This weekend wasn't a big boxing on on paper yet it turned out to be a good overall weekend with a surprise or two along the way.

The biggest fight, or rather the two biggest fights, happened in the newly refurbished Forum at Inglewood. The most significant of those bouts saw Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40) look sensational as he easily out pointed Mike Alvarado (34-3, 23) to claim the WBO International Welterweight title.Although both men were down it never looked like Marquez was going to lose against a gun shy Alvarado who looked scored to let his shots go. This bout was being sold not just as a bout between two men in need of a win but as a bout with a big prize on the line, a bout with Manny Pacquiao. As Marquez won, with ease, we're now expecting to see the 5th chapter in their iconinc series of fights and if it's as good as their previous 4 then we're in for yet another modern day classic.

The second big fight at the Forum saw a very, very impressive performance by Ukrainian Viktor Postol (26-0, 11) who became the first man to stop Turkey's Selcuk Aydin (26-3, 19). Postol put on a near punch perfect performance before stopping Aydin in the 11th round to become the WBC mandatory challenger at Light Welterweight. Although Postol did have a bit of the "Wladimir Klitschko" look to his boxing he did look genuinely fantastic and really deserves a world title bout following both this result and his victory over Henry Lundy.

On a different show in California fans got to see rotund Heavyweight prospect Andy Ruiz Jr (22-0, 16) score an early and impressive stoppage over the usually durable Manuel Quezada (29-9, 18). Quezada was stopped in 2 rounds as he suffered the 3rd loss of his career. On the same show Olympian Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2-0, 1) scored a very good win over the tough and hard hitting Michael Gbenga (19-13, 19) over 6 rounds. This was a fantastic step up for Gvozdyk who seems likely to be fast tracked up the rankings. 

In Argentina the sensational Omar Andres Narvaez (42-1-2, 23) made history by becoming the first man to record double figure title defences in 2 weight divisions. Narvaez's scored the 10th defence of his WBO Super Flyweight title by stopping the criminally over-matched Antonio Garcia (13-2, 6) in just 4 rounds. Garcia had failed to make weight but that didn't really help him against the "Hurracan" who was too skilled, too fast and too powerful for the hapless challenger. Frustratingly a dream fight between Narvaez and WBC champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai seems unlikely though oddly the two men are the only 2 real stand out fighters in the division and it's one of the the only bouts that really whets our appetite at Super Flyweight. 

Welsh boxing fans got the chance to see two former world champions in action, albeit in very different stages of their careers. The first was former WBA Light Welterweight champion Gavin Rees (38-4-1, 18) who waved good bye to the sport with a good victory over over fellow Welshman Gary Buckland (28-4, 9). The bout was a rematch of a contest fought earlier this year, won by Buckland via a controversial decision. Some how the scorecard of Richie Davis favoured Buckland though every one knew Rees won this one with his intelligent movement and very good counter-punching.

Whilst Rees waved good bye to boxing and hung up his gloves his compatriot, and former gym mate, Nathan Cleverly (27-1, 13) started a new chapter in his career. Cleverly, who is a former WBO Light Heavyweight champion, made the move up to Cruiserweight and stopped the frankly awful Shawn Corbin (17-5, 12) as he claimed the WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title. We don't like to talk down fighters but who ever allowed this mismatch to be made needs to explain themselves it was an atrocious mismatch and the sort of thing that puts fans off the sport.

The main event in Wales saw prospective world title challenger Lee Selby (19-1, 7) out point tough Mexican Romulo Koasicha (21-4, 12) in a bout that was scored widely to Selby on the 3 cards though did actually see the Welshman look less than sensational, despite the commentary. Selby was wobbled at one point and seemed unable to hurt the Mexican who, although limited, may have shown that Selby wasn't nearly ready for a world title fight.

On a separate UK card we got the fight of the night as Travis Dickinson (17-1, 7) and Matty Clarkson (12-2-2, 3) beat the snot out of each other. Both men were down multiple times, both looked like they were ready for the taking and both came back from adversity. Sadly however the stoppage, in round 6, was a poor one by the referee who "saved" Clarkson despite both men having been in much worse trouble earlier in the bout. Referee Michael Alexander certainly made more enemies than friends as a result of his decision though both fighters will likely be happy to fight each other further down the line. For fans who missed this one it really was a FOTY contender and well worth hunting down.

(Image courtesy of Katsuo Miura/TopRank)

It's unfortunate that several big weeks of boxing come to an end this week and that has sadly taken it's toll world wide. This weekend for example only sees a handful of notable bouts and just a sole world title bout. Thankfully however there is enough out there to keep fans entertained even if it's not one of the best weekend's of the year.

Although not a world title bout the highest profile contest of the weekend is a mouth watering clash between Manny Pacquiao's nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40) and the often fun to watch Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23). Both men come in to this bout on the back of a loss, with Marquez losing to Timothy Bradley by decision whilst Alvarado was stopped by Ruslan Provodnikov, and both know that a back-to-back loss could be the end for them.

At 40 years old old Marquez is on the slide, is the naturally smaller man but the far more skilled and will start as the favourite with his eyes on a fifth encounter with Pacquiao. For Alvarado a victory could open some doors, including a Pacquiao fight, though it could be could be argued that he's picking on smaller men with this fight against Marquez. Whatever your views, we expect this well end up being something a little bit special, as fights often are when you have two men who need a win and two men who have styles which mesh as we expect these will.

On the same card as the Marquez/Alvarado clash we get a WBC Light Welterweight final eliminator between unbeaten Ukrainian Viktor Postol (25-0, 10) and Turkish slugger Selcuk Aydin (26-2, 19). Again both men need a high profile victory and with a WBC world title fight up for grabs we expect this could be a genuinely great fight between men, who again, have a point to prove.

On a second US card we get a prospect bonanza with a host of emerging Top Rank fighters. These include the unbeaten rotund Heavyweight Andy Ruiz Jr 
(21-0, 15) who battles the experienced and tough Manuel Quezada (29-8, 18). Quezada has only been stopped once in the last decade and could give Ruiz a very serious test, especially in regards to Ruiz's stamina.

Another of the Top Rank prospects on show will be the much hyped Jose Benavidez (19-0, 14) who has failed to live up to his early promise so far. Benevidez isn't likely to be tested by the limited Angel Hernandez (16-15-1, 13) who doesn't hit as hard as his record indicates and has just 2 wins in his last 15 bouts!

A third prospect on this card is Jose Carlos Ramirez (9-0, 7) who will be trying to move into double figures when he takes on Jesus Selig (16-2-1, 10). This is a good step up for the 21 year old Ramirez but one he should manage comfortably.

The most interesting prospect, for us anyway, is Olympic medallist Oleksandr Gvozdyk (1-0, 1) who takes a serious step up to face Michael Gbenga (19-12, 19). Gbenga is limited, can be beaten and has been beaten regularly in recent contests though never by inexperienced professionals like Gvozdyk. If you go through Gbenga's record you see a who's who of the higher with fighters like Andre Dirrell, Isaac Chilemba and Ilunga Makabu, to put Gvozdyk on that level after just 2 fights would be thoroughly impressive from the much touted Ukrainian.

In Argentina we get the only world title fight of the day as the excellent Omar Andres Narvaez (41-1-2, 22) looks to make yet another defence of his WBO Super Flyweight title. Narvaez, the only man at Super Flyweight who think could possibly trouble Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, will be expected to easily take care of the relative unknown Antonio Garcia (13-1, 6) who has never competed even close to this level before. Although Garcia does come in to this contest with some form, having beaten Jonathan Vidal last time out, Narvaez is something else and we'd not be shocked at Narvaez toying with his Mexican challenger, as he did with Hiroyuki Hisataka last year.

In the UK fans will be treat 4 interesting contests. The most notable of which is an all-Welsh encounter between Gary Buckland (28-3, 9) and and former world title holder Gavin Rees (37-4-1, 18) with Rees promising to retire after the bout. This particular contest is a rematch of a bout the two men had earlier this year which saw Buckland winning a controversial split decision and many are tipping Rees to go out with a win.

Another Welshman on this card is the very promising Lee Selby (18-1, 7) who will be battling against Romulo Koasicha (21-3, 12). Selby will be risking his world rankings here but should see off the Mexican visitor, who fights outside of Mexico for the first time in his career. This could turn out to be a tough contest but we really don't see anything but a Selby victory.

A fourth notable Welshman on this show is former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12), who will be fighting for the first time since he was stopped by Sergey Kovalev. Cleverly will be making his Cruiserweight debut and takes on the very poor Sean Corbin (17-4, 12) in what should be an easy introduction to a new weight class, unfortunately though we're not sure if Cleverly really wants to stay in the game and wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be his final bout.

On the same card is one of, if not the, best prospect in Britain, Callum Smith (10-0, 8). Smith has been stopping opponents for fun and his last 8 foes have gone just 15 combined rounds and it'll be a shock if Tobias Webb (14-1-1, 2) can put an end to that streak. In terms of skills Webb is a capable foe at British domestic level but Smith is a very special talent.

(Image courtesy of Toprank)