This past Saturday may not have been one of the best weekends in the sport this year but it was certainly still an interesting one with a number of notable fighters in action, ranging from champions to former champions, prospects to men looking to save their careers.

The first notable action was in Europe as Olympic champion and Cruiserweight sensation Oleksandr Usyk (7-0, 7) kept alive his chase to win a world title in double quick fashion. Usyk claimed the WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title as he stopped the much more experienced Daniel Bruwer (24-6-1, 21) in 7 rounds. Although we know Usyk is on the fast track to a world title he is still amazingly impressive and there is little doubt that he can compete with anyone in the division already. Although some were disappointed with Usyk taking his time it seemed clear to us that he wanted some rounds under his belt before moving towards a world title bout.

On the same card fans also saw former world champion Andriy Kotelnik (32-4-1, 13) take an 8 round decision over Alexander Benidze (13-15-2, 6). Although not a major bout it was Kotelnik's first contest in over 4 years and we were big fans of him when he was an active fighter.

Another former world champion who picked up a win in an 8 rounder was Britain's Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11) who beat Alexandre Lepelley (17-2-1, 3) in what was his first win since losing his WBO Lightweight title to Terence Crawford earlier this year. Although Burns failed to shine we were very impressed by Josh Warrington (19-0, 3) who claimed the European Featherweight title with a fantastic performance against Italian veteran Davide Dieli (15-4, 5). Warrington stopped Dieli in 4 rounds to record his 3rd stoppage in 4 bouts and it seems perfectly clear that he is finding his "man strength".

Whilst Burns and Kotelnik both kept their careers alive with wins it wasn't a great day for former world champions in American and Mexico. In the US fans saw former Light Heavyweight kingpin Chad Dawson (32-4-0-1-1, 18) suffer a huge shock loss to Tommy Karpency (24-4-1, 14). Dawson, who has now won just 1 of his last 4, must be considering his future. This was a close loss but he's not the fighter he once was, in fact he's not even close to being the fighter he used to be.

Dawson's loss was on the same card an a solid bout between Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21) and Willie Nelson (23-2-1, 13). What made the bout enjoyable was the fact Nelson did almost nothing a boxer should do. Nelsons' flaws were exploited time and time again by Martirosyan who looked far from special himself. It was a strange but engaging bout between two fringe contenders in the Light Middleweight division, though neither look like they are real world class.

The main event on the US card was a real dud as IBF Super Featherweight champion Rances Barthelemy (21-0-0-1, 12) took a clear but dull victory over the light punching Fernando David Saucedo (52-6-3, 8). The bout was a world title fight and whilst Barthelemy is world class he's also very dull to watch when he can't impose himself early. We wish that Barthelmy had been in with someone with some power and bite though we suspect he'll be doing what he can to avoid a real fight as opposed to fighting a feather fisted but tough survivor like Saucedo.

Another world title bout took place in Mexico as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48) stopped Jorge Arce (64-8-2, 49) in a disgusting mismatch that really left no one looking good. Arce looked like an old an broken man whilst Gonzalez looked like someone who should have been fighting a much better better opponent. It really was disgusting that the WBC allowed this one.

On the same card in Mexico we saw Adrian Estrella (19-0, 17) boost his growing reputation as he took a dominant win over former world champion Celestino Caballero (37-6, 24). Caballero was dropped hard several times as Estrella strolled to a dominant decision. Caballero did well to see out the distance but was never really in the bout and it would seem plausible for Estrella to be put in line to fight the winner of the upcoming WBC Super Featherweight title fight between Takashi Miura and Edgar Puerta, a bout that will take place in November.

(Image courtesy of Notifight.com)

It appears after a few slow weeks of fights that we are now set to get things kick started once again and this coming Saturday is a great example of what we have to look forward to through the coming month, a month that genuine looks to be an amazing one.

One of this weekend's upcoming bouts attempts to take out one of the contenders from the Super Featherweight division as unbeaten IBF champion Rances Barthelemy (20-0-0-1, 12) attempts to defend his title for the first time. The Cuban "Kid Blast" may have had to win two fights to win the belt, follow a controversial ending to the first contest, but now seems set to make up for lost time and will be taking on the highly regarded and very experienced Fernando David Saucedo (52-5-3, 8). We'll admit we did hope that it would be Barthelmy against Michael Farenas, though this bout isn't a terrible even if the winner is a very predictable one. Saucedo isn't a bad fighter but he doesn't have the tools to bother Barthelemy who should be too rangy, too fast and too power for the challenger. Hopefully Farenas will get the winner of this one in early 2015.

A second world title bout takes place in Mexico as WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47) defends his belt against legendary warrior Jorge Arce (64-7-2-1, 49). It's almost 2 years ago that Arce was battered, beaten and destroyed by Filipino star Nonito Donaire and to think that Arce has managed to get another world title bout says more about his name, especially with the WBC, than his performances since. At his peak Arce was one of the sports great action men and his wars will long live with fans whether they remember him losing to Michael Carbajal or defeating Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Sadly Arce's peak was years ago and he's now a shadow of what he once was. Gonzalez, who famously stopped Hozumi Hasegawa, may not be a truly sensational boxer but he's as heavy handed as they come and shouldn't need long to finish off Arce's dreams and career. At least we hope it'll end Arce's career that probably should have ended several years ago.

On the show as the Gonzalez/Arce bout is a possible "breaking out" bout for the unbeaten and very heavy handed Adrian Estrella (18-0, 17). Estrella is seen as one of Mexico's most promising young prospects and he'll be hoping to announce himself on the world stage as he battles against former world champion Celestino Caballero (37-5, 24) in a battle for the WBC FECARBOX Super Featherweight title. The bout is an incredibly significant one and winner here will move incredibly close to a WBC world title shot with Takashi Miura whilst the loser could well find themselves tossed on the boxing scrap heap. For Caballero this is a must win bout, a loss here and his career is effectively over. 

One other bout we want to make a note of is in Ukraine where the fast rising Oleksandr Usyk (4-0, 4) battles against Daniel Bruwer (24-5, 21) in a bout for the interim WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title. A win here would shoot Usyk in to the WBO world rankings and his dream of setting a Cruiserweight record fro fewest fights to become a world champion would become a clear possibility. The Ukrainian looks like a sensational fighter and we'd tip him to easily claim a Cruiserweight world title and he shouldn't struggle with Bruwer here.

(Image courtesy of our friends at www.notifight.com)