The biggest fight of the weekend is the brightest star in boxing in action with Canelo Alvarez defending his WBA and WBC super-middleweight championships against mandatory contender Avni Yildirim of Turkey.
Yildirim was installed as the mandatory challenger by the WBC after a controversial split decision loss to Anthony Dirrell for the then-vacant title and was promised a return match under the circumstances.
It was a fair decision as it appeared that Yildirim was beginning to break Dirrell down in the late rounds, but Dirrell took advantage of the WBC's open scoring and surrendered due to a cut to force the bout to the scorecards.
It's far from a headline fight, but it's the type of defense that is more than acceptable for champions that are fighting more than twice a year as Alvarez wants to do this year.
Both Canelo and Yildirim are evidence of how bad decisions are forgotten over time and people just see the W on the records.
For all that Canelo has done in the sport, it's sometimes forgotten that his two fights with Gennady Golovkin should have been one win each in the series and as time (and strong Canelo wins) have shown all but the casual observer refer to his razor-close second win to proof of his superiority and best fighter in the world.
And what's even more forgotten is how Canelo relentlessly dodged Golovkin with refusals, weight demands, and basically waited him out until his prime had slightly passed by.
As for Yildirim, it's forgotten that the Dirrell loss was a split decision that he was rallying through the late rounds.
Most that are bagging this fight look at the Dirrell fight as a loss rather than a possible win, if not for a bad decision over several factors.
People forget the how, they only remember what is on the record.
Julio Cesar Martinez was scheduled to defend his WBC flyweight title against veteran McWilliams Arroyo, but at the press conference, Martinez suddenly claimed a hand injury and pulled out of the fight.
The WBC could do worse than demand some evidence of this injury and make sure it is legitimate as it seems fishy to me.
Early Saturday morning from New Zealand, the two best heavyweights in the nation face off as former WBO champion Joseph Parker meets prospect Junior Fa in the biggest fight in New Zealand in years.
Parker and Fa have an amateur background against each other (splitting four fights) and this fight sells itself in Auckland.
Parker is ranked in the top seven by three of the four sanctioning bodies (Surprisingly the WBA does not) after three lower-level wins following a close and exciting loss to Dillian Whyte in 2018.
Fa is ranked by the IBF and WBO and despite his best win ( over journeyman Devin Vargas) not of world-class quality, Fa is well thought of with his amateur background.
This should be an interesting fight and the winner could be in a position for a title eliminator in their next outing.
PBC returns on Fox with yet another underwhelming card with the aforementioned Anthony Dirrell in a WBC eliminator at super middleweight against Kyrone Davis.
Dirrell took a beating in losing his title to David Benavidez in 2019 and other than the close win over Avni Yildirim, hasn't beaten a top ten fighter since Sakio Bika in 2014!
Kyrone Davis lost to the late Patrick Day in 2018 and since defeated two fighters with records of 6-3 and 7-2.
There is no reason for Davis to be in a world title eliminator and on paper the two are on different levels, but the X factor is how much Dirrell's pounding against Yildirim and Benavidez have taken out of him.
If Dirrell has anything left, he's the superior boxer, but Dirrell could be a sitting duck with Davis being lucky enough to pick up what's left.
In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 16-15.
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