Joined
·
17,509 Posts
So we've got a big weekend of boxing coming up, starting with..
Friday Night
ESPN's Friday Night Fights tonight featuring one of my favourite prospects Javier Fortuna. Apparently he came in a lb over the featherweight limit so he's lost his bullshit interim belt but he's still fighting Miguel Zamudio, who judging by his record shouldn't cause too many problems. I expect another highlight reel finish from Fortuna there.
In north east England, Jon Lewis Dickinson defends the British cruiserweight title against Mike Stafford. The undercard's got some interesting names featuring as well including the likes of Glenn Foot, Paul Truscott and Kirk Goddings. You can read @chatty's preview of the show here - http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?691-Dickinson-v-Stafford-Foot-v-Cook-Preview!
Rule Britannia
Tomorrow in Britain we've got boxing on 3 channels at the same time, which is good in a way but annoying in many other ways. The best overall show should be Frank's Rule Britannia bill. Headlined by Nathan Cleverly vs 'Sugar' Robin Krasniqi. The deserving mandatory challenger will come to fight, but everything suggests Clev should win comfortably and rack up another routine defence of that precious world title. I'd say Clev UD, if not mid-to-late stoppage.
If Dereck Chisora doesn't fully dominate or blast away Argentina's Hector Avila then it'll probably be a poor performance. I'm hoping he shows some power for a change and scores an impressive KO finish, however I expect it'll more likely be Chisora overwhelming the guy before the ref jumps in to stop it after 2 or 3 rounds.
Probably the most interesting fight on the Wembley show is the lightweight scrap between Liam Walsh and Scott Harrison. Many seem to think that Harrison is too far past it but I think he'll put up a decent test in what could be a rough fight. Walsh should still win though and with it being a 12 rounder, the fresher Liam Walsh should have enough time to get the stoppage. Domestic fight of the night for me.
The undercard also sees the rescheduled Commonwealth super-flyweight title fight between Yaqub Kareem and Paul Butler. Butler has looked very good recently but I don't know anything about his opponent to be able to make any kind of accurate prediction here. I'd expect Butler to win somehow though, probably on points what with Kareem being a teak tough Nigerian that mostly fights in Ghana.
The rest of the bill, which is televised live on BoxNation from 7pm also features Joe Murray, Frank Buglioni, Enzo Maccarinelli, John Thain and many more of Warren's other prospects. I'd be surprised if nearly all of them don't win comfortably but it'll still be interesting to see them in action again.
The New Life of Brian
In Blackpool, rising light-middleweight Brian Rose "steps up in class" to take on former belt holder Joachim Alcine. Rose is in very good form domestically with impressive wins against Prince Arron, Max Maxwell, Kris Carslaw and Sam Webb recently. Now 37, Alcine has only won one of his last 4 bouts but if on form he could provide a decent test in an interesting crossroads fight. Rose should dominate in his hometown and I expect him to make a statement by finishing the fight inside the distance. If he wins wide on points, it'll still be a solid enough win.
Also on that show at the Winter Gardens, Lee Selby defends his commonwealth belt against unbeaten Aussie Corey McConnell at featherweight. Currently considered one of the best prospects in Britain, Selby will be looking to impress on Sky Sports and without knowing much about his opponent, I think we should see a stoppage win for the Welshman.
The televised card starts at 8pm with Scott Cardle vs Maxi Hughes, while undercard action featuring China Clarke vs Matty Askin, Tom Stalker and Callum Smith, can be seen on the red button from 6pm.
"New York, New York - so nice they named it twice. The other name is Manhattan."
Giant Heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury's step up in class comes against veteran cruiserweight Steve Cunningham at the Madison Square Garden Theater.
Cunningham recently moved up to heavyweight and scored an impressive revenge win (fuck the judges) against Tomasz Adamek last December, while Fury pretty much shut out the defensively sound Kevin Johnson earlier that month.
Despite Fury being the much bigger man and a heavy favourite with the bookies, this is a good fight which pits two exciting boxers, both perhaps just inside the world's genuine top 10, against each other. Cunningham has the boxing skill and the heart to stay in this fight no matter how it pans out, but I do feel Fury's height along with his ever-improving power and technique should cause too many problems and I expect Fury to make a big statement on his American debut. I predict Fury to get the knockout within 8 rounds.
I'll post my predictions/thoughts for Trout vs Alvarez and a few other fights a bit later :good
What do you guys expect to see this weekend and which fights are you most looking forward to?
Friday Night
ESPN's Friday Night Fights tonight featuring one of my favourite prospects Javier Fortuna. Apparently he came in a lb over the featherweight limit so he's lost his bullshit interim belt but he's still fighting Miguel Zamudio, who judging by his record shouldn't cause too many problems. I expect another highlight reel finish from Fortuna there.
In north east England, Jon Lewis Dickinson defends the British cruiserweight title against Mike Stafford. The undercard's got some interesting names featuring as well including the likes of Glenn Foot, Paul Truscott and Kirk Goddings. You can read @chatty's preview of the show here - http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?691-Dickinson-v-Stafford-Foot-v-Cook-Preview!
Rule Britannia
Tomorrow in Britain we've got boxing on 3 channels at the same time, which is good in a way but annoying in many other ways. The best overall show should be Frank's Rule Britannia bill. Headlined by Nathan Cleverly vs 'Sugar' Robin Krasniqi. The deserving mandatory challenger will come to fight, but everything suggests Clev should win comfortably and rack up another routine defence of that precious world title. I'd say Clev UD, if not mid-to-late stoppage.
If Dereck Chisora doesn't fully dominate or blast away Argentina's Hector Avila then it'll probably be a poor performance. I'm hoping he shows some power for a change and scores an impressive KO finish, however I expect it'll more likely be Chisora overwhelming the guy before the ref jumps in to stop it after 2 or 3 rounds.
Probably the most interesting fight on the Wembley show is the lightweight scrap between Liam Walsh and Scott Harrison. Many seem to think that Harrison is too far past it but I think he'll put up a decent test in what could be a rough fight. Walsh should still win though and with it being a 12 rounder, the fresher Liam Walsh should have enough time to get the stoppage. Domestic fight of the night for me.
The undercard also sees the rescheduled Commonwealth super-flyweight title fight between Yaqub Kareem and Paul Butler. Butler has looked very good recently but I don't know anything about his opponent to be able to make any kind of accurate prediction here. I'd expect Butler to win somehow though, probably on points what with Kareem being a teak tough Nigerian that mostly fights in Ghana.
The rest of the bill, which is televised live on BoxNation from 7pm also features Joe Murray, Frank Buglioni, Enzo Maccarinelli, John Thain and many more of Warren's other prospects. I'd be surprised if nearly all of them don't win comfortably but it'll still be interesting to see them in action again.
The New Life of Brian
In Blackpool, rising light-middleweight Brian Rose "steps up in class" to take on former belt holder Joachim Alcine. Rose is in very good form domestically with impressive wins against Prince Arron, Max Maxwell, Kris Carslaw and Sam Webb recently. Now 37, Alcine has only won one of his last 4 bouts but if on form he could provide a decent test in an interesting crossroads fight. Rose should dominate in his hometown and I expect him to make a statement by finishing the fight inside the distance. If he wins wide on points, it'll still be a solid enough win.
Also on that show at the Winter Gardens, Lee Selby defends his commonwealth belt against unbeaten Aussie Corey McConnell at featherweight. Currently considered one of the best prospects in Britain, Selby will be looking to impress on Sky Sports and without knowing much about his opponent, I think we should see a stoppage win for the Welshman.
The televised card starts at 8pm with Scott Cardle vs Maxi Hughes, while undercard action featuring China Clarke vs Matty Askin, Tom Stalker and Callum Smith, can be seen on the red button from 6pm.
"New York, New York - so nice they named it twice. The other name is Manhattan."
Giant Heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury's step up in class comes against veteran cruiserweight Steve Cunningham at the Madison Square Garden Theater.
Cunningham recently moved up to heavyweight and scored an impressive revenge win (fuck the judges) against Tomasz Adamek last December, while Fury pretty much shut out the defensively sound Kevin Johnson earlier that month.
Despite Fury being the much bigger man and a heavy favourite with the bookies, this is a good fight which pits two exciting boxers, both perhaps just inside the world's genuine top 10, against each other. Cunningham has the boxing skill and the heart to stay in this fight no matter how it pans out, but I do feel Fury's height along with his ever-improving power and technique should cause too many problems and I expect Fury to make a big statement on his American debut. I predict Fury to get the knockout within 8 rounds.
I'll post my predictions/thoughts for Trout vs Alvarez and a few other fights a bit later :good
What do you guys expect to see this weekend and which fights are you most looking forward to?
