Boxing Challenge

   Plenty of titles at stake this weekend with the lightweight division bringing its four titles together in Australia, an excellent two-title defense in the junior featherweight division in the United States, and a version of the junior lightweight title in Wales as the winner could stay in the mix for a future fight against Shakur Stevenson, all on the table.

Let's start in Melbourne, Australia as the lightweight title that should have never been divided will become whole (Unless there is a draw) as WBA, IBF, and WBO champion George Kambosos defends against WBC titlist Devon Haney.

The WBC title would have been involved with the unification already had the organization not started with their ridiculous "franchise" champion idea and given it to then-champion Vasyl Lomachenko with the addendum that the designation could not be transferred, only to allow the title to be transferred to Teofimo Lopez when Lopez upset Lomachenko.

While Haney didn't receive the title under the best circumstances, he has defended the title four times with victories over former champions Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz in his most recent defenses.

Haney is a solid fighter that is well-rounded but hasn't shown the dominance that elite fighters show.

As for Kambosos, the entire reason this fight is in Australia, he looked like another overmatched number one contender entering his fight with Lopez with only two split decision wins over past their prime former champions Lee Selby and Mickey Bey as the best wins on his resume" before his shocking upset that saw Kambosos survive a tenth round knockdown to win a split decision.

This is such an intriguing fight on many levels as the deck appears to be stacked against Haney, who has to fight without his father, who also trains him, because he isn't allowed into Australia due to a previous drug conviction, and should Haney win, he will have to fight Kambosos in Australia again.

Editors Note: Bill Haney has been given permission to enter the country and will be in his son's corner for tonight's fight.

Should Kambosos emerge with the victory, there will be no rematch so the pressure is all on Devin Haney in this one but the key will be Kambosos, who will answer this question in the fight one way or the other- 

Was George Kambosos the fortunate fighter to catch an ailing and overconfident Teofimo Lopez on the right night along with fighting the fight of his career?

Or was that a fighter stepping into the spotlight for the first time in what eventually becomes an excellent career?

That question will be answered tonight in Melbourne.

The undercard has two interesting fighters with two former world title challengers meeting in a ten-round bantamweight bout as Australia's Jason Moloney will battle Aston Palicte of the Philippines.

Moloney was knocked out in a challenge to WBA and IBF champion Naoya Inoue in 2020 but rebounded with a solid win over Joshua Greer.

Palicte is moving up to the division after losing challenges on two occasions at junior bantamweight, first to then-WBO champion Donnie Nietes and most recently to the current WBO champion Kazuto Ioka.

The other fight is in the heavyweight division as New Zealand's Junior Fa will take on Australian veteran Lucas Browne, who long ago held one of the WBA's minor titles.

The 43-year-old Browne has only three losses but all three are by KO and two of those three are in his last four fights to non-entities David Allen and Paul Gallen.

Fa lost for the first time in February 2021 by unanimous decision to countryman Joseph Parker and lacks a win over anyone of note but Browne seems to have very little remaining in punch resistance, so anything other than a Fa win would be a surprise to me.

Showtime's event from Minneapolis, Minnesota has been pushed aside from the headlines a bit due to sharing the date with Kambosos-Haney but their main event is of the same high quality and the co-feature will showcase one of the fastest rising super middleweights in the world.

Stephen Fulton continues to seek the best competition available as Fulton will defend his WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles against the best non-champion in the division as Fulton faces former WBA and IBF champion Daniel Roman.

Fulton added the WBC title to his WBO belt in his last outing with a very close majority decision over Brandon Figueroa that could have been won by either boxer (I had Figueroa a 115-113 winner) and in taking a fight against Roman, surely isn't taking any soft touches after a grueling affair against Figueroa.

Roman, who lost his WBA and IBF titles to current champion MJ Akhmadaliev via a debatable split decision that I thought was a draw in 2020, has won twice since and since Akhmadaliev or any sanctioning bodies haven't been interested or mandated a rematch, Roman is going after the other two titles held by Fulton.

Fulton is the smoother boxer, Roman is going to come forward but isn't a big puncher, and I think that this match is very similar to the Fulton-Figueroa bout in style and I think it's going to be a similar fight as far as action goes.

The difference could be that Roman is a little harder to hit than Brandon Figueroa and that might be enough to decide what should be a very close battle.

The co-feature is essentially a Showtime Showcase as Cuban David Morrell defends a WBA minor title against Kalvin Henderson.

Morrell has blitzed through five overmatched opponents and fringe contender Alantez Fox in his short pro career and is facing another fighter of the same ilk in Henderson, lost to his only opponent of note in undefeated prospect Isaiah Steen and has a majority draw with the awkward Hagerstown journeyman Genc Pilana.

I don't see Henderson lasting long against Morrell's onslaught as Morrell builds a case for a potential fight against David Benavidez or Caleb Plant.

The day starts on DAZN from Cardiff, Wales as hometown favorite Joe Cordina challenges for the IBF junior lightweight title against champion Kenichi Ogawa.

Ogawa dropped Azinga Fuzile twice last November on his way to winning the vacant title (the title was vacated when Joseph Diaz missed weight before his fight vs Shavrat Rakhimov and when the fight ended in a draw, the title was declared vacant) by unanimous decision and is earning a larger paycheck by making his first defense on the road against Cordina.

The 16-0 Cordina is a former Olympian that has been successful at the British level but is facing his toughest opponent, although Ogawa hasn't fought many top twenty level opponents either so Cordina's lack of experience may not be as important as usual in a boxer's first attempt at a world title.

This fight is a big deal for more than the obvious reasons of a world title at stake as WBC and WBO champion Shakur Stevenson has stated his desire to win the two remaining championships (Roger Gutierrez currently holds the WBA title) that he doesn't own so the winner could earn the biggest paycheck of their career (past and future) in a unification fight against Stevenson.

Boxing Challenge

Unification WBA/IBF/WBO- WBC Lightweight Titles. 12 Rds

George Kambosos vs Devin Haney

R.L: Kambosos Split Decision

TRS: Haney Split Decision

V.S: Kambosos KO 11

Bantamweights. 10 Rds

Jason Moloney vs Aston Palicte

All: Moloney Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Junior Fa vs Lucas Browne

R.L: Fa KO 5

TRS: Fa KO 3

V.S: Fa KO 7

WBC/WBO Junior Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Stephen Fulton vs Danny Roman

R.L and V.S: Fulton Unanimous Decision

TRS: Roman Split Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

David Morrell vs Kalvin Henderson

R.L: Morrell KO 4

TRS: Morrell KO 2

V.S: Morrell Unanimous Decision

IBF Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Kenichi Ogawa vs Joe Cordina

R.L and V.S:  Ogawa Unanimous Decision

TRS: Cordina Unanimous Decision