forget that Herrera has one of the best chins in the sport. Herrera has eaten bombs from some of the biggest punchers at 140. Guys who dream of nothing but punching so hard their fist comes through their glove and comes out of the back of their opponents head. (I’m talking about Ji-Hoon Kim and Ruslan Provodnikov.) Those guys made no impact on Herrera.

Gomez is good, make no question about it, but this is Golden Boy putting him in a trap fight. If they truly have something on their hands with Gomez, he will win and they will push him to the moon. He’ll get a fight with Humberto Soto next (which he was supposed to get a long time ago, but he failed to make weight) and score an impressive knockout on HBO. After that it’s a title shot. If Gomez loses, Golden Boy might just cash out on him and let him be an opponent for guys that truly want to reach for the highest brass ring. If ever there was an opponent to put a young fighter through the ringer, it’s Mauricio Herrera.

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David Lemieux 34(31)-3 vs Glen Tapia 23(15)-2

10 rounds

middleweight division

This one is not going to be pretty. If you like to see a knockout, stoppages, or brutality in the ring, this is the fight for you. Lemieux will enter with one thing on his mind. Knockout. He knows he punches hard and that if he lands one solid punch, it’s unlikely that Glen Tapia can take it.

Tapia, on the other hand, has power as well, but his problem on Saturday will be defense. He’s been let down twice recently by porous defense and his corner isn’t exactly notorious for teaching fighters to defend themselves.

Tapia was most recently knocked out by Michel Soro and his very next fight is against one of the more devious punchers in the sport. I don’t see this fight going past 4 rounds. Lemieux will get to Tapia and stop him quickly. Or Lemieux is going to walk into the Hail Mary of the year.

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Patrick Teixeira 26(22)-0 vs Curtis Stevens 27(20)-5

10 rounds

middleweight division

This is another brutal fight waiting to happen. Teixeira is entering with the confidence that he has the power to hurt and blast out anyone that they put in front of him. He’s not even left the prospect stage yet and was fighting in Brazil almost exclusively a little over a year ago. He’s a big lanky southpaw that has the task of fighting a small middleweight with devastating power in his left hook.

If Teixeira is going to look for one thing to rely on, it’s going to be that Stevens’s inactivity and losses have put a dent in his ability to compete at a high level. The time off and wars over the years will have taken so much out of Stevens that it shouldn’t be hard to impose his will and stop him.

The smartest strategy for Teixeira would be to put boxing out of sight and out of mind. Stevens has arguably lost 20 of his last 22 rounds he’s fought. He was outboxed by Hassan N’Dam and Tureano Johnson was coasting until Stevens caught him with that big left hook. Teixeira might be able to outbox Stevens with ease behind his long jab.

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Sunday May 8, 2016

From Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan

Naoya Inoue 9(8)-0 vs David Carmona 20(8)-2–5

12 rounds

sundaypuncher super flyweight championship

The Monster returns and his next victim appears to be David Carmona. Inoue is keeping himself busy and ensuring he doesn’t waste his youth waiting for a big fight to arise. Carmina’s chances are slim. He’s struggled badly each time he’s elevated his level of competition above domestic. Omar Narvaez stopped him and he went life and death with Warlito Parenas. Inoue is on another level compared to those guys.

Inoue’s sights must be set on what he will do in his next fight and if he’ll be able to attract one of the top names at super flyweight to fake a fight with him. Carlos Cuadras frequently fights out of Japan and would be a highly competitive contest. Roman Gonzalez may or may not be done with flyweight and has HBO loyalty to consider.

An all-Japan showdown with guys like Kohei Kono and Sho Ishida could be interesting, but it all boils down to whether or not they see a competitive match with Inoue. The way Inoue has dominated his opponents, it’s understandable that few want to take a shot at challenging The Monster.

If there is a reason why they call him The Monster, it is that with each fight he continues to get better. From his debut he already looked like a world level fighter. The growth we’re seeing from fight to fight is truly frightening.

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Akira Yaegashi 23(12)-5 vs Martin Tecuapetia 13(10)-6–3

12 rounds

light flyweight division

Yaegashi was supposed to be left for dead back in 2014 when he lost to Roman Gonzalez. It was a brutal stoppage where Yaegashi didn’t look like himself. In fact, it looked like his age had finally caught up to him. He all but confirmed it by losing by knockout in his very next fight.

If there’s one thing to remember about Yaegashi, it’s that he fights on heart and balls. His actual skill is okay, but it’s nothing in comparison to the heart and balls he fights with. So naturally, he rattled off 2 easy wins before outclassing Javier Mendoza, the IBF light flyweight champion, over 12 rounds. Now Yaegashi reigns as 3 weight world champion and will make his first defense against a Mexican who hasn’t done so well. He has power, but can’t seem to put it together when he faces competent fighters. If he can overwhelm Yaegashi, he might be able to win, but Yaegashi is a crafty guy and should be able to avoid getting knocked out by a reckless fighter.

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