Saturday, August 3, 2019

Boxing Challenge

A very soft weekend in the boxing challenge with three fights from Fox and another from ESPN+ with none being exactly compelling.

Fox's evening card has a top of the page fight that could be interesting, if not overly important.
Heavyweight Adam Kownacki has been pushed to the upper end of the PBC heavyweight clan and he'll gain exposure for an eventual title shot against WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Kownacki's opponent is shopworn Chris Arreola, who has challenged for that same title three times, but other than entertaining post-fight interviews doesn't seem to have a lot remaining in his career.
Arreola does have a chance here as he won't have to chase Kownacki, so this could be fun to watch for a bit, especially if Arreola has anything at all left to offer.

Light heavyweight Marcus Browne, who looked very strong in his January win over Badou Jack faces veteran Jean Pascal in the co-feature.
Browne, a former Olympian, has been dealing with out of the ring problems since defeating Jack, so he could be distracted entering this fight.
If Browne is on his game, the aging Pascal should be an opponent that Browne shines against.

The opener will have Curtis Stevens, a former middleweight title challenger, facing another veteran in Wale Omotoso.
Stevens, an action fighter who is capable over steamrolling a B or C level fighter, but has come up short against the upper-division level boxers, should have a chance to look like a steamroller against Omotoso, who has never defeated a top 10 fighter,but isn't a pushover either.

Featherweight prospect Michael Conlan leads an ESPN+ card from Belfast Northern Ireland.
Conlan faces late replacement Diego Alberto Ruiz as Conlan continues his way up the ladder from prospect to a possible contender.
Conlan has not been overly impressive to me as a professional thus far and something (for now at least) makes me think that he could be a disappointment in the future.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 198-173

Heavyweights.12 Rds
Adam Kownacki vs Chris Arreola
R.L: Arreola KO 6
TRS: Kownacki KO 4

Light Heavyweights 12 Rds
Marcus Browne vs Jean Pascal
Both: Browne Unanimous Decision

Middleweights. 10 Rds
Curtis Stevens vs Wale Omotoso
R.L: Stevens KO 9
TRS: Stevens KO 7

Featherweights 10 Rds
Michael Conlan vs Diego Antonio Ruiz
Both: Conlan Unanimous Decision

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