This Friday promises a lot on paper with a number of interesting match ups, many coming from Russia, whilst in the US fans get the chance to see the final “ESPN Friday Night Fights”.

The Russian show is one of the most stacked of the year so far and doesn't feature a bout that isn't worth noting.

The expected opening bout will see fast rising prospect Dmitry Bivol (2-0, 2) battle against the experienced Joey Vegas (17-10-2, 10). Bivol is a fighter on the fast track to the top and has impressed in both of his bouts so far, a stoppage against Vegas however would be the best result of his career by far. Notably Vegas has gone the distance, in recent fights, with Dmitry Sukhotsky and Egor Mekhontsev so this this is a very brave step by Bivol and his team.

In a female title bout Svetlana Kulakova (9-0-1, 1) will be defending her WBA interim female Light Welterweight title against Marie Riederer (15-2-1, 10) in a wonderful match up and a really good test for the unbeaten Russian.

One of the two Heavyweight bouts on this card will see former world title challengers collide as Alex Leapai (30-6-3, 24) take on Manuel Charr (27-3, 16). Charr will be hoping to get back to winning ways following a decision loss last time out to Johann Duhaupas whilst Leapai is trying to score his first win since a huge upset over Denis Boytsov back in November 2013.

The other Heavyweight bout is really mouth watering as Alexander Povetkin (28-1, 20) takes on Mike Perez (21-1-1, 13). Povetkin, who has the second best resume of any active Heavyweight, is looking to record his third notable win since his 2013 loss to Wladimir Klitschko. Perez on the the other hand is trying to scored his biggest win to date. Sadly Perez hasn't looked great in recent bouts, following his tragic contest with Magomed Abdulsalamov in November 2013, and if he's not in fine form here he will almost certainly suffer his second loss in 3 bouts. The winner of this fight will claim the WBC silver Heavyweight title and move towards a bout with Wladimir Klitschko.

At Cruiserweight we get a trio of bouts. One of those will see fast rising destroyer Dmitry Kudryashov (17-0, 17) attempt to continue his streak as he battles Namibian tough guy Vikapita Meroro (28-4, 14). On paper this looks like it could be a good test though in reality Meroro is the much smaller man and will be lucky to survive the terrifying power of the unbeaten Russian.

Another of the Cruiserweight bouts will see Rakhim Chakhkiev (22-1, 17) battle against the unbeaten Junior Anthony Wright (13-0-1, 11). Chakhkiev should have too much for Wright, who is taking a huge step up in class. The winner of this bout will claim the IBO Cruiserweight title.

The remaining Cruiserweight title bout is a WBC Cruiserweight title bout as Grigory Drozd (39-1, 27) defends his belt against Lukasz Janik (28-2, 15). Originally Drozd was supposed to fight Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, though Wlodarczyk pulled out and was replaced by his Polish compatriot. Incidentally Drozd won the title from Wlodarczyk last time out.

In the US we see the final ESPN Friday Night Fights and it's a show that concludes the Boxcino tournaments.

In the Boxcino Heavyweight final we'll see Andrey Fedosov (27-3, 22) take on Donovan Dennis (12-1, 10) in a really exciting bout. Both of these guys can punch and both have been dropped in recent bouts, so we're hoping for an exciting contest here.

The other Boxcino bout will be at Light Middleweight and see the fun to watch Brandon Adams (17-1, 12) take on John Thompson (16-1, 5). This isn't as good on paper as the other bout but will almost certainly be a great bout and see both fighters going for the win.

We'll admit we sometimes get over-excited about things. Boxing is one of those sports that really can get exciting just because of the anticipation of an event. Unfortunately this past weekend saw our hopes and dreams fall down to earth with an almighty crash and our realisation that this is boxing and things never go as we hope they do.

On Saturday morning British Heavyweight giant Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) was forced to pull out of his clash with fellow giant Alexander Ustinov (29-1, 21) following a family member falling "gravely" ill. This should have for told the weekend really because it was disappointment, after disappointment for the most part.

The Fury/Ustinov fight had been one of two Heavyweight clashes that we were excited about. The other was a WBC eliminator between Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10) and Mike Perez (20-1-1, 12). Unfortunately this potentially exciting bout turned into a bit of a damp squib after an out of shape Perez blew himself out after about 6 rounds and spent half the fight holding, spoiling and generally doing all he could to prevent an exciting contest. Perez was eventually punished for breaking the rules with a deduction in round 12 that sealed the fight in favour of Jennings by split decision. One thing that was clear from this result is that neither man should be thinking about getting in the ring with Wladimir Klitschko or Bermane Stiverne, at least not for the time being.

On the same card as the Jennings/Perez bout we did get some excitement as Anthony Caputo Smith (15-4, 10) took the fight to Ola Afolabi (21-3-4, 10) in an exciting but one sided bout. Smith came out with the intention of forcing Afolabi to work and that's what he did eventually busting up the face of Smith to the point of the Dr stopping the bout.

In fairness there was also a good bout in the UK as Billy Joe Saunders (20-0, 11) claimed the European Middleweight title with a stoppage against Emanuele Blandamura (22-1, 5). It was a competitive fight and a good win for Saunders and following the bout it seemed to be strongly hinted that British fans would be getting a bout between Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr. The bout is likely to sell to the British public though we've not been that impressed by Eubank who scored an easy win on the under-card against a totally mismatched opponent.

Whilst the disappointment of the Heavyweight bouts would usually have stuck out as the lowest part of the weekend we need to admit that we actually had something even worse in Germany. Manfred Kuechler.

The German referee appeared to make 2 very poor and highly controversial calls to help protect home fighters on a card that perhaps threw German boxing back in to the dark ages.

The first poor call came in a female bout between Christina Hammer (18-0, 8) and Sophie Anne Mathis (27-4, 23). Mathis appeared to knock out Hammer with a series of shots whilst Hammer was holding her arm though the referee decided the shots had been illegal and awarded Hammer the victory by DQ in a result that sent the French boxing press into a frenzy. Unfortunately for Mathis her misfortune was hidden behind another poor decision from Kuechler who awarded a TKO victory to Robert Steiglitz (47-4, 27) in his bout against Sergey Khomitsky (29-11-2, 12). Khomitsky had problems with his tape and the referee, knowing Steiglitz was struggling, seemed to take the opportunity to stop Khomitsky rather than risk Steiglitz suffering a major loss.

(Image courtesy of SES)

This coming Saturday is a day that has some really interesting action with some very notable bouts in both the UK and the US.

One of the most notable bout which was scheduled for the weekend was to be a Heavyweight rematch between the unbeaten Tyson Fury (22-0, 16) and and Dereck Chisora (20-4, 13). Sadly Chisora has suffered an injury however Fury will fight on the card and will battle man mountain Alexander Ustinov (29-1, 21) in what looks like a genuine clash between giants.

In another interesting bout on the UK card fans will get the chance to see unbeaten Middleweights colliding as Billy Joe Saunders (19-0, 10) fights Emanuele Blandamura (22-0, 5) in a European title fight. The contest is an interesting bout on paper though we tend to feel that Blandamura is up against it here considering that he's travelled from Italy, though he did win in Germany last time out.

Whilst Britain's card is long, and interesting, the card of the day is in New York. The main event on this card is the WBA Middleweight "super" title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Geale. The Middleweight title fight is great though the support bouts are equally as interesting.

One of the support bouts is a Heavyweight clash between unbeaten fighters as Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10) battles against Mike Perez (20-0-1, 12) in what appears to be a very good fight. Not only is this good on paper but it's also meaningful and the winner will be set for a WBC Heavyweight title fight giving a extra motivation to both men.

Another of the bouts will be at Cruiserweight as former world title challenger Ola Afolabi (20-3-4, 9) takes on American Anthony Caputo Smith (15-3, 10). This bout, a 10 rounder, won't have a title or even a big opportunity on the line but will a must win for both men who will be aware that a loss could be the end of their title dreams.

A third interesting card takes place in Germany where we have a very interesting male bout and a potentially thrilling female world title bout.

The male bout will see former WBO Super Middleweight world champion Robert Steiglitz (46-4, 26) taking on the under-rated Sergey Khomitsky (29-10-2,12) in a bout for the WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight title. Steiglitz is hoping to secure another world title fight somewhere down the line whilst Khomitsky is looking to build on his big upset win over Frank Buglioni last time out. We have to favour Stieglitz on paper but Khomitsky is certainly a live under-dog.

In a female bout the sensational Christina Hammer (17-0, 8) will be attempting to claim a 3rd divisional title as she takes on hard hitting French woman Anne Sophie Mathis (27-3, 23) in a battle for the vacant WBO female Light Middleweight title. Many seem to feel that a win here for Hammer could help us move towards a European female super fight between Hammer and Cecelia Braekhus, a bout that is effectively a dream fight and the female version of Manny Pacquiao Vs Floyd Mayweather.

(Image courtesy of boxnation)

With a number of Asian fighters fighting on Asian soil this weekend we may have been forgiven a little for forgetting about this weekend's international action. Instead however we've actually become rather excited about it and more interestingly is the fact it takes place over several countries, proving that boxing is starting to really get underway for the new year.

For most boxing fans the key fight is in the Light Heavyweight division where we get 3 really interesting bouts all on the same card in Quebec, Canada.

The biggest of those Light Heavyweight bouts is a brilliant match up between Jean Pascal (28-2-1, 17) and Lucien Bute (31-1, 24). Although the bout has the NABF title on the line it's actually a bout that doesn't need any belt at all to sell it with it being the biggest bout one could make in Canada. The fighters have shown a dislike of each other, their fans have shown a general resentment of the other man and the fight it's self is as close to a 50-50 contest as we could have. To be frankly honest this is what domestic level boxing is all about and we really appreciate the promoters for putting it together.

On paper the winner of Pascal/Bute should walk in to a bout with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, though we'd not be hugely shocked if WBO champion Sergey Kovalev managed to get one of the two men in his next fight as well.

The other Light Heavyweight bouts on the card include 3 very interesting unbeaten fighters. The most notable unbeaten man is Russian's Artur Beterbiev (3-0, 3) who takes on the tough Gabriel Lecrosnier (16-25-3, 1) in what should be a bout to get rounds under Beterbiev's belt. The other bout, an all-unbeaten clash between Eleider Alvarez (13-0, 8) and Andrew Gardiner (10-0, 6) is a bout we love the look of and should be a thriller for as long as it lasts.

One final bout from this Canadian card that we want to talk about is a Heavyweight bout between Cuba's Mike Perez (20-0, 12) and the once beaten Carlos Takam (29-1, 23). Perez, who fought in a tragic bout with Russian Magomed Abdusalamov late last year, will be hoping that that bout doesn't have lingering effects on him, though if it does he could well find his career unwinding here against the dangerous Takam in a bout that does scream "must watch".

Outside of Canada we have a several female bouts that interests us. The most notable is the Super Bantamweight bout in Mexico between Yazmin Rivas (28-8, 9) and Calixta Silgado (11-2-2, 8). This bout, which shares the headline of the card in Jalisco alongside Fernando Lumacad's bout with Horacio Garcia, is only a secondary title bout though really it should be for a world belt with Rivas having been cruelly robbed of her title late last year.

In Chile we have another female Super Bantamweight bout with the unbeaten Carolina Rodriguez (10-0, 1) defending her WIBA title against Brazil's Simone Da Silva Duarte (14-4, 6). Rodriguez, Chile's first ever world champion, is unlikely to really have the big bouts her talent deserves but will be happy in being a national boxing hero.

The final interesting female bout is in Argentina where Monica Silvina Acosta (19-0-2, 5) defends her WBA Light Welterweight title against Ana Laura Esteche (9-3-1, 2). This should be a very easy bout for the highly talented Acosta, though unfortunately she doesn't have too many options in her division and this bout may well be as good as it gets for 2014.

Back to the men, the most interesting bout, other than the ones in Canada, is in Hermosillo, Mexico, as the very highly regarded Felipe Orucuta (28-2, 23) takes on Efrain Perez (16-4, 11). Orucuta, the WBO #1 at Super Flyweight, will be eying up a potential rematch with Omar Andres Narvaez, the WBO champion who beat him via a split decision last year. Of course Orucuta isn't the only man looking to fight Narvaez with Daiki Kameda said to be angling for a fight with him and a loss for the Mexican puncher would see him falling from graces with the WBO and a door being left open to various Asian fighters.

Of course we believe a few Asian fight fans will be tuning in to the Hermosillo show to see the potentially explosive encounter between Marco Demecillo and David Sanchez in what is potentially the best fight of the weekend.

We believe that's all the big international bouts for this weekend and hopefully we'll see a few of the bouts living up to their potential.