We've had a few quiet days in boxing recently but over the next few hours the sport really comes alive in explosive and exciting fashion.

The first of the major bouts is expected in the UK where British fighter Anthony Crolla (29-4-2, 11) looks to complete a remarkable comeback and claim the WBA Lightweight title as he takes on Colombian Darleys Perez (32-1, 20). Both fighters have great back stories and both will be looking to score a major win here in a bout that is certainly charged with emotion.

On the same British card we'll also see a mouth watering bout at 122lbs as WBA champion Scott Quigg (30-0-2, 20) defends his belt against former IBF champion Kiko Martinez (32-5, 24). This is the first really big test for Quigg since claiming the title in strange circumstances more than a year ago. Whilst this is a great test for Quigg it does need saying that Martinez has twice been beaten by Quigg's public rival Carl Frampton.

Having just mentioned Carl Frampton (20-0, 14) it's worth noting that he'll be defending his IBF title in Texas as he takes on Alejandro Gonzalez Jr (25-1-2, 15), who is best known for stopping the once touted Hanzel Martinez. This has been widely criticised as a mismatch though interesting we know that Shingo Wake will be in attendance with the intention of scouting the winner, for whom he'll be the mandatory challenger.

Also in Texas we'll see former Middleweight title holder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (48-2-1-1, 32) take on Marcos Reyes (33-2, 24) in a bout that saw Chavez fail to make weight, not for the first time in his career. Chavez is coming back following his first stoppage loss and he really does need a win here or his career will effectively be over.

We also get two more bouts of note in Germany, both at 168lbs. The first of those sees touted puncher Vincent Feigenbutz (19-1, 18) battling against inactive veteran Mauricio Reynoso (15-1-1, 11) for the WBA “interim” title, in what really seems like a joke bout to hand Feigenbutz a belt. The other bout will see WBO champion Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28) defending his title against nemesis Robert Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27), in what will be a 4th meeting between the two men. The loser of this rematch, of a rematch, or a rematch, will almost certainly be looking at retirement whilst the winner may get another big payday due to their title.

It's very rare in boxing that we see the fighters regarded as the male and female pound-for-pound #1's in action on the same day though that's exactly what we got this Saturday and although both won their bouts they each did so in distinctly different ways.

The first pound-for-pound ruler to be in action was boxing queen Cecilia Braekhus (26-0, 7) who made history by becoming the first ever female fighter to unify the so-called "Big 4" world titles. Braekhus's was as dominant as they come as she thoroughly out boxed, out punched and out classed Ivana Habazin (13-2, 5) to add the IBF female Welterweight crown to her collection of the WBA, WBC and WBO belts. Whilst we know female boxing is the "second class citizen" of the boxing world Braekhus still deserves full credit for achieving something only previously done by Bernard Hopkins, who did the same in the Middleweight division. Universally regarded as the #1 pound for pound fighter without a "Y" chromosome Breakhus is a genuinely special fighter who really has no equal in, or around, her division. 

Several hours after Braekhus had shown off her skills to her loyal Scandinavian fans we then got the chance to see the male pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26) in action. Mayweather was fighting just his second ever rematch as a professional and was battling against Argentina's Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31). The first fight between the two had been great, competitive and exciting with both showing their dirty sides in what was a genuinely good bout. This time around however the fight lacked something as referee Kenny Bayless became too involved, breaking the men repeatedly through the course of 12 rounds. The breaking was not only killing any chance of Maidana making the bout competitive but also breaking any flow of the bout which was haunted by holding throughout. Over the course of the 12 rounds Mayweather did more than enough to retain his WBA and WBC Welterweight crowns and even hinted at a Pacquiao bout next time out, it was clear however that he is not the fighter he once was.

We'll be controversial and state that we don't think Mayweather actually is the #1 any more, in fact we tend to feel that Nicaraguan sensation Roman Gonzalez is the top fighter irregardless of weight. If you've not seen the little Nicaraguan terror you're really missing out on one of the sports truly terrific offensive fighters.

Prior to the Mayweather bout there had been 4 televised bouts, 3 of which were part of the pay-per-view broadcast. 

The first of the televised bouts from the card saw the show's most exciting bout as former world champion Humberto Soto (65-8-2-1, 35) out pointed the all-action John Molina (27-5, 22) in a thoroughly fun, though foul filled, bout. The fight saw Soto using his experience and edge in skills to clearly win a number of rounds against the one dimensional Molina however the bout also saw numerous low blows. The low blows saw deducted 2 points and Soto deducted 1 point. Despite the low blows and deductions the bout was really good and a brilliant way for Soto to prove he is still relevant on the world scene.

The first of the PPV bouts again saw low blows as James De la Rosa (23-2, 13) scored a career defining victory over the now shot looking Alfredo Angulo (22-5, 18). We loved watching Angulo in the past though he looked a shadow of his former self and was dropped in round 2 by De la Rosa en route to a relatively one sided loss. Angulo was deducted a point for low blows in round 7 and although he made a strong comeback in the final rounds he was a clear, clear, loser of the 10 round non-title bout. Although we did love watching Angulo in his prime we really wish to see him, and for what it's worth Juan Manuel Lopez, retire before taking more punishment. "El Perro" is no longer a marauding beast of a man and is actually going to take a lot of damage if he continues to get in the ring, even against limited fighters.

Sadly the second bout on the PPV was among the worst bouts we've seen this year. The bout saw Mickey Bey (21-1-1-1, 10) take a very controversial split decision win over Miguel Vazquez (34-4, 13) to claim the IBF Lightweight title. The bout a real stinker and we'd suggest using it as a cure for insomnia, or a torture method for captured enemy spies, trust us they would break if you showed them this fight on a loop. Although the bout was a stinker it's action, or rather lack of, was massively over-shadowed by the frankly disgusting card of Robert Hoyle who awarded the bout to Bey with a score of 119-109. The bout had been close and although we felt Vazquez had won it was close. To hand in a score of 119-109 for the bout isn't just questionable but it looks as close to corrupt as any card in recent memory. Genuinely atrocious bout with an atrocious score card.

The penultimate PPV bout, prior to the Mayweather/Maidana bout, saw WBC Super Bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16) make very light work of the over-matched and under-sized Manuel Roman (17-3-3, 6). Roman was stopped in the second round of what was really a farce.

For those who paid the PPV price for the Mayweather show, we feel really sorry for you and hope that the American scene will wake up and realise it's killing it's own fan base. PPV it's self isn't terrible but a poor quality product at an over-inflated price, as we had tonight, is awful for the sport and we'd not be surprised if this PPV seriously failed to deliver the numbers hoped for. Hopefully a poor number of sales will help either reduce the cost of the sport or even help move bigger fights back to the cable networks, afterall the sport is growing in countries where the fights aren't on PPV, countries like Germany and Japan being notable examples and both being able to interest a huge fan base.

As well as the action in Denmark and the US we also had action from the UK as WBA Super Bantamweight champion Scott Quigg (29-0-2, 22) successfully defended his title with a 3rd round stoppage of Belgium's Stephane Jamoye (26-6, 16). Jamoye, known for his relatively recent loss to Shinsuke Yamanaka, took the fight to Quigg though was out muscled, over-powered and eventually stopped with a sickening body shot. On paper a 3rd round TKO over Jamoye does look impressive for Quigg, though Jamoye was a late replacement for Paulus Ambunda and got only around 3 weeks notice for the fight. Quigg seemed to hint at a possible clash with Carl Frampton though in all honesty we'd steer Quigg away from that fight as we'd strongly favour the Northern Irishman who looks the more complete fighter by far. Saying that there are plenty of interesting fights Quigg could have, such as a battle with Leo Santa Cruz, Chris Avalos or Shingo Wake, all of which would be very good bouts.

(Image courtesy of Badlefthook.com)

Some days are marked on your calendar weeks, if not months, in advance. It's fair to say boxing fans world wide marked September 13th on their calendars weeks ago due to the day being one of the most important boxing days of the year.

The importance of the day can be summed up in one word. "Mayweather". That's because American mega-star Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26) returns to the ring to defend his WBA Welterweight title and his WBC titles at both Welterweight and Light Middleweight against Argentina's big punching Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31). The fight is a rematch from their contest this past May, a bout that saw Mayweather narrowly beating Maidana in one of the toughest bouts of Mayweather's career, and although many Mayweather to win it's obvious that Maidana has the ability and attitude to make life difficult for the American fighter.

Whilst the main event is well worth getting excited about the rest of the show looks lacklustre to say the least. One of the chief support bouts will see the talented and unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15) defending his WBC Super Bantamweight title against the limited and much smaller Manuel Roman (17-2-3-1, 6). Roman is a capable fighter but not a world class one and he has gone 3-2-2 in his last 7 bouts with only Randy Caballero really being a notable opponent during that stretch of bouts. With sounding harsh really expect Santa Cruz to mow Roman down inside 7 rounds and it's a huge shame Santa Cruz couldn't get a more notable opponent in the ring such as Shingo Wake or even Shinsuke Yamanaka who was talking about a bout with Santa Cruz earlier this year.

Another world title bout on this show will see the talented but frustrating Miguel Vazquez (34-3, 13) defending his IBF Lightweight title against the well schooled but unexciting Mickey Bey (20-1-1-1, 10). Bey, for all his skills, lacks power and has serious question marks over his chin. Vazquez also lacks power but has the ability to neutralise opponents strengths. With the fighters involved we expect this one to be a sleep inducing contest so if you're staying up for the main event you may want a few coffees prior the Vazquez/Bey bout which we think could cure insomnia.

Although the main support bouts are disappointing we are looking forward to an under-card bout between Mexican veteran Humberto Soto (64-8-2-1, 35) and the limited but fun John Molina (27-4, 22). We had hoped to see Molina fight a rematch with Lucas Martin Matthysse though this isn't a bad alternative given the styles of the two men involved. 

The Santa Cruz/Roman bout isn't the only Super Bantamweight title bout of the day and in the UK British fans will get the chance to see WBA champion Scott Quigg (28-0-2, 21) defend his belt against Belgian fighter Stephane Jamoye (26-5, 16). Jamoye, who recently fought Shinsuke Yamanaka, will be moving up in weight for this bout though we do actually expect an interesting bout here. Quigg is naturally bigger that Jamoye though the Belgian is rarely in a bad fight and there is a chance these two will go toe-to-toe for a few rounds of real excitement before Quigg's natural strength over-comes Jamoye.

In a female bout in Germany fans will get the chance to see an historic contest as the great Cecilia Braekhus (25-0, 7) attempts to add the IBF female Welterweight title to her collection of belts and complete the set. In the opposite corner to Braekhus will be current IBF champion Ivana Habazin (13-1, 5) who will be looking to score the biggest win of her career. With the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles all up for grab here this bout is arguable as important to female boxing as the Mayweather/Maidana bout is to boxing in general. 

(Image courtesy of http://www.mydish.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!