This coming Saturday is a great day for American fans who get a wonderful choice of events with two exciting looking cards going head to head. On Showtime we get a really interesting triple header headlined by a WBC Silver Welterweight title fight between Britain's Amir Khan (29-3, 19), the defending champion, and Devon Alexander (26-2, 14). Both men are former world champions and both know that a win here could well help them move towards a massive payday against Floyd Mayweather. Khan is the betting favourite but to us this is as close to a 50-50 match up as you'll find and it's great to see the two finally getting it on, several years after they should have fought. In one of the support bouts on this card fans will see the much touted and heavy handed Keith Thurman (23-0-0-1, 21) defending the WBA interim Welterweight title against Leonard Bundu (31-0-2, 11). Like the main event this appears to be a great bout though Thurman is the clear favourite given his edge in youth and power. The third part of this card will see Jermell Charlo (19-0, 15) fighting against Lenny Bottai (22-2, 9) in an IBF Light Middleweight title eliminator, with the winner moving towards a shot with Cornelius Bundrage. Sadly this is much weaker than the other two bouts and Bottai really should be brushed aside with ease by the talented Charlo. The other show is headlined by a non-title bout between former 2-weight world champion Timothy Bradley (31-1-0-1, 12) and Argentinian brawler Diego Gabriel Chavez (23-2, 19). This is expected to be a thrilling contest and a real brawl which could potentially be a FOTY contender though could well be a disappointing bout if Bradley ends up relying solely on his superior skills. Another great bout on this card will see WBA interim Light Welterweight champion Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7) defending his belt against the unbeaten and much touted Jose Benavidez (21-0, 15). This is a real test for Benavidez who was tipped as a future star though has yet to show those magical touches against a decent level of foe. Sadly with the two shows clashing fans will need to make a choice one way or another, though both do look like great cards. (Image courtesy of http://roundbyroundboxing.com)
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It seems that every week we end up talking about the judges as opposed to the fighters and fights. Disappointingly this has happened again this weekend after American referee Vic Drakulich stole the headlines and destroyed what looked to be a great, but rough and tough, fight. The fight in question was a cracking Welterweight contest between former Lightweight champion Brandon Rios (32-2-1, 23) and former interim Welterweight champion Diego Gabriel Chaves (23-2, 19). The fighters in the ring were certainly bending the rules, both men,but the fight, for what it was worth, was certainly entertaining with both men landing bombs on each other. Sadly Drakulich managed to deducted 2 points from Chaves and a point from Rios before disqualifying Chaves, in round 9, for what appeared to have been a mystery foul only visible to himself and Rios. Prior to the controversial disqualification Chaves was winning, by a point, on 2 of the cards with and with just a round and a half left it appears that Drakulich's behaviour bailed out Rios who have suffered a third successive defeat had he not been saved. By saved we don't just mean the DQ but also the 2 deductions when in reality only 1 was legitimate. In all honesty however it was a rough and dirty fight that the referee never managed to get on top of. Heads were colliding through out, each man was swearing at the other and various minor fouls seemed to occur almost incidentally as they took lumps out of each other. Annoyingly Drakulich's decision following some poor judging in the card's chief support bout, which some how had an American fighter winning a near shut out in a bout everyone could see was close. That bout, between Jessie Vargas and Anton Novikov, should have all 3 judges brought in for review just like Drakulich should be for his horrible job here. The only other international bout of note saw talented contender Isaac Chilemba (23-2-2, 10) make light work of Cory Cummings (17-7-1, 13) as Chilemba attempted to make a statement to the top fighters in the 175lb weight class. The win was an expected one from Chilemba though not one that will put him amongst the mix by it's self. (Image courtesy of TopRank.com) This Saturday is a hectic day in Asia but it's highlight is possibly in the US. The most notable bout of the day, and easily the most exciting on paper, is a a Welterweight bout in the USA which will see former Lightweight world title holder Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23) battle against former WBA interim Welterweight champion Diego Gabriel Chaves (23-1, 19). The bout pits two big puncher against each other though both have very different styles with Rios being a marauding pressure fighter whilst Chaves is a more skilled boxer. Despite the differences in style both are exciting and together they should make for a complete slug-fest with power shots being the order of the day from both men. Sadly there is one downside with this fight, it's that Chaves has had an interrupted preparation with visa issues almost forcing him out of the bout. We'd suggest that if you see just one fight this weekend make it this one. In a Light Heavyweight bout Isaac Chilemba (22-2-2, 9) will be looking to help move himself to a title fight as he takes on the heavy handed but relatively unknown Cory Cummings (17-6-1, 13). Chilemba is a tricky fighter with the potential to be world class and he should be able to dominate Cummings with skill but the power of Cummings could keep this interesting, at least for few rounds. (Image courtesy of Top Rank) |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
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