Some days are monster days with huge fights across the world, others are smaller with only a couple of big fights. This Saturday falls into the second category however it does feature possibly the most anticipated Heavyweight clashes in years as well as a very interesting female world title bout and the return to the ring of one of the sports most exciting fighters.

The Heavyweight bout will see the unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52) attempt to add yet another defense of his various world titles as he takes on Bulgarian hopeful Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11). Klitschko enters as the clear favourite but this is one of the very rare occasions where fans are giving a challenger a real chance against Klitschko and with good reason with Pulev being a genuinely stand out challenger. Sadly however we suspect that Pulev will merely prove that even the best challengers aren't real competition for the Ukrainian champion who has ruled the division with a steel fist for the better part of a decade. Up to now Pulev has proven to be a very capable boxer with good stamina, a genuine toughness and under-rated power, the question is whether or not he'll be strong enough and tough enough to cope with Klitschko's monstrous right hand and imposing physical strength.

In Mexico the big fight, in regards to world titles, will see female WBC Light Welterweight champion Alejandra Marina Oliveras (31-2-2, 16) attempts to defend her belt against once beaten compatriot Erica Anabella Farias (20-1, 10) who will be hoping to become a 2-weight world champion. This may not be the type of bout to appeal to most boxing fans but in all honesty we would suggest giving this one a go if they can as it will be good.

On the same card in Mexico fans will get the chance to see former 2-weight world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-1, 16) battling against Joel Montes de Oca (18-3, 10) in what is viewed as an easy comeback fight following his stoppage loss to Terence Crawford in a WBC Lightweight title bout. We will also get the chance to see Cristian Mijares (50-8-2, 25) fight against Lester Medrano (14-2-1, 9).

(Image courtesy of fightnews.com)

Most busy days in the boxing world have a world title fight as their signature bout. This weekend however the title fights took a back seat to an all Mexican clash between hard hitting fighters in a contest dubbed "Toe-to-Toe". There was title fights going on but they were ever so slightly in the background.

The title major bout, the headline act if you will, saw former Light Middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (43-1-1, 31) score arguably his biggest victory as he stopped fellow Mexican Alfredo Angulo (22-4, 18) in what was an entertaining, though one sided, contest. Canelo took control from the onset with his superior speed and skills and although Angulo took the shots well early on they did began to damage up his face rather badly by the middle rounds.

Canelo, after running up a clear lead on the scorecards, seemed to slow down in round 6 before turning on the style in round 9 to further punish Angulo who appeared to be building his confidence for one or two rounds. Unfortunately though the 9th round effectively finished off Angulo who took a huge uppercut early in round 9 before referee Tony Weeks stepped in. The stoppage, a controversial one for sure, seemed to come when Angulo was still fighting back and had his senses, even if he was badly marked up at the time.

The victory for Canelo is likely to be his final one as a pseudo Light Middleweight and it seems almost certain that his next fight will be as a fully blown Middleweight. 

Earlier on the same card WBC Super Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15) managed to make his second defence of the title as he easily defeated Cristian Mijares (49-8-2, 24). The bout, one sided through out, saw Mijares's ring craft keeping him up right but he was too small to ever really the champion who appeared to win every round with out many questions really being asked of him. Despite the clear victory we are starting to wonder if Santa Cruz is as good as we first thought. He no longer looks like a grinding machine but has been made to look somewhat light hitting by naturally smaller men in his last 2 fights. 

After that fight there were comments suggesting that Santa Cruz was likely to fight the unbeaten Carl Frampton next. There is a lot of talk in Japan about Shinsuke Yamanaka wanting a fight with Santa Cruz and on this performance we genuinely think that Yamanaka would take care of the Mexican without too many issues. In fact on this performance a fighter like Shingo Wake would actually give Santa Cruz a lot of problems.

Also on this card we saw former WBC Super Featherweight title challenger Sergio Thompson (29-3, 26) manage to take a decision over Ricardo Alvarez (23-3-3, 14). Thompson, who fought Takashi Miura last year, twice dropped Alvarez and although he looked a clear winner the judges would have the bout a majority draw had it not been for the knockdowns.

The action didn't stop there however and the card also saw Jorge Linares (36-3, 25) defeat Nihito Arakawa (24-4-1, 16) in a hard fought but clear bout and a notable upset as the world ranked Will Tomlinson (21-1-1, 12) suffered a hugely shocking loss. Tomlinson, who began the night as the WBC #7 and #8 IBF ranked Super Featherweight, was widely out pointed by the unheralded Jerry Belmontes (19-3, 5) in what was clearly the upset of the weekend.

Aside from the Santa Cruz/Mijares bout there was only one other "world title" title bout as WBA interim Light Flyweight champion Alberto Rossel (31-8-0-1, 13) made the 4th defense of his title as he over-came the challenge of Gabriel Mendoza (19-3-2, 16). Mendoza was the WBA #15 ranked Light Flyweight coming in to this bout and was also the WBO #13 and IBF #15 ranked ranked Minimumweight meaning that we expect to see notable changes in the rankings of all three organsiations.

Rossel was one of the 3 "WBA champions" at Light Flyweight a month or so or go but right now is the sole claimant after both Roman Gonzalez and Kazuto Ioka vacated their titles. This means that a number of Asian fighters, including Randy Petalcorin and Rey Loreto, could be looking at a WBA title fight in the near future.

In the UK the stand out was the very promising Paul Butler (15-0, 8) who managed to dominate and then stop the completely over-matched Oreste Bernabe Nieva (15-3-2, 6). The bout never looked competitive and Butler just did as he wished before sending the Argentinian down for the count with a debilitating body shot.

Ranked #6 by the WBO, #9 by the IBF, #10 by the WBC and #12 by the WBA at Super Flyweight Butler is a name who will be on the radar of Asian fighters such as Srisaket Sor Rungvisai though he does appear to need a stiffer test than Nieva before being ready for a world title challenge. Then again his natural talent is obvious and he's the sort of fighter who could make his name at either 115lbs of 118lbs and be a top challenger alongside the likes of Ryosuke Iwasa.

(Picture courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions)

Some days in boxing are there for the hardcore fans, some are for the mainstream fans but many blur the lines with a little bit for everyone. This coming Saturday appear to be one of those that clearly blurs the lines though has appeal world wide with fights in Europe, North America and South America whilst also featuring fighters from Asia. In fact whilst the day is relatively thin on real world title fights, with just 3 including an interim, it does serve a key feature in helping set up some notable fights in the near future.

The two "regular" world title fights are both set to take place on the same card in Nevada. The least interesting of these will see IBF Light Middleweight champion Carlos Molina (22-5-2, 6) attempt to make the first defense of his belt against the promising and unbeaten Jermall Charlo (17-0, 13). Charlo, widely regarded as one of the USA's most promising prospects, is taking a huge step up here though if he's as good as hyped he shouldn't struggle with Mexico's often over-looked Molina. Molina however is the king of upsetting the odds and many are tipping him to retain.

The second, and by far more interesting, title fight on the Nevada card sees WBC Super Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (26-0-1, 15) make the second defense of his title. Santa Cruz is an extremely fun to watch guy who usually brings a lot of pressure and excitement which should make for a great styles match up with his opponent Cristian Mijares (49-7-2, 24) who is a sneaky and technically sound veteran.

Mijares will be known to Japanese fans for his two victories over Katsushige Kawashima as well a victory against Teppei Kikui. He's skilled though has a lot of miles on the clock and is seen as a major under-dog against Santa Cruz.

The popular belief is that a Santa Cruz victory leaves him with four clear options. He could move up the Featherweight, he could face the unbeaten and highly ranked Carl Frampton, he could call out Anselmo Moreno or, and most interestingly for us, he could answer the challenge of Shinsuke Yamanaka who has repeatedly requested a bout with Santa Cruz.

There was supposed to be a third world title bout on this show though unfortunately Omar Figueroa's badly damaged hand saw his bout called off. His scheduled opponent, Ricardo Alvarez (23-2-3, 14), has unfortunately been matched with vicious Mexican Sergio Thompson (28-3, 26) who we imagine will run through Alvarez with relative ease. Thompson, best known for beating Jorge Linares and losing Takashi Miura, is tough, hard hitting and has to be favoured over Alvarez who is lucky to have a well known boxing brother.

Talking about brothers that moves us nicely on to Alvarez's brother and the show's main event which features Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (42-1-1, 30) fighting Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18) in what is an exciting all-Mexican Light Middleweight match up. Whilst both men come in to the bout with a loss their is a lot to like about the match. Neither man likes the other, both are usually fun to watch and both are considered to be amongst the top contenders in the division. Excellent match up and a bout that should be thoroughly enjoyable.

Also on this card is the main attraction of the night for ourselves, the bout between Nihito Arakawa (24-3-1, 16) and Jorge Linares (35-3, 23).

Strangely we get the "interim" title fight in Peru as Peruvian boxing icon Alberto Rossel (31-8-0-1, 13) makes the fourth defense of his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title. Rossel might be one of the most obscure men parading around as a world champion and this weekend he takes an equally obscure challenger in the form of Gabriel Mendoza (19-2-2, 16). Although Mendoza has an attractive looking record and is ranked by 3 of the 4 title bodies he's not really beaten anyone of note and his crowning achievement saw far is surviving 10 rounds with Carlos Buitrago.

The Peruvian card is also expected to feature WBC #7 ranked Minimumweight Ricardo Astuvilca (10-0, 2) in action though his opponent hasn't yet been announced.

Staying in Latin American, just a moment longer, there is another notable bout taking place in Mexico as former multi-weight world champion Jorge Arce (62-7-2-1, 47) returns to action against Brazilian Aldimar Silva Santos (19-7, 10).

As well as the action in the America's there is, as mentioned earlier, action in Europe with a British card that has some genuine significance to Asian boxing fans. This is because the world ranked Super Flyweight Paul Butler (14-0, 7) is in action.

Butler, ranked by all 4 major bodies, could be a potential opponent for someone like Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Daiki Kameda, Koki Kameda, Kohei Kono, Denkaosen Kaovichit, Teiru Kinoshita, Sho Ishida or Oleydong Sithsamerchai. Butler will however need to get past the challenge of Argentina's Oreste Bernabe Nieva (15-2, 6) before those big fights are spoken about in too much detail.