WEEKEND IN BOXING: 22nd OF JUNE – 24th OF JUNE
The weekend is almost here and that means lots of….boxing!!
As usual, I’m focusing on what’s being televised and what I’ll be watching.
We’ll have action on Friday the 22nd, Saturday the 23rd and even some amateur finals in the U.K on Sunday the 24th.
Without further ado, here we go:
Friday 22nd of June (Saturday 23rd at 3AM in the U.K):
Friday Night Fights on ESPN2/ESPN AMERICA/ESPN3 -
The stalwart series for boxing on Friday is highlighting two great divisions – light/Jr. welterweight and super middleweight.
Light/Jr. welterweight
Michael ‘the Silent Assassin’ Dallas Jr. (18-2-1) vs. Javier ‘Terry (El Terrible)/ El Zorro’ Castro (27-4-0).
Michael Dallas Jr. will look to develop some momentum from his last victory and keep his possibly promising career moving in the right direction. Javier Castro obviously has different intentions.
Ironically one of Dallas’ losses (a K.O.) was to the guy who’s fighting Victor Ortiz on Saturday!
Super middleweight
Brandon ‘Flawless’ Gonzales (15-0-0) vs. Elie Augustama (6-4-0).
Gonzales is clearly the favourite. I don’t believe that I’ve seen him box before, but his success at the amateur level could mean that he’s a technically sound boxer.
Combined with his high K.O percentage, Augustama could be in for a long, yet still short, night.
Saturday the 23rd of June:
Showtime, Showtime Extreme & Sky Sports – Sky in the U.K and Showtime in America.
This is a bill that should have a lot of people’s attention. It features arguably the two hottest divisions in boxing, welterweight and light/Jr. welterweight and two of the bigger names in those divisions.
Showtime Extreme, if I’m not mistaken, will show the opening bouts not listed here.
Welterweight
‘Vicious’ Victor Ortiz (29-3-2) vs. Josesito Lopez (29-4-0).
With the highly anticipated, but cancelled Ortiz/Berto rematch, Josesito Lopez was given the nod to replace the disqualified Andre Berto.
Ortiz is already booked to fight Saul Alvarez in September, so the obvious question is will he be looking past Lopez?
Ortiz has the much better K.O percentage and much, much better rogues gallery but Lopez shouldn’t be underestimated. This could be another very solid evening of boxing.
Light/Jr. middleweight
Lucas Matthysse (30-2-0) vs. Humberto ‘La Zorita’ Soto (58-7-2).
Matthysse is undoubtedly one of the bigger names at 140lbs. His only two losses, which were very close, were to Devon Alexander and Zab Judah.
Boasting an extremely high K.O percentage and solid technique, Matthyse is all bite and no bark. Nonetheless, I don’t think that scares the battle tested Humberto Soto.
Even though Soto has had many more matches than Matthysse, he’s only three years older than his opponent.
Will the substantial difference between the two, in number of rounds boxed, help Soto or make him more susceptible to the pressure that Matthyse is all but guaranteed to bring?
If Matthyse wins, will we be treated to Matthyse vs. Maidana? I hope so.
Telefutura – in Spanish, but the gloves do the only talking that I need.
Super bantamweight/ Jr. featherweight division.
Rico ‘Suavecito’ Ramos (20-1-0) vs. Efrain ‘E-Bomb’ Esquivias (16-0-0).
Ramos’ only loss was to the sublime Guillermo Rigondeaux. Rico’s now looking to return to winning ways.
Esquivias is undefeated, but appears to have faced lesser competition than that faced by Ramos.
Other matches on the bill include a lightweight feature of John Molina Jr. (23-1-0) vs. Miguel Angel Munguia (25-23-1).
Based on their respective records, this is probably a “soft touch” for Molina Jr.
Sunday the 24th of June:
BoxNation – Some amateur boxing on a Sunday
Haringey Box Cup 2012 Finals
According to BoxNation, these finals will feature “some truly talented young amateur fighters, both male and female, as they contest individual finals in their respective weight categories”
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Great showing by Mike Dallas Jr. Nice body work and opportunistic outside boxing. Nicely done. His career should be back on track.
As mentioned above, Showtime Extreme will have the opening matches. For American viewers that’s 7pm EST. The main event starts at 9 on Showtime.
For British viewrs, check your Sky listings (Sky Sports 1, I believe). It does seem as if they’ll be showing the entire bill.
For round by round coverage, with the odd R rated comment, check out the FH forums.
Wow! Lopez stops Ortiz. Broken jaw. Everything’s topsy turvey now. Erislandy Lara fights next week. If he wins, please GBP, give us Alvarez vs. Lara.