We'll admit we sometimes get over-excited about things. Boxing is one of those sports that really can get exciting just because of the anticipation of an event. Unfortunately this past weekend saw our hopes and dreams fall down to earth with an almighty crash and our realisation that this is boxing and things never go as we hope they do.

On Saturday morning British Heavyweight giant Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) was forced to pull out of his clash with fellow giant Alexander Ustinov (29-1, 21) following a family member falling "gravely" ill. This should have for told the weekend really because it was disappointment, after disappointment for the most part.

The Fury/Ustinov fight had been one of two Heavyweight clashes that we were excited about. The other was a WBC eliminator between Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10) and Mike Perez (20-1-1, 12). Unfortunately this potentially exciting bout turned into a bit of a damp squib after an out of shape Perez blew himself out after about 6 rounds and spent half the fight holding, spoiling and generally doing all he could to prevent an exciting contest. Perez was eventually punished for breaking the rules with a deduction in round 12 that sealed the fight in favour of Jennings by split decision. One thing that was clear from this result is that neither man should be thinking about getting in the ring with Wladimir Klitschko or Bermane Stiverne, at least not for the time being.

On the same card as the Jennings/Perez bout we did get some excitement as Anthony Caputo Smith (15-4, 10) took the fight to Ola Afolabi (21-3-4, 10) in an exciting but one sided bout. Smith came out with the intention of forcing Afolabi to work and that's what he did eventually busting up the face of Smith to the point of the Dr stopping the bout.

In fairness there was also a good bout in the UK as Billy Joe Saunders (20-0, 11) claimed the European Middleweight title with a stoppage against Emanuele Blandamura (22-1, 5). It was a competitive fight and a good win for Saunders and following the bout it seemed to be strongly hinted that British fans would be getting a bout between Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr. The bout is likely to sell to the British public though we've not been that impressed by Eubank who scored an easy win on the under-card against a totally mismatched opponent.

Whilst the disappointment of the Heavyweight bouts would usually have stuck out as the lowest part of the weekend we need to admit that we actually had something even worse in Germany. Manfred Kuechler.

The German referee appeared to make 2 very poor and highly controversial calls to help protect home fighters on a card that perhaps threw German boxing back in to the dark ages.

The first poor call came in a female bout between Christina Hammer (18-0, 8) and Sophie Anne Mathis (27-4, 23). Mathis appeared to knock out Hammer with a series of shots whilst Hammer was holding her arm though the referee decided the shots had been illegal and awarded Hammer the victory by DQ in a result that sent the French boxing press into a frenzy. Unfortunately for Mathis her misfortune was hidden behind another poor decision from Kuechler who awarded a TKO victory to Robert Steiglitz (47-4, 27) in his bout against Sergey Khomitsky (29-11-2, 12). Khomitsky had problems with his tape and the referee, knowing Steiglitz was struggling, seemed to take the opportunity to stop Khomitsky rather than risk Steiglitz suffering a major loss.

(Image courtesy of SES)

This coming Saturday is a day that has some really interesting action with some very notable bouts in both the UK and the US.

One of the most notable bout which was scheduled for the weekend was to be a Heavyweight rematch between the unbeaten Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) and and Dereck Chisora (20-4, 13). Sadly Chisora has suffered an injury however Fury will fight on the card and will battle man mountain Alexander Ustinov (29-1, 21) in what looks like a genuine clash between giants.

In another interesting bout on the UK card fans will get the chance to see unbeaten Middleweights colliding as Billy Joe Saunders (19-0, 10) fights Emanuele Blandamura (22-0, 5) in a European title fight. The contest is an interesting bout on paper though we tend to feel that Blandamura is up against it here considering that he's travelled from Italy, though he did win in Germany last time out.

Whilst Britain's card is long, and interesting, the card of the day is in New York. The main event on this card is the WBA Middleweight "super" title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Geale. The Middleweight title fight is great though the support bouts are equally as interesting.

One of the support bouts is a Heavyweight clash between unbeaten fighters as Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10) battles against Mike Perez (20-0-1, 12) in what appears to be a very good fight. Not only is this good on paper but it's also meaningful and the winner will be set for a WBC Heavyweight title fight giving a extra motivation to both men.

Another of the bouts will be at Cruiserweight as former world title challenger Ola Afolabi (20-3-4, 9) takes on American Anthony Caputo Smith (15-3, 10). This bout, a 10 rounder, won't have a title or even a big opportunity on the line but will a must win for both men who will be aware that a loss could be the end of their title dreams.

A third interesting card takes place in Germany where we have a very interesting male bout and a potentially thrilling female world title bout.

The male bout will see former WBO Super Middleweight world champion Robert Steiglitz (46-4, 26) taking on the under-rated Sergey Khomitsky (29-10-2,12) in a bout for the WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight title. Steiglitz is hoping to secure another world title fight somewhere down the line whilst Khomitsky is looking to build on his big upset win over Frank Buglioni last time out. We have to favour Stieglitz on paper but Khomitsky is certainly a live under-dog.

In a female bout the sensational Christina Hammer (17-0, 8) will be attempting to claim a 3rd divisional title as she takes on hard hitting French woman Anne Sophie Mathis (27-3, 23) in a battle for the vacant WBO female Light Middleweight title. Many seem to feel that a win here for Hammer could help us move towards a European female super fight between Hammer and Cecelia Braekhus, a bout that is effectively a dream fight and the female version of Manny Pacquiao Vs Floyd Mayweather.

(Image courtesy of boxnation)

This past Saturday was the first monster day of the boxing year. It may have taken some time coming but what a day it was and what a memorable day it was with fights taking place all over the globe, multiple titles changing hands, multiple champions in action and an amateur stand out attempting to create history. To say that Saturday March 1st was a bumper day in boxing is to merely state the obvious.

The action began in Australia where WBC female Super Featherweight champion Diana Prazak (13-2, 9) retained her title by stopping compatriot Shannon O'Connell (8-3, 5) in round 5. Prazak's power presented O'Connell problems from the off and the challenger was dropped twice in round 2 before being saved by the referee in round 5.

Prazak is amongst the most feared female fighters on the planet right now and this result showed why. She's got dynamite in her hands and stopping O'Connell, who lost a close decision to Hyun-Mi Choi last year, was nothing short of impressive.

Although Prazak retained her title several fighters in Europe didn't. One of those was Britain's Ricky Burns (36-3-1, 11) whose luck finally ran out as he faced unbeaten American Terence Crawford (23-0, 16). Crawford, who appeared to fight well within himself, controlled the fight from round 4 onwards with his speed and combinations. Unfortunately British commentary team Jim Watt and Nick Halling seemed to do all they could to downplay Crawford's victory though it was obvious that Burns was well beaten. This victory saw Crawford claiming the WBO Lightweight title and put himself amongst the elite at 135lbs.

Another WBO title changed hands in Germany where Arthur Abraham (39-4, 28) reclaimed the WBO Super Middleweight title with a narrow points victory over rival Robert Stieglitz (46-4, 26). This result was a genuine shock to us as we viewed Abraham as washed up though the "King" had reclaimed his crown and taken a 2-1 lead from a trilogy with Stieglitz. The bout was an interesting one though a 12th round knock down by Abraham did effectively seal the fight for him.

On the same card in Germany WBO female Middleweight champion Christina Hammer (17-0, 8) put on a clinic to out point Jessica Balogun (23-3, 11). Balogun was game through out though her technical limitations cost her any chance at a victory as Hammer won every round with her skills and movement. Although Hammer's shots never hurt Balogun they were so technically sound they they prevented the challenger from getting much going offensively herself.

In South Africa was saw another champion retain their title with Hekkie Budler (25-1, 8) defended his WBA interim Minimumweight title for the first time. Budler, a genuine non-puncher, needed just a round to see off the very limited Karluis Diaz (21-5, 14). We're now hoping to see Budler fight IBF champion Katsunari Takayama in a unification bout though their appears to be work to be done if this fight is to be made.

Across the Atlantic the action continued with even more major bouts.

The most notable bout on the American continent happened in the US as Ukrainian amateur great Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1, 1) attempted to secure his place in professional boxing history. Lomachenko, fighting for the WBO Featherweight title in just his second bout unfortunately came up short against grizzled veteran Orlando Salido (41-12-2-1, 28). Although Lomachenko lost a split decision to Salido plenty felt he took more from the loss than many prospects take from 25 wins and with Salido failing to make the weight and being stripped of the title we'd not be shocked if Lomachenko fights for the vacant title next time out. If Lomachenko had won he'd have broken the almost 40 year record of Saensak Muangsurin who won a world title in just his third pro bout.

As well as the Lomachenko bout there was also a major rematch on the same card as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (48-1-1-1, 32) managed to take a clear, but hard fought, victory over the game Brian Vera (23-8, 14). The two men had fought last year with many feeling Vera was robbed this time however Chavez took a genuine victory even if he did do some things that were very annoying, especially in round 12 where he ran and danced. After the fight their murmurs of a bout between Chavez Jr and Gennady Golovkin, though presumably Golovkin would have to make the move to Super Middleweight for the bout to make sense.

Staying with rematches Mexico saw a major rematch as female star Zulina Munoz (41-1-2, 26) managed to defend her WBC Super Flyweight title and avenge her sole defeat as she claimed a technical decision over Alesia Graf (26-4, 11). Graf, who beat Munoz back in 2007, traded shots with Munoz willingly in one of the nights best fights but unfortunately a clash of heads in round 6 forced the bout to the scorecards which all favoured Munoz. This wasn't a pretty fight in terms of boxing but it was highly entertaining stuff with both freely swinging at the other. Great action for as long as it lasted.

Going further down the America's there was also a world title fight in Argentina where the ultra-talented Erica Anabella Farias (19-0, 9) successfully retained her WBC female Lightweight title with a victory over compatriot Maria Eugenia Lopez (8-8-2). The bout was a mismatch with Farias just being too good at everything for Lopez though the key thing about the bout was that it was a tune up for Farias who will be fighting in a much more meaningful contest next time out against Delfine Persoon, her mandatory challenger.

(Picture courtesy of http://www.thesweetscience.com/)

One of the big complaints we've made this year is that there was a real lack of big time action. We're two months in to the year and we could count the number of significant fights on one hand, we could then use the other hand to count how many genuinely good fighter we've had. Honestly it's been an awful start to the boxing year.

Thankfully March seems to kick off the boxing for 2014. It may be late but it is much, much better than never. Unfortunately however the sheer number of high quality fights make it almost a given that you will be missing something this weekend.

The first notable fight, and the one featured in the small image, is one of several female contests of interest and takes place in Australia as the hard hitting Diana Prazak (12-2, 8) attempts to make the first defense of her WBC female Super Featherweight title. Prazak will be fighting fellow compatriot Shannon O'Connell (8-2, 5) in a bout that has all the ingredients to be a fire cracked. 

O'Connell is best known to use for her close fight with Korea's Hyun-Mi Choi last year whilst Prazak announced herself last year by stopping Frida Wallberg and unfortunately ending Wallberg's career in the process. Although it's a female fight it could be the best of the day.

The O'Connell/Prazak bout isn't the only major female bout of the day and in Germany we get another as the highly popular Chrstina Hammer (16-0, 8) defends her WBO female Middleweight title against fellow German Jessica Balogun (23-2, 11). Whilst the Prazak/O'Connell bout looks like a fantastic match up, this one is unfortunately a huge mismatch and it's hard to see anything other than an easy defense for the talented Hammer.

On the same card in Germany their is a WBO Super Middleweight title fight as Robert Steiglitz (46-3, 26) battles Arthur Abraham (38-4, 28) for the third time in less than 18 months. Although the men are 1-1 it seems that Abraham's career is in free fall and we'd be shocked if Steiglitz doesn't retain his title again here.

The Stieglitz/Abraham trilogy isn't the only world title fight in Europe as Scotland's Ricky Burns (36-2-1, 11) tries to put poor back-to-back performance behind him and defend his WBO Lightweight title against America's unbeaten Terence Crawford (22-0, 16) in what looks like one of the nights most interesting match ups. We'd favour Crawford here though it's certainly his toughest bout to date and Burns, for the faults he has shown in recent bouts, has shown that he's not got any quit in him. Unfortunately we have the feeling this could end up being either a total dud or controversial with fans on both sides of the Atlantic being unsatisfied by either the action or the result.

Staying in Britain there is another major contest involving a Brit as James DeGale (17-1, 11) battles the unbeaten Gevorg Khatchikian (20-0, 8) in what looks to be a semi-final eliminator to fight Sakio Bika for the WBC Super Middleweight title. The winner of DeGale/Khatchikian is likely to need to beat another top contender to get a world title fight but this is a big step towards one.

Across the Atlantic the action comes just as thick and fast.

The highlight bout state side sees Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0, 1) fighting grizzled Mexican veteran Orlando Salido (40-12-2-1, 28) for the WBO Featherweight title. A victory for Lomachenko gets him into the record books for fewest professional bouts before winning a world title (in regards to men, the actual record is held by the aforementioned Choi who won a WBA title on her debut) though this is far from a foregone conclusion and it should prove to be one of the most enthralling and anticipated bouts of the year.

On the same card as Lomachenko/Salido we get a major non-title fight as former WBC Middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (47-1-1-1, 32) takes on the under-rated Brian Vera (23-7, 14) for the second time. The two men fought last year with Chavez being given a highly debatable victory over Vera. Although Chavez had his excuses for his performances it does sound like he means business this time and is expected to "show up" this time around.

Going south, down the American continent, we get another major female bout in Mexico. Strangely this is another major rematch as Zulina Munoz (40-1-2, 26) attempts to avenge her sole defeat. Munoz, the current WBC female Super Flyweight champion, is unbeaten in over 6 years, since she dropped a decision to Alesia Graf (26-3, 11) this time Munoz is more experienced, wiser and more mature as well as the home fighter. The Mexican champion has ti be favoured here.

Finally, in Argentina, we get one more female world title fight. Like the Hammer/Balogun fight this one is also a mismatch as WBC Lightweight champion Erica Anabella Farias (18-0, 9), one of the premier pound-for-pound female fighters on the planet, defends her title against Maria Eugenia Lopez (8-7-2). To call this a mismatch is little more than stating the obvious, unfortunately however we do sometimes need to state the obvious. A win for Farias however sets up a fight with Belgium's excellent Delfine Persoon in what should be considered a female super-fight.