On paper this coming Saturday is one of the biggest days in boxing this year. There are numerous world level fighters in action and several fighters who attract a lot of attention. In all honesty however we feel that the weekend is one full of style over substance and, as a result, we feel we've a point to make at a weekend where the action really could be lacking despite a host of big name fighters.

The most notable action of the night comes from Las Vegas and whilst it is notable it is also, on the whole, rather disappointing and doesn't have a “big fight feel”.

The main event will see the self-proclaimed “The Best Ever” Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) put his unbeaten record on the line against Andre Berto (30-3, 23). The bout, for the WBC and WBA “super” titles at Welterweight is a bout that failed to get fan support, is expected to be a commercial flop and is shrouded in controversy with Mayweather having recently come under-fire for the use of an IV prior to his fight with Manny Pacquiao. Whilst we have often been in awe of Mayweather's in ring ability we must confess the act has gone stale and we're looking forward to his retirement which he has promise will come after this bout. Given that he's lied regularly in the past however we're expect he'll return in 2016, if he wins as expected here, to go to 50-0.

In one of the chief support bouts Englishman George Groves (21-2, 16) will face WBC Super Middleweight champion Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12). Without trying to sound harsh Jack may well be the worst world champion in the sport and the way he won the title said more about Anthony Dirrell than it did about Jack. Groves, who has lost 2 of his last 4 to Carl Froch, once looked like the heir to the Super Middleweight throne but recent performances have been less than inspiring. Although they should match up well it's certainly not a top quality bout as some are trying to paint it.

A third world title bout on this card, and probably the bout that will excite fans, is at Super Featherweight where Puerto Rican Roman Martinez (29-2-2, 17), a 3-time world champion, battles Mexican tough guy Orlando Salido (42-13-2-1, 29), himself a 4-time champion. These two met in a barn burner back in April, in Martinez's homeland, and although Salido was beaten he gave one of the year's most stirring efforts, getting up from several knockdowns to run Martinez close down the stretch. This bout has been widely over-looked though is probably going to have more action than the other 4 major bouts on the show, combined.

In a non-title bout former world champion Ishe Smith (27-7, 12) battles against Vanes Martirosyan (35-2-1, 21). Both guys have got solid “name” value but it's hard to see this being anything but a dull contest as the talented, but tedious, Smith makes life difficult for the equally frustrating Martirosyan. Although both are skilled both have struggled to even be involved in “exciting” bouts and it's hard to see either changing that here.

Yet another former champion is on this card, which has been stacked in terms of names even if the match ups have seriously lacked competitiveness, is Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49) who will be facing Jonathan Oquendo (25-4, 16). For Gonzalez this is the next step towards a potential show down with a Super Featherweight champion, likely to be the winner of the recently announced bout between Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas, but it's hard to see what Oquendo brings to the table, especially at 130lbs.

Given the PPV price tag of the show it does seem like the card has been a case of “names above match ups” and we'll rarely support that, especially on PPV.

There is another card in the US, which is scheduled to take place before the Mayweather show. Unfortunately this is just as uninspiring as the other show.

In the most meaningful bout of the card fans will see veteran Cornelius Bundrage (34-5, 19) defending his IBF Light Middleweight title against Jermall Charlo (21-0, 16). The 42 year old Bundrage has had a fairytale career to become a 2-time world champion, claiming the first of those titles aged 37, but is a clear under-dog against the much touted, and much younger, Charlo who should claim his first world title fight.

An intriguing 10 round bout will see former world champion Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12) take on Marcus Browne (15-0, 11). For Campillo a loss here would likely spell the end of his career, which saw him holding the WBA title and earn a number of solid paydays, however Browne has failed to convince fans, despite having an Olympic pedigree and an unbeaten record. This could be one of the nights many possible gems, despite a lack of major build up.

Another former champion on action here is former WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22), who continues to destroy what good standing his career once had. The former champion will be facing little known Australian Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9) as he continues to tease a potential showdown with Daniel Jacobs. Quillin once looked like the man who could have given Gennady Golovkin problems but has since become boxing's version of a joke fighting Light Middleweights in title defenses, turning down a career payday and vacating the title then failing to make weight. This bout, win or lose, will do his reputation no good at all.

Before the action Stateside British fans will get the chance to watch two of their Heavyweight hopefuls in action as well as a third meeting between two men who have given local fans two incredible wars already.

The most notable of the men in action is 2012 Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13) who faces Scottish giant Gary Cornish (21-0, 12). On paper this looks a great bout but footage of Cornish has shown him to be rather uncoordinated and it's hard to see him providing any sort of a test to Joshua. This bout will be for the WBC International and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles and if Joshua he will likely face amateur nemesis Dillian Whyte in December.

The aforementioned Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12) is also in action here as he takes on veteran Brian Minto (41-9, 26) in a bout for the WBC International Silver Heavyweight title. In the amateurs Whyte scored a win over Joshua and will be hoping to do the same when the two men meet. This is a tougher assignment than Joshua's but should still be a simple win for the Englishman.

Arguably the highlight of the show however will be the third meeting between Dave Ryan (17-8, 4) and John Wayne Hibbert (15-3, 9). The two men are fighting for the unified WBC International and Commonwealth titles, just as they did back in May, and will be hoping to put on another thriller. The two men first met back in 2013 in a thrilling back-and-forth war but it was their bout this year that really captured the attention of fans and stole the day with 4 knockdowns and gritty come from behind win for Ryan. This really has the potential to be the sleeper fight of the weekend.

The second part of an amazing weekend of fights comes on Saturday with wonderful action taking place in the US and Puerto Rico whilst a notable supporting bout is set to take place in Slovenia of all places.

On paper the most exciting match up comes in San Juan, Puerto Rico where WBO Super Featherweight champion Orlando Salido (42-12-2-1, 29) defends his title against former champion Roman Martinez (28-2-2, 17). Salido won the title last year in an up-and-down affair with Terdsak Kokietgym and will be hoping to have an easier time with Salido however the odds are that this will ignite in to complete slugfest with both men taking a lot of damage before one eventually stops the other.

A really good supporting bout on this card will see Jose A Gonzalez (23-1, 18) returning to the ring for his second bout since his loss against Ricky Burns in May 2013. Gonzalez, who looked really talented against Burns, will be fighting interesting Ugandan Sharif Bogere (26-1, 18), who suffered his only loss to Richar Abril. This essentially two class guys fighting for their chance to get another world title bout and it's hard to have any complaints about the match up.

Although we think the Salido/Martinez bout is going to be the bout of the day it's certainly not the highest profile contest of the day. That belongs to the controversial catchweight bout bout between Danny Garcia (29-0, 17) and Lamont Peterson (33-2-1, 17). Between them the men hold the WBC, WBA “super” and IBF Light Welterweight titles yet rather than unifying the crown they are fighting the contest at 143lbs. Notably Peterson will be stripped of his IBF title if he loses, giving a huge opportunity to Chinese slugger Ik Yang if that happens. What should have been a great bout for the Light Welterweight division remains a very interesting bout but one that should really have been for the gold.

One bout on this card that was supposed to be for the gold was a WBO Middleweight title bout between hard hitting Irishman Andy Lee (34-2, 24), the defending champion, and unbeaten American Peter Quillin (31-0, 22). Quillin enters this bout as a former champion who vacated his belt last year, rather than face Russian Matt Korobov. Lee took the Korobov bout and stopped the Russian to claim the title and now we've essentially gone full circle with Quillin get the first shot at Lee. Again there is a bad taste about this bout politically, but in the ring it should be enjoyable and explosive. Unfortunately however this bout has now been made a non-title bout following Quillin missing the weight

In supporting bouts we'll get the chance to see a several promising and unbeaten fighters including Light Welterweight contender Viktor Postol (26-0, 11), who fights Jake Giuericeo (17-2-1, 4) in a stay busy contest, the touted Felix Diaz (16-0, 8), who takes on the once beaten Gabriel Bracero (23-1, 4) in an interesting looking match up, and the very highly regarded Errol Spence Jr (15-0, 12), who takes on Samuel Vargas (20-1-1, 10) in a bout that looks good on paper but in reality should be a mismatch.

A second US card is again piled with prospects. The most interesting bout, other than the main event which actually features a Filipino, will feature Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (14-0, 13). Valdez will be fighting against Jose Ramirez (25-5, 15) in what looks a good bout until you realise Ramirez was stopped by the then debuting Vasyl Lomachenko and has since been stopped by Abner Mares, and will stepping up to Super Featherweight for this bout.

Another bout that looks good on paper will see Russian destroyer Oleksandr Gvozdyk (5-0, 4) battle against Rowland Bryant (18-5, 12). On paper this looks like a really good test for the Russian but Bryant has lost 4 of his last 6 and shouldn't really push Gvozdyk. Whilst it is a mismatch we would say a stoppage by the Russian should be considered impressive considering his lack of professional experience.

Yet another prospect we're excited about on this card is Lithuanian powerhouse Egidijus Kavaliauskas (9-0, 8), who will be up against Arman Ovsepyan (14-4, 11) in what looks likely to be another very impressive performance form the Oxnard based European fighter.

Sadly we've struggled to get excited about Brazilian Esquiva Falcao (7-0, 5) who is really talented but has been matched horribly here as he takes on Omar Rojas (3-2, 1) in what appears to be an horrific mismatch. Falcao, a nemesis of Ryota Murata's, is so much better than Rojas that this bout should be disappointing to the the fighter as well as fans.

As for the bout in Slovenia, that will see former IBF Welterweight champion Jan Zaveck (34-3, 19) battling against Belgian based Armenian Sasha Yengoyan (31-1-1, 21). This bout, for the WBF Light Middleweight title, as good a WBF title bout as you're likely to see and really could have been for the European title considering the ability of the two men in it. Whilst neither man is a “star” we do like both and it's hard to dislike either. This may not get the attention of some of the other bouts but it could be a very interesting contest all the same.


(Image courtesy of notifight.com)

This past Saturday was a busy one in the boxing world with numerous major fights happening in the Western world and they old told their own, very different story. 

Of course the highlight of the night was the one bout we actually covered in detail as Kazakhstan's Beibut Shumenov (14-2, 9) lost in his unification bout with American legend Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2-2, 32). It was poor from Shumenov who, like many of Hopkins's opponents throughout the years, fought the wrong fight and instead of using his own strengths he fought to Hopkins's game plan of a slow paced bout in a contest that had little real excitement barring the knockdown against Shumenov in round 11.

Prior top Hopkin's bout with Shumenov US fans got the chance to see two other world title bouts. The first of those saw WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0, 22) easily out point the game but under-sized Czech Lukas Konecny (50-5, 23). We'll admit we like Konecny, a lot, but he's no Middleweight and it showed here as he could never hurt Quillin despite landing some clean and hard looking shots. Although Konecny couldn't hurt Quillin this bout did suggest that many other Middleweights could and in fact it hinted at the idea that Quillin is lucky that his management team will help him avoid Gennady Golovkin. On this performance Golvokin would steam roll Quillin with genuine ease and in fact we'd give fighters like Matthew Macklin, Martin Murray, Felix Sturm, Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio and Matt Korobov a better than evens shot at dethroning Quillin.

Whilst Quillin is talented he's not as good as he thinks he is, he doesn't hit as hard as he thinks and more importantly he's not very fun to watch. He was backed up by Konecny and made to look awful and boring in a bout that he really should have taken the initiative in.

Thankfully some of the other champions in action during the night did take the initiative. One of those was IBF Welterweight champion Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15) who dismantled the tough and skilled Paul Malignaggi (33-6, 7) in very impressive fashion. Malignaggi, who is known for his toughness and bravery was completely destroyed by Porter who looked a real monster in scoring a 4th round TKO. Despite the loss Malignaggi showed his class in his post fight comments before being taken to hospital. 

Although it wasn't confirmed it does seem very likely that Malignaggi will retire over the next few days and move into the commentary booth full time at US network Showtime. It seems that commentating is Malignaggi's calling and it's something he is genuinely exceptional at. Whatever "Paulie" chooses to do in the future we wish him the best.

As for Porter this win should set up a clash with unbeaten Brit Kell Brook though we have a feeling that Brook may have changed his plans.

Talking about British fighters brings us perfect to the other world title fight which saw WBA Super Bantamweight title holder Scott Quigg (28-0-2, 21) stop South African challenger Tshifhiwa Munyai (24-3-1, 12) in just 2 rounds. Munyai, who had never previously been stopped, was dropped twice in both rounds before being stopped less than 2 minutes in to the second round as Quigg made a statement.

Although Quigg's promoter spoke about looking at unification fights with both WBC champion Leo Santa Cruz and IBF champion Kiko Martinez it seems more likely that Quigg will be pitted against WBA ranked opponents, such as Japan's Shingo Wake. Interestingly Hozumi Hasegawa has a chance to scupper a possible Quigg-Martinez fight when he fights for the IBF title this coming Wednesday. 

Quigg's clear rival is Carl Frampton, another fighter with a big British fan base, and on this performance Quigg may well have seen some fans favouring him over the Northern Irishman. One thing's for sure, this result wouldn't have impressed WBA "super" champion Guillermo Rigondeaux who would likely love a chance to fight Quigg, Frampton or anyone else willing to get in the ring with him.

On the same British card their was a fantastic fight between former world title challenger John Murray (33-3, 20) and the fast improving Anthony Crolla (28-4-1, 11). Murray, who was stopped by Brandon Rios a few fights back, started fast against Crolla though was ground down in round 10 and it seems likely Crolla is only going to be a few fights away from getting a world title fight of some variety.

(Photo, of Porter, courtesy of boxrec.com)

Although Friday was disappointing in terms of scheduled action around the world the same cannot not be said about Saturday which genuinely looks like a brilliant day in the boxing world.

The first dollop of major action is in the UK with an Matchroom show that is headlined by a WBA Super Bantamweight title fight between defending champion Scott Quigg (27-2, 20) and South Africa's talented, but under-rated, Tshifhiwa Munyai (24-2-1, 12). Munyai did take this fight on a week's notice after the original opponent Nehomar Cermeno had visa issues. Unfortunately the banner was never changed by Matchroom so still features Cermeno's name on it.

Although Munyai is a late call opponent he has all the tools to give Quigg a nightmare and is 5-1 in the UK having beaten Lee Haskins and Martin Power in the past. This could very well be the hardest test of Quigg's career so far.

With Shingo Wake ranked #4 by the WBA he'll certainly be keeping a close eye on the Quigg/Munyai result and could well see himself fighting against the winner sometime later this year.

On the same British card fans will get the chance to see a potentially explosive domestic encounter as Anthony Crolla (27-4-1, 10) takes on former world title challenger John Murray (33-2, 20). The one is expected to be a gruelling and hard fought affair and we'd expect nothing less than a thriller.

This card will also feature former Toshiaki Nishioka opponent Rendall Munroe (28-4-1, 11) who will be hoping to take home the Commonwealth title as he battles the unbeaten Josh Warrington (16-0, 1).

In the US the stand out bout, at least for us, is the WBA/IBF Light Heavyweight unification bout between Beibut Shumenov and American legend Bernard Hopkins. That bout however is just 1 of 3 world title bouts on the show.

At Middleweight we see prospective Gennady Golovkin rival Peter Quillin (30-0, 22) defending his WBO title against the Czech Republic's Lukas Konecny (50-4, 23). Whilst we are big fans of Konecny and what he brings in his fights he's likely too small to really give Quillin a real tests though will be game for as long as he lasts.

The other title bout on this show sees IBF Welterweight champion Shawn Porter (23-0-1, 14) defending his world title for the first time. Porter, a sloppy looking but aggressively minded fighter, will be hoping to score his second notable victory as he takes on the criminally under-rated Paul Malignaggi (33-5, 7). It's arguably the most competitive bout of the day and we have also been told that the winner is set to face Kell Brook in their next fight. Finally we'll get to find out if Brook is as good as British fans have been telling us!