Although for us the highlight on July 11th was the Philippines it's not the only place where their is notable fights with a trio of noteworthy contests stateside as well as a world title fight in Europe.

The US highlight of the night will see the charismatic Keith “One Time” Thurman (25-0-0-1, 21) defending his WBA Welterweight title against veteran Luis Collazo (36-6, 19). The bout is a disappointing match up considering the hype and talk that we hear about Thurman and we;d be very surprised if this was even competitive, especially considering the manner in which Amir Khan dominated Collazo just last year.

Although the main event of the show is disappointing we do like the co-feature on this show which will see the unbeaten Tony Harrison (21-0, 18) taking on Willie Nelson (23-2-1, 13) in what looks to be a great test for the unbeaten Harrison. This is a real fight and one that will tell us a lot about both guys. A really good looking match up.

A second US card will see a really intriguing bout between two fringe contenders each looking to put themselves immediately back into the mix at 140lbs. One of those fighters is the really unlucky Mauricio Herrera (21-5, 7), who really has been unlucky in his last two bouts, whilst the other is the confident and brash Henry Lundy (25-4-1, 12). Given that both men are now in their 30's this really is a must win bout for both men.

Arguably the most interesting bout of the even is a WBO Lightweight title fight in the UK between Britain's very own Terry Flanagan (27-0, 10) and Puerto Rican slugger Jose Zepeda (23-0, 20). Although both men are unbeaten coming into this one neither is really “known” above their regional level and this will tell us a lot about men, both of who will be hoping to open the door to big fights in the division. Of the two Zepada is the more notable puncher but Flanagan is certainly a busy and energetic fighter who could be a real handful for many of the top guys in the division.

This weekend isn't a huge one but it's a genuinely exciting one with a number of notable bouts on the fringes of world class.

The biggest show of the night comes from New York where Golden Boy Promotions will be putting on a really good triple header.

The main event from the US show will see the heavy handed David Lemieux (32-2, 30) battle against former world title challenger Gabriel Rosado (21-8-0-1, 13) in what promises to be an explosive encounter. Lemieux is very exciting but very flawed and will be attempting to stop Rosado from the off, if he fails to win early then Rosado will fancy his chance to score his first win in more than 2 years.

In a Light Middleweight bout on the same show the unbeaten Hugo Centeno Jr (21-0-0-1, 11) battles against the promising James De la Rosa (23-2, 13). For De la Rosa this is a chance to build on his upset win over Alfredo Angulo earlier this year whilst for Centeno this allows him a chance to score his second win of the year and continue his development.

The third interesting bout on this show will see two contenders in action each looking to moves towards a world title bout next year. This bout will see the much touted Thomas Dulorme (21-1, 14) battling against Henry Lundy (25-3-1, 12). We're expecting that this could be a genuinely great bout in the ring and although it's likely to be over-shadowed by the Lemiuex/Rosado bout it should still be a great bout with both men real skills and under-rated power.

In Canada fans will see the popular Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17) battle against Argentinian veteran Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (35-3, 24) in what is a bit of a stay busy bout for the talented Canadian based Haitian. If Pascal wins here, as is expected of him, he will meet Sergey Kovalev early next year in what looks to be a brilliant contest and another chance for Kovalev to prove that he's the best fighter at 175lbs.

Continuing with Light Heavyweights German fans will also get the chance to see a highly regarded Light Heavyweight in action as WBA “regular” champion Juergen Braehmer (44-2, 32) battles against Pawel Glazewski (23-2, 5). This will be Braehmer's third defense of the bout, strangely following a defense over the previously mentioned Bolonti.

In Mexico Super Featherweight hopeful Adrian Estrella (19-0, 17), a possible future opponent for Takashi Miura, will be defending his WBC FECARBOX title against the heavy handed but limited Edwin Lopez (21-3-1, 19). From what we understand Estrella has shown an interest in a bout with Miura for next year and it would certainly be an exciting contest between two fearsome punchers. Of course Estrella will need to get past Lopez first.


(Image courtesy of Barclays Center)

This past weekend wasn't just a busy one in Asia but also a very, very busy on around the boxing world with numerous fights taking place around the planet.

For many fans the biggest fight, outside of Macau, took place in the UK as the much talked about rematch between unified Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24) and compatriot George Groves (19-2, 15) took place. The men, who first fought last November, seemed tentative of the other's power early on but the first slowly came alive in the middle rounds, that was until Froch killed the bout with a vicious and destructive right hand that sent Groves down hard. The challenger, who had talked the talk, failed to recover though in fairness the shot would have stopped anyone in the division. 

A second world title fight on this show saw Jamie McDonnell (24-2-1, 11) over-come Thailand's Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (52-3, 34) in what was one of the most action packed fights of the evening.

On the same card in the UK fans also got to see several other notable bouts. These included another Super Middleweight bout which saw Olympic champion James DeGale (19-1, 13) stopping American Brandon Gonzales (18-1-1, 10) in what was sold an IBF Super Middleweight title eliminator. In theory this makes DeGale the mandatory challenger to Carl Froch though we've got doubts that that bout will be taking place any time soon, if ever. Another Olympic champion, Anthony Joshua (6-0, 6), was als on the show as he stopped Matt Legg (7-3, 2) inside a round.

Also on this British card was a was a victory for former 2-time world title challenger Kevin Mitchell (37-3, 28) who scored a come-from-behind stoppage of of the previously unbeaten Ghislain Maduma (16-1, 10). Mitchell, who was down going into round 11, managed to twice drop Maduma who was out on his feet when the stoppage came.

It wasn't just the UK that featured a notable rematch as Germany also featured one. This time it was between Felix Sturm (39-4-2-1, 18) and Sam Soliman (43-11-0-1, 18). This bout, fought for the IBF Middleweight title, saw Sturm thoroughly out worked as Soliman became a world champion for the first time in his long and often over-looked career. For Sturm this was a disappointing way to lose his title considering the blistering performance that saw him winning the belt against Darren Barker, looking back however that victory appears to have been a misleading one with Barker losing due to a recurring injury that has now cost him his career.

On the same card in Germany local fans got to see the very talented Susi Kentikian (33-2-0-1 17) defend her WBA female Flyweight title with a stunning performance against South Korean Dan-Bi Kim (9-3-1, 2).

On the undercard of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai's (27-4-1, 25) disappointing contest with Mexico's Carlos Cuadras (30-0, 24) there other bouts of note. One of these saw WBC #1 contender at Light Flyweight Pedro Guevara (22-1-1, 14) take a decision over Armando Torres (19-12, 13). Guevara, the top contender for Naoya Inoue, successfully defended his Silver title with this victory and will be hoping to challenge Inoue later this year or, if Inoue remains at 108lbs, early next year.

Anthony Joshua and James DeGale weren't the only Olympic champions in action and in Ukraine we had another, in fact we had arguably the pick of the bunch in the form of Oleksandr Usyk (4-0, 4) who made very light work of Argentinian veteran Cesar David Crenz (21-9, 13). Usyk, who looks like a murderous fighter in the ring, spent a round quietly scouting Crenz before slowly going through the gears and stopping Crenz with a brutal body shot.

We also had bouts in the US. Amongst those was a victory for the talented, and quickly maturing Henry Lundy (25-3-1, 12) who scored a stay busy victory over the over-matched Gerardo Cuevas (17-12, 15). The bout, which ended via a 2nd round KO for Lundy, was a pointless bout in terms of competitive nature but we can't help but think that keeping Lundy active is a great by his team who probably know that he's a fighter who can be frustrating if he gets bored either in, or out, of the ring.

Also in the US there was a victory for two possible challengers for Asian title holders. One of those men was Javier Fortuna (25-0-1-1, 18) who out pointed Juan Antonio Rodriguez (25-5, 23) and could well be moved into position for a bout with Takashi Uchiyama later this year or Takashi Miura. The other man was Sergio Mora (26-3-2, 9) who scored a rare stoppage as he defeated Samuel Rogers (14-2, 8) and moved one step closer to a possible encounter with Gennady Golovkin.

(Image courtesy of http://www.bestboxingblog.com)

There wasn't much notable action in the US on Friday night though there was enough to get our interest for various reasons.

For us the stand out fighter to keep a note of was Ievgen Khytrov (3-0, 3) who stopped the more experienced Julius Kennedy (7-8-1, 3) in 5 rounds. Khytrov, who is gradually developing his traits as a professional, seemed very relaxed and although he took some shots he did really grind down Kennedy with solid shots to head and body. It's a shame Khytrov, who beat Ryota Murata in the 2011 World Amateur Championships final, is starting at such a low level but on the flipside he is re-styling himself slightly and being given time to adapt to that change rather than being put on the fast track like Murata.

Another notable set of bouts took place on ESPN's "Friday Night Fights" as part of a "Boxcino" tournament. The tournament pits 8 men in a small knockout competition in the hope of creating a notable name at the end of it.

One of those fights was an all Russian affair that saw Petr Petrov (33-4-2, 15) decisioning the previously unbeaten Fedor Papazov (14-1, 9). Petrov will find himself fighting Chris Rudd (13-1, 8) in his semi final after Rudd surprised everyone and defeated one of the tournament favourites Yakubu Amidu (21-5-2, 19) via a decision. The Rudd/Amidu bout went to an extra round to declare a winner with the men drawing after 6, unfortunately for Amidu he failed to convince the judges he deserved round 7.

The other semi final will pit Miguel Gonzalez (23-3, 16) up against the big punching Fernando Carcamo (16-5, 13).

Gonzalez booked his place in the semi finals by narrowly out pointing the big punching Miguel Angel Mendoza (21-3-2, 21) whilst Carcamo unexpectedly stopped the previously unbeaten Samuel Kotey Neequaye (21-1, 15) in just 2 rounds.

The only other fight of any real note saw the world ranked Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Lundy (24-3-1, 11) out point the once touted Angelo Santana (14-2, 11). Lundy, ranked by the WBC and IBF will likely see a boost in his ranking and may well climb above Min-Wook Kim in the next WBC rankings as a result of this victory.

We don't imagine Lundy will ever be a world champion but he has the skills to give many of the elite Light Welterweight's a very tough time if he's on form. If he's not using his skills he can be beaten by many of the top 25 guys at 140lbs and this inconsistency is a big problem for the talented and brash Light Welterweight.