 |
| Photo Credit: World Boxing Super Series |
The biggest fight to me is the World Boxing Super Series semi-final that features WBA champion George Groves defending against Chris Eubank Jr in the better fight of the two super middleweight semis.
Both fighters won impressively against lesser opposition in the first round and seem to have that British grudge match thing going that happens so often there.
I'm more of a fan of Groves, who has come up short in most of his big fights than Eubank, who lacks a name win, but his split decision loss (his only defeat) to Billy Joe Saunders looks much better now than it might have previously.
This really is a pick 'em bout and although I'm rooting for Groves, I have a feeling that this might shade towards Eubank.
Top Rank has a two-fight card tonight with the main event filling the WBO lightweight title vacated by Terry Flanagan as veteran Ray Beltran, who has become the poster child for bad breaks gets another chance to become a world champion as he battles Paulus Moses.
This might be Beltran's best and last chance, so he'll need to take advantage of it against Moses, who at 39 makes Beltran look young at 36!
The co-feature is an interesting welterweight fight as unbeaten Lithuanian Olympian Egid Kavaliauskas faced David Avanesyan.
Avanesyan lost a close decision to Lamont Peterson last year so this might be another fight that could go either way this weekend.
Keep an eye on this one, as I would not be shocked at all to see the winner if they win in impressive fashion to start to mentioned for fights against Terence Crawford or even Manny Pacquiao as Top Rank attempts to build some future opponents for their two welterweight stars.
And then there is always Al Haymon's PBC to put together fights that are about as compelling to watch as those November specials from the SEC where Alabama plays Mercer, Auburn tackles Coastal Carolina etc..
Their evening starts on Fox as Haymon continues to fill those time buys that he has taken such a bath on and does so on throwaway cards in order to keep his main benefactor happy with the better providings on Showtime.
Fox features the comeback of former two-division champion Devon Alexander against perennial Zabbie contender Victor Ortiz in a welterweight bout.
Alexander did look good in his first comeback bout against Walter Castillo and Ortiz's style (straight ahead and willing to quit) looks made to order for Alexander, who I still think has a title shot in his future with PBC as his name and resume would at least look good on paper in potential in-house challenges of Errol Spence or Keith Thurman.
The co-feature is another uninspiring offering in an IBF super middleweight title eliminator for a shot at champion Caleb Truax, who pulled arguably the upset of the year in 2017 with a stunning decision win over James DeGale, who was rated number one by us at that weight.
Caleb Plant, who PBC has nudged towards the top with several televised appearances against opponents that might have struggled against Robert Plant faces veteran journeyman "Porky" Medina for a future title shot.
Medina is more of a top twenty fighter than a true contender, but he'll clearly be the biggest name and best opponent for Plant. so there is a little intrigue, even if the winner deserves to be nowhere near a title shot.
After those thrillers, the Haymon gang moves to Showtime for a three-bout card of varying interest and quality.
The main event features the ho-hum return of Danny Garcia, who after taking nearly a year off after his split decision loss in a title unification fight vs Keith Thurman, returns against another Zabbie contender Brandon Rios in a WBC title eliminator that seems looks more squash match than main event as PBC attempts to get something out of the former lightweight champion's resume.
The worst thing about the PBC evening is that they matched the wrong guys!
Danny Garcia vs Devon Alexander likely wouldn't set the world on fire, but it's a more competitive bout than Garcia-Rios or Alexander-Ortiz and if you really wanted an exciting win to build someone up that is past their prime-a Victor Ortiz-Brandon Rios fight would be fun to watch as far styles go and would have given the winner a small bump for a feeding to someone down the road.
Instead, we have two seemingly over the hill fighters that are overmatched in main event contests-
PBC rolls on!!!
The second bout is the best bout of the PBC evening as WBC super middleweight champ David Benavidez defends the title he won last year in a great fight against Ronald Gavril.
Benavidez won a narrow split decision in their bout for the vacant title in their first bout that could have been decided for Gavril just as easily and the WBC mandated an immediate rematch.
The winner along with WBO champ Gilberto Ramirez ( In my opinion, Benavidez vs Ramirez might be the best fight that can be made at 168) would be a good and interesting matchup against the winner of the World Boxing Super Series (The winner of the tourney will be the WBA titleholder).
If the rematch is close to the first fight in action, this is the best PBC fight of the weekend.
The opener is another IBF eliminator, this one at welterweight with one of the very few fighters that have been helped by PBC as Yordanis Ugas faces Ray (No Sugar) Robinson.
Ugas was a disappointment as a pro after defecting from Cuba before the advent of the PBC but has put together a nice winning streak against decent opposition that includes Ugas winning bouts taken on short notice.
Robinson is roughly along the same level of Ugas' recent competition, so Ugas should be favored to win the eliminator.
I lead Ramon Malpica in the boxing challenge 14-12.
Vacant WBO Lightweight Title. 12 Rds
Ray Beltran vs Paulus Moses
R.L: Beltran KO 6
TRS: Beltran KO 4
Welterweights. 10 Rds
Egid Kavaliauskas vs David Avanesyan
Both: Kavaliaukas Unanimous Decision
WBA Super Middleweight Title/World Boxing Super Series Semi-Final
George Groves vs Chris Eubank Jr.
R.L: Eubank Unanimous Decision
TRS: Eubank Split Decision
Welterweights. 10 Rds
Devon Alexander vs Victor Ortiz
R.L: Alexander Unanimous Decision
TRS; Alexander KO 8
Super Middleweights. 12 Rds
Caleb Plant vs Porky Medina
R.L: Plant KO 8
TRS: Plant Unanimous Decision
Welterweights 12 Rds
Danny Garcia vs Brandon Rios
Both: Garcia Unanimous Decision
WBC Super Middleweight Title 12 Rds
David Benavidez vs Ronald Gavril
Both; Benavidez Unanimous Decision
Welterweights. 12 Rss
Yordanis Ugas vs Ray Robinson
R.L: Robinson Unanimous Decision
TRS: Ugas Unanimous Decision
No comments:
Post a Comment