Boxing is, at it's heart, a fighting sport. Fights of course aren't always pretty and not very fight is a fun to watch war like the recent Minimumweight unification bout between Katsunari Takayama and Francisco Rodriguez Jr. This weekend we saw the ugly side of boxing with 2 very ugly world title fights that saw the title change hands though left no one wanting to see the former champion given a chance at redemption.

The first of the ugly fights was fought at Super Middleweight and saw the teak tough Sakio Bika (32-6-3, 21) lose the WBC Super Middleweight title to the unbeaten Anthony Dirrell (27-0-1, 22). The fight was a second meeting between the two men and no one wants to see fight #3 after this was filled with hugging, holding, head butts and spoiling. The clean shots, from both men, were at a premium and it was the perfect example of the issue that arise from having too many world titles out there. Neither Bika nor Dirrell are in amongst the top 3 or 4 fighters in their division and neither really should be able to call themselves a world champion.

The second of the ugly fights was down at Welterweight as Kell Brook (33-0, 22) claimed the IBF title with a messy majority decision over Shawn Porter (24-1-1, 15). The bout was plagued by holding, mauling, head clashes and rabbit punches with the styles failing to gel at any point. At the end of the bout Brook did deserve the win and now deserves big money fights, including a much talked about British super fight with Amir Khan, but the fight really wasn't much better than the Bika/Dirrell contest. We know British fans will be thinking it was a great contest, and in fact Sky commentator Nick Halling said "It's one you'd want to see again", we need to be honest and say no one wants to see it again. Had it not been for the fact that Brook finally got his chance we doubt anyone would have a nice word to say about the bout. It really was a stinker.

Thankfully not all the big fights were hard to watch and in fact prior to the bouts we've already mentioned there was 2 great contests, one on the same card and one in Germany.

The one on the same card saw WBC Lightweight champion Omar Figueroa (24-0-1, 18) prove his championship heart as he stopped Daniel Estrada (32-3-1, 24) in a thoroughly entertaining contest that had it all. At the start the bout was a war with both men trading shots at will. After a few rounds Estrada began to back off and we got a bit of boxing from both. Then, in round 8, we got real drama as Figueroa suffered an horrendous cut over his left eye. The cut looked like it could possibly have been a fight ender though thankfully it wasn't, at least not directly. The cut seemed to give Figueroa a sense of urgency in the following round and he went to town on Estrada dropping the Mexican before following up with a vicious assault that forced the referee to end the bout.

For many Figueroa is best known for his war with Nihito Arakawa and just like that fight the contest with Estrada again proved what an offensive machine Figueroa is though it's also likely to be his final bout at Lightweight with the fighter himself making it clear he struggles to make 135lbs. That leaves a huge opportunity for Teiken promoted Jorge Linares who will now be the top contender. We wouldn't like Linares's chances against Figueroa but against another top contender, for example Hank Lundy (WBC #3) or Javier Prieto (WBC #5), we'd imagine Linares would easily become a 3-weight world champion.

The other memorable bout of the night came, as mentioned above, in Germany as Yoan Pablo Hernandez (29-1, 14) narrowly held on to his IBF Cruiserweight title with a split decision victory over Firat Arslan (34-8-2, 21). The bout was genuinely a thriller with Arslan starting slowing, giving away the first 2 or 3 rounds, then coming on strong in the middle rounds before Hernandez fought back late on. It was one where the close rounds really did decide the winner and 116-112 either way wouldn't have garnered any sort of complaints. A genuinely well matched bout that had styles that gelled and again proved how thrilling the often over-looked Cruiserweight division is. We'll be honest we wouldn't mind a rematch of this one.

Back in the US, though not at the world level, fans also saw unbeaten Heavyweight Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32) record his 32nd stoppage with a 4th round retirement of the popular but limited Jason Gavern (25-17-4, 11). Gavern had taken the fight on late notice and it showed as he came in at one of the highest weights of his career and looked exhausted after just 4 rounds. We know some American fans are really high on Wilder but with fights like this he is leaving himself very open to criticism. We know it was a stay busy fight and we know he's getting close to a world title fight but those are no excuses to continually fight out of shape journeymen.

At the end of the day we want to be fans of boxing around the world but we can't pretend we enjoyed much of the action tonight. There was highlights but there was also a lot of unmemorable rounds which appeared to feature more holding and mauling than punching. A bit of shame really considering that the bouts looked very good on paper.

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If you've been a boxing fan in Britain over the last 4 or 5 years you will have been told, repeatedly, about Kell Brook (32-0, 22), a man many believed would rise quickly to the top and become the next great British fighter. Those 4 or 5 years have sadly been wasted with little substance to actually go with the promise that "Special K" has. In fact if anything numerous British fighters have managed to climb over Brook who went from the hottest thing in British boxing to being seen as a man unwilling to take the step up. It was partially unfair considering that Kell and his supposed opponent both had issues but that sort of reputation does stick.

This coming Saturday sees the Sheffield man finally getting his long awaited shot at a title though, unfortunately for him, he will be facing the fast improving Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15). Porter, the current IBF Welterweight champion, has been sensational recently and did real jobs on Devon Alexander and Paul Malignaggi who were both frozen by Porter's aggressiveness, strength and power. 

For many the Porter/Brook fight the fight of the weekend, for others it's a chance to see one man exposed as a fraud. We tend to feel that Porter will over-come Brook though the fight should certainly be exciting for as long as it lasts.

On the same card we will have 2 other world title fights. One of those will be a rematch as WBC Super Middleweight champion Sakio Bika (32-5-3, 21) tries to settle the score with the talented but frustrating Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1, 22). The two men fought last December and Dirrell, at times, looked like he was going to be the first man to stop Bika. Unfortunately at other times he looked lazy and like he couldn't be bothered. That laziness was most clearly seen in the final round when he ran away from Bika and effectively cost himself the title with the bout resulting in a split decision draw.

The other world title fight on the same card will see WBC Lightweight champion Omar Figueroa (23-0-1, 17), a fan friendly puncher best known for his war with Nihito Arakawa, battling against tough Mexican Daniel Estrada (32-2-1, 24), also a fighter well known for fighting Arakawa. Figueroa looked very fortunate to retain his title last time out, taking a much debated decision over Jerry Belmontes, though should find himself in with a more willing dance partner here and we should end up with a very fun brawl between two free swinging fighters with similar mentalities. This could be very fun.

The only other world title bout takes place in Germany as IBF Cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez (28-1, 14) attempts to defend his belt against veteran Firat Arslan (34-7-2, 21). This will be the 4th defence from Hernandez who, despite his record, blows hot and cold and could come undone against Arslan.

On the undercard of this Germany show will be the professional debut of the much touted Stefan Haertel (0-0) who will be taking on the experienced but very limited Olegs Fedotovs (18-14, 12). For Japanese fans Haertel maybe memorable as one of Ryota Murata's foes at the 2011 World Amateur Championships.

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