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 past Saturday was the biggest day in boxing so far this year. It had the biggest name in boxing, it had two men who split opinion like no other, it had one of the most fan friendly fighters in the world, it had a heavy handed champion and it had a major upset.

Of course the day, or rather night, was about money, Floyd "Money" Mayweather (46-0, 26) who faced Argentina slugger Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31) in a WBC/WBA Welterweight unification bout. The contest was widely seen as a mismatch but Maidana made sure to turn it in to a war and gave the #1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet one of, if not the, toughest bout of his career. Maidana took the action to Mayweather and put him under the type of pressure that Mayweather isn't used to. This pressure made the contest compelling from the opening round though unfortunately the scoring left a lot to be desired.

On watching the Mayweather/Maidana bout it seemed Maidana started like a house on fire and Mayweather played catch up. On the scorecards however things were different with two of the judges having Mayweather in the lead from round 3 onwards in what can only be called mystifying. We wouldn't argue with a close Mayweather victory but the cards really left some major question marks. 

Prior to the Mayweather/Maidana bout we had had 3 other bouts on the PPV broadcast. The first of those saw J'Leon Love (18-0-0-1, 10) go through a hell-like 5th round to take a decision over Marco Antonio Periban (20-2-1, 13). The bout was one that had great moments though out felt like Love's jab was the key punch as he took a fair decision, albeit one with odd scores again.

The second bout on the show saw the return to the ring of Adrien Broner (28-1, 22) who over-came Carlos Molina (17-2-1, 7) in a bout that was very competitive despite what the score-cards suggested. The cards were basically filled in before the opening round though Molina gave a great account of himself and really gave Broner a serious test in what was supposed to be little more than a confidence builder for Broner, a former 3-weight world champion. On this performance Broner is there for the taking by any top 10 fighter at 140 or 147.

Whilst the Mayweather/Maidana bout stole the show with some really good action one man who shared the plaudits was Britain's Amir Khan (29-3, 19) who over-came the tough Luis Collazo (35-6, 18) in a mature and controlled performance. Khan showed a new found intelligence to his boxing, holding up close, boxing on the move and and surprisingly dropped Collazo 3 times in a dominant and self assured display. It was one of the best performances of Khan's career, though it was also one of Collazo's worst with the American fighting like an idiot with his hands down.

The whole US card was open for criticism, as seen in Takahiro Onaga's recent "Taka's Title Shot" article, but on the whole the main event was exciting enough, and controversial enough, to keep fans talking about it suggesting it was a show plenty enjoyed even if they aren't in full agreement about the scoring.

Prior to the US action fans had been given the opportunity to see WBO Super Middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28) defend his title for the first time since reclaiming it from Robert Stieglitz. Abraham took on the game, albeit light hitting, Nikola Sjekloca (26-2, 8) and took home a decision. From watching the bout we felt Abraham deserved the victory, despite not looking his best, unfortunately we saw another judge who seemed inept at his job as he scored the contest 119-111 to Abraham, a score was simply indefensible.

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

When May comes around there seems to only be one man worth talking about, Floyd "Money" Mayweather (45-0, 26). The unbeaten American generates money, attention and debate like no other active fighter. Some have described him as being bigger than the sport, others have suggested that when he retires boxing will be sent into a dark age until a new star is born. He is one of the two faces of a boxing generation alongside Manny Pacquiao and it seems that if you like one you must hate the other with a passion.

Mayweather will be continuing his trend of fighting on the first weekend on May as he battles Argentinian slugger Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31) in what will be one of, if not the, biggest money fight of the year.

The bout is "all about Benjamin's" for many though it's a bout that will unify the WBC and WBA world titles at 147lbs and give Mayweather a chance to avenge the loss of his "baby brother" Adrien Broner who was shocked by an inspired Maidana last year. We're not giving Maidana much of a chance though we're hoping he gives a better effort that either Saul "Canelo" Alvarez or Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero did in recent bouts with Mayweather. Neither Guerrero or Alvarez really put forth much of an effort and seemed to resign themselves to losing before the first bell, hopefully Maidana goes in with the bad-ass intentions that he is known for.

On the same card the Mayweather/Maidana fight we have several other interesting bouts, two of which feature former Maidana opponents.

One of those will be the aforementioned Adrien Broner (27-1, 22) who will be hoping to bounce back from his loss to Maidana when he battles Carlos Molina (17-1-1, 7). Molina, not to be confused with the Light Middleweight of the same name, isn't very good and has been picked as a "safe opponent" for Broner. Lets not forget just a year ago people were christening Broner as the heir to the Mayweather throne and future face of boxing, he is now fighting for his career and for this bout his career really should be very safe.

A man who beat both Molina and Maidana, and was actually in the running for the fight with Mayweather, is Amir Khan (28-3, 19) who has a tricky assignment himself. Khan, one of the most famous names in boxing right now, will be in a serious crossroads fight with the resurgent Luis Collazo (35-5, 18). Collazo is an unlucky fighter who ran both Ricky Hatton and Andre Berto close in fights many felt he deserved to win, though in recent bouts he has been in form winning his last 4. For Khan this is a must win and anything but a stirring performance will see him ruled out of a Mayweather fight in September.

The next most significant bout to the trio on the American show is in Germany as multi-time world champion Arthur Abraham (39-4, 28) defends his WBO Super Middleweight title against the once beaten Nikola Sjekloca (26-1, 8). It's hard to view this as anything but an "easy" first defence for Abraham however Sjekloca did prove his toughness in an entertaining scrap with Sakio Bika last year. Bika dominated Sjekloca but couldn't finish him and we'd be a lil shocked if Abraham could finish him inside 12 rounds.

(Image courtesy of The13thround and Golden Boy Promotions)

The biggest bout this past Thursday was in the US as former Welterweight champions collided in a genuine crossroads fight. Unfortunately, though as with most with crossroad fights, the loser, in the case Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22), now has his career left in tatters.

Ortiz, returning from a 19 month break from the ring was left looking like a broken man after being stopped by Luis Collazo (35-5, 18) in just 2 rounds. The highly touted American puncher, once viewed as a potential pound-for-pound contender, has now suffered a trio of successive stoppage losses and it's hard to see where he can go with his career now.

For Collazo the victory is big. Following the bout he called out Floyd Mayweather, although that bout is unlikely there is a real possibility that he will manage to get a WBA world title fight later this year with either Keith Thurman or the winner of Marcos Maiadana/Adrien Broner II.

Also on this card was the very highly touted Gary Russell Jr (24-0, 14) who managed to score a stay busy victory over Miguel Tamayo (15-8-2, 13). Tamayo offered Russell Jr no real threat and did little more than act as a punch bag with Russell Jr apparently landing 42% of his punches including 58% of his power punches. 

We're hoping to see Russell Jr in a competitive bout next time out but with his career so far it's becoming hard to stay interested in this genuinely talented youngster.

Although American sports fans are, obviously, looking forward to Sunday night's "Superbowl" between the Denver Bronces and the Seattle Seahawks, they haven't managed to put a stop to boxing for the week. Instead boxing fans get treat to a small but notable card on Tuesday courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions.

The card is headlined by the return to the ring of the divisive "Vicious" Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22) who has been out of the ring for more than 18 months. Although much hyped Ortiz has shown a lack of the fighters mentality and often looks more like a bully than a boxer, of course like any good bully he's not a fan of being hit back.

The man attempting to hit Ortiz back will be former world champion Luis Collazo (34-5, 17) who although on the slide himself could act as the spoiler in a bout that looks very much like a 50-50 contest to us.

Both men will know this is a bout they must win, and a loss will be the end of their career at the TV level. With that in mind we may well see something very special from both men.

The other notable bout from this card is at Featherweight where Gary Russell Jr (23-0, 13) takes on Miguel Tamayo (15-7-2, 13) in nothing short of a complete mismatch. We want to like Russell Jr, we really do, but his match making has made us wonder if his management team really believe in him. He's already world ranked at Featherweight.

It's fair to say that the likes of Akifumi Shimoda, Nonito Donaire, Satoshi Hosono, Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo and Jun Doliguez will all be watching to see how Russell Jr looks. They are all ranked near Russell in at least 1 of the rankings and whilst they are unlikely to fight him, especially with the way he's being matched, they'll want to see how good the competition is and whether or not they have anything to be afraid of in the form America's top prospect at the weight.