Boxing Challenge

   The boxing challenge is light this week, but two of the three fights are important in setting up bigger fights for 2021.

The biggest fight is the long-awaited return of one of the best fighters in the sport and depending on your opinion, either the best or second-best welterweight in the world as WBC and IBF champion Errol Spence defends those titles against former junior welterweight and welterweight champion Danny Garcia.

This will be Spence's first fight since unifying his two titles with an exciting decision win over Shawn Porter and it's also his first fight since a horrendous car accident that saw Spence lucky to escape with his life.

Spence isn't taking a warmup fight in his return in Danny Garcia, who has only two close losses (although I'll go to my grave screaming about his "win" over Mauricio Herrera being one of the worst decisions ever) to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter on his ledger.

Garcia lost close decisions in those fights and despite winning the WBC title over Robert Guerrero (it was vacated by Keith Thurman), Garcia lacks a win against an elite fighter as a welterweight with his best win a very close decision over Lamont Peterson, which was technically at welter but was held at a catchweight.

Give Errol Spence plenty of credit here for avoiding the usual PBC M.O. of waiting for a good not great fight with a squash match or two and moving right to a fighter of Danny Garcia's quality after suffering such serious injuries.

At the risk of losing a few safe paydays, Spence knows this- If he's the same fighter as before the accident, then Spence is a cut above Garcia- the difference between an elite fighter and a top five/six fighter in their division.

However, if Spence has lost anything, even as small as moving from elite to very good, then Danny Garcia is good enough to pull the upset. 

We'll know a lot more about the welterweight division after this fight than we know right now.

The undercard is just terrible and I deliberated before selecting the co-feature for the challenge, a title eliminator at junior middleweight between Sebastian Fundora and Habib Ahmed.

The 6'5 Fundora was known more for his freakish height in the 154-pound division than for his wins in the ring, but he looked very good in his last fight in notching his biggest victory over veteran gatekeeper Nathaniel Galimore via a sixth-round knockout.

Ahmed is a late replacement for Jorge Cota, who tested positive for Covid-19 and has fought outside of Ghana on only three occasions with a sixth-round KO loss to Gilberto Ramirez his only fight in the U.S. scheduled for over eight rounds.

I can excuse Ahmed for being a late replacement under the circumstances, but Jorge Cota wasn't a world-beater for Fundora to face, so PBC still deserves some eye rolls for presenting this as a co-feature on PPV.

Friday from London, Billy Joe Saunders defends his WBO super-middleweight title against the Harold Stassen of professional boxing, Martin Murray in a fight that many aren't thrilled with, but I don't feel is a bad fight at all.

Saunders is a talented, if not exciting, boxer and I'd give him a chance against anyone on the right night with his skills and style.

Those skills and style are precisely why few top fighters wish to face him as you won't look good against him and he might beat you.

Saunders is very much like Erislandy Lara, he's just not worth the risk for the small reward.

However, Saunders hasn't beaten a top fighter in three years when he dominated David Lemieux in a masterpiece performance and I wonder if we'll ever see just how good Saunders can be.

A win would keep Saunders in the running for a shot at the Callum Smith-Canelo Alvarez winner later this month in what would be a title eliminator.

As for Martin Murray, Murray is taking his fifth shot at winning a world title and if you don't know who Harold Stassen is, try Murray as this generation's Yaqui Lopez or Oba Carr as the best fighter never to win a world title.

Murray received a draw against Felix Sturm in Germany, one of what seems to be 100 guys that were given draws or losses in Germany against Sturm, could have dethroned Sergio Martinez in Argentina in a fight that could have gone either way, fought Gennady Golovkin at Golovkin's peak and lasted eleven rounds, and lost another split decision to a German in Germany against Arthur Abraham.

While I'd love to see Murray pull this one out, he's 38 now, didn't look great in his last loss in 2018 to former WBO middleweight champion Hassan N'Dam, who is a slick boxer and isn't nearly as slick as Saunders.

I'm rooting for him and he'll give his all as he always does, but this is going to be a tough one to win.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 161-150

WBO Super Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Billy Joe Saunders vs Martin Murray

Both: Saunders Unanimous Decision

WBC/IBF Welterweight Titles. 12 Rds

Errol Spence vs Danny Garcia

R.L;  Spence KO 10
TRS: Spence Unanimous Decision

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds

Sebastian Fundora vs Habib Ahmed

R.L: Fundora Unanimous Decision
TRS: Fundora KO 8