Boxing Challenge

The boxing weekend is set in Las Vegas with the main event as good as boxing can put forth and an undercard that isn't good enough to be part of a good regular cable show surrounds it.

The main event puts WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, in a rematch vs the "lineal" heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a PBC vs Top Rank contest for arguably the top spot in the heavyweight division along with WBA/IBF/WBO champion Anthony Joshua.

Their first fight was interesting, if not exciting and I thought Fury deserved the decision rather than the official draw, but it wasn't a robbery.
Tyson Fury fights are usually interesting for reasons other than Tyson Fury's punches and Deontay Wilder is a devastating puncher, but not an overly active one, so this fight may not be filled with action, but to the end, the fight will have plenty of anticipation due to the possibility of Wilder landing that one shot to close the evening.

The rematch is more anticipated than the first match, mainly because of Wilder's final round knockdown that looked to have pulled a fight out of the loss column with a dramatic KO before Fury rose in what would become the boxing meme of the year.
Both fighters have reasons that you think could give them victory.
Fury has the unusual slick style for a fighter of his size and his skills are better than those of the sometimes limited Wilder, but Fury has never fought a rematch before and could it be possible for Wilder to figure out what Fury could do?
If that happens, Fury doesn't have the power to take out Wilder unless Wilder's jaw, which I've questioned since he barely avoided being knocked out by journeyman Harold Sconiers, is softer than he has shown in his most recent fights.
Wilder can knock out anyone that he hits but in his fights against Fury and Luis Ortiz, Wilder has become even more one-dimensional as he has become reluctant to do anything more than wait for the chance to throw that right hand.
Sooner or later, someone will survive the right and Wilder will be out of luck and that fighter could be Fury.
It's a difficult fight to call because there are compelling reasons to pick either fighter to win.

I wish I could say the same for the undercard because when you display garbage, people are likely to say it stinks.
With Top Rank and PBC each selecting a fight for the undercard, one could wish that two inter-promotional matches could spice the lineup a bit.
I'm not saying Spence-Crawford or Lomachenko-Davis, but decent fights could be made and instead, each company kept their match in-house with the battle apparently down to which crap smells worse.

The PBC fight is a pairing of mediocre heavyweights as Charles Martin faces Gerald Washington.
Martin, who has a strong case for the weakest heavyweight champion in history, has exactly one win over a top 30 fighter (his vacant title win over Vyacheslav Glazkov was via third-round TKO when Glazkov tore his ACL) and Washington, who has a few wins over top 30 fighters, but none against a top 15 level fighter, might be best remembered for fighting Deontay Wilder on even terms for four rounds before being stopped in the fifth, make a match that might have been tolerable for the opening bout, but lacking for a PPV.
The winner could move into consideration for a future IBF title shot ( Washington is ninth in their ranking and Martin is eleventh) which doesn't exactly send my heart racing for that possibility.
The fight could be entertaining with two fighters of the same level with less than sturdy chins, but it still shouldn't be on a card of this type.

Don't give Top Rank too much credit for their match either, although exciting WBO junior featherweight champion Emmanuel Navarrete is far more worthy of his spot than Martin or Washington.
Sadly, instead of facing a tough contender, Navarrete will face unknown Jeo Santisma.
Santisma has never fought outside the Philippines, nor against a familiar name in his twenty-one fight career and is a prohibitive underdog against Navarrete.
Unless Santisma has been a secret star and hidden away, and there have been fighters from the Philippines in the past that have burst on the scene with similar records, this appears to be a showcase fight for Navarrete.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 29-25

WBC Heavyweight Title 12 Rds
Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury
R.L: Fury Unanimous Decision
TRS: Fury Majority Decision

Heavyweights 12 Rds
Charles Martin vs Gerald Washington
R.L: Martin KO 5
TRS: Martin Unanimous Decision

WBO Junior Featherweight Title. 12 Rds
Emmanuel Navarrete vs Jeo Santisma
R.L: Navarrete KO 8
TRS: Navarrete KO 6