WEEKEND IN BOXING – 13/7 & 14/7: HAYE/CHISORA; KHAN/GARCIA; JOHNSON/FONFARA; LUIS CASTILLO; MUNDINE/McKART.
The final countdown’s begun. David Haye and Dereck Chisora’s Upton Park, grudge-match is almost here! That isn’t the only high profile action that we’ve got this weekend. In addition to Amir Khan vs. Danny Garcia we also have two very accomplished veterans, Glen Johnson and legendary lightweight (now a welterweight), Jose Luis Castillo. There’s boxing action in Mexico too. We also have an interesting match in Japan, but with the broadcast hard to find over here, we’ll have to leave it for another day.
As always, this is just some of the action that’s being televised and what I intend to watch.
FRIDAY 13th JULY:
ESPN2/ESPN3– ‘Friday Night Fights’ – 10.00 p.m. EST/ 03.00 GMT
Glen ‘the Road Warrior’ Johnson (51-16-2) vs. Andrzej Fonfara (21-2-0). Light heavyweights, 10 rounds.
- Glen Johnson is 19 years older than Andrzej Fonfara. Yes, Johnson’s fought the best and beaten some of the best, but after all of the battles that he’s been in, should he hang up his gloves? Andrej Fonfara is a young guy and beating Glen Johnson, even at this stage of his career, would add a fair amount of credibility to his record. Fonfara is coming off a string of K.Os and lost his last bout in 2008. Johnson is campaigning at light heavy again after a few bouts at super middleweight.
Jose Luis ‘el Terrible’ Castillo (63-11-1) vs. Ivan Popoca (18-1-0). Welterweights, 10 rounds.
-Jose Luis Castillo’s time at lightweight is, to me at least, legendary. The names that he fought during that period are impressive. He’s accumulated a lot of ring mileage and has been in even more pitched battles than the Road Warrior. Will that show? Or will he continue his recent momentum and win? Popoca’s one loss was to the rising Ruslan Provodnikov. That was in the last bout that he fought and he’s looking to get things back on track at the expense of a veteran boxer.
TELEMUNDO – BOXEO TELEMUNDO @ 11.35 p.m EST / 04.35 GMT
Edgar ‘Power’ Jimenez (15-6-1) vs. Julian ‘Chicano’ Rivera (11-6-1). Flyweights, 12 rounds.
Pablo ‘Pokemon’ Farias (20-2-0) vs. Alvaro ‘Pantera’ Enriquez (11-10-2). Super middleweights, 8 rounds.
- This looks like the more interesting of the two bouts on Telemundo, but the flyweights above might be well matched.
SATURDAY 14th JULY:
BOXNATION/ EPIX/ EPIX HD– 19.00 GMT / 2 p.m. ET
Dereck ‘Del Boy’ Chisora (15-3-0) vs. David ‘the Hayemaker’ Haye (25-2-0), Heavyweights 12 rounds.
This one has it all. Two upper echelon heavyweights that can do damage. A local rivalry. Bad blood that boiled over outside of the ring. Controlled bad blood leading up to the fight. Lots of witty insults and now here we are. Put up, or shut up! FightHypeUK has footage of some of Chisora’s latest sparring (http://uk.fighthype.com/team-chisora-dereck-chisora-sparring-footage/) as well as in depth interviews with Chisora’s trainer and camp. Latest weights are Dereck Chisora at 112 kg/247 lbs and David Haye weighed 96 kg /211 lbs.
Liam ‘Destiny’ Walsh (12-0-0) vs. Domenic Urbano (25-3-1). Lightweights, 12 rounds.
- Undefeated “ …Walsh is set for a ring return after almost a year away” against “25 – 3 – 1 Italian veteran Domenico Urbano.”
Matthew ‘el Torito’ Hall (25-5-0) vs. Gary ‘Celtic Rebel’ O’Sullivan (14-0-0). Middleweights, 12 rounds.
- With a record of 25-5 and “…one of Manchester’s most popular fighters,” Hall, faces a hungry undefeated opponent in O’Sullivan with a decent K.O percentage.
SKY SPORTS/ HBO – 02.00 GMT (coverage begins early in U.K) / 11 p.m. ET
Amir ‘King’ Khan (26-2-0) vs. Danny ‘ Swift’ Garcia (23-0-0). Light welterweights, 12 rounds.
- Amir Khan’s career’s looking pretty sharp nowadays. A loss to Danny Garcia wouldn’t end it, but it would set it back a bit. Danny Garcia is looking to make the most of his undefeated record and continued rise to prominence after recently earning the decision over Erik Morales. Will we see a dominant Amir Khan, a close battle that could go either way. or is Garcia capable of adding another loss to Khan’s record?
WEALTH TV PPV – 9 p.m ET / 02.00GMT
Anthony ‘the Man’ Mundine (43-4-0) vs. Bronco ‘Superman’ McKart (54-9-1). Middleweights, 10 rounds.
- Bonafide athlete, Anthony Mundine will be fighting in America for the first time in his career. Even though he’s 41 his athletic credentials are impressive. Top level rugby player in rugby mad Australia and then a successful professional boxer. Even though he’s had success as a boxer, his boxing credentials are still tbd. McKart isn’t impressive, by any stretch of the imagination, but you never know in boxing. Mundine’s been dropping Floyd Mayweather’s name a lot, but it’s highly unlikely that he can leap frog more highly regarded opponents to get there.
TELEFUTURA – SOLEO BOXEO – 11 p.m. ET / 04.00 GMT
Marco Antonio Periban (17-0-0) vs. Lester ‘El Cubanito’ Gonzalez (12-6-4). Super middleweights, 10 rounds
- The undefeated Marco Antonio Periban was supposed to fight James Parison, but apparently Parison is no longer on the bill. His replacement, Gonzalez, fought the one defeat having Parison to a draw, in their March clash. Gonzalez is Cuban, so who knows and they’re supper middleweights too, could be good.
Antonio Capulin 6-0-0) vs. Steve Cox (2-7-0). Super featherweights, 6 rounds
FOX Deportes / Fox Sports Net – 10 p.m. ET / 02.00 GMT
Jesus Sylvestre (24-3-0) vs. Edwin ‘ la Pantera’ Diaz (15-17-0). Miniumweight, 12 rounds.
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