On Pay Per View, Trevor Bryan defends his WBA minor heavyweight title against England's Daniel DuBois in Miami.
The minor title isn't important (the fight was ordered when DuBois's "interim" title was removed and Bryan was forced to face DuBois.) but what is important is that the winner of this fight will become the mandatory challenger in the WBA for the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch, which means a shot at the real championship eventually and the payday that comes with that opportunity.
Bryan, who is the poster child for the ridiculousness of the minor "world" titles, has struggled through defenses against a shot Bermane Stiverne (in what was an entertaining fight, if not for the title designation) and a split decision in his last fight against unknown Jonathan Guidry and is a solid underdog against DuBois, who was a highly-touted prospect after explosive knockouts over soft opposition in the UK before a tenth round knockout loss in a brutal battle against Joe Joyce (in a fight that placed Joyce in the rotation as the mandatory challenger for the WBO) that saw DuBois suffer a broken orbital bone.
DuBois has knocked out two more soft touches since the Joyce loss and unless his punch resistance has weakened from the war against Joe Joyce, is a favorite over Bryan based on the talent that he is thought to possess.
The DAZN-Golden Boy card from Anaheim is pretty blah and the main event is equally milquetoast at super middleweight division catchweight between undefeated middleweight Jaime Munguia and non-descript Brit Jimmy Kelly in the latest of the squash match tour that Munguia has traveled since vacating his WBO junior middleweight championship.
I'm not sure who to blame for whatever this is that Munguia is doing with his career, whether it's Munguia himself, his manager, promoter Oscar De La Hoya, or whomever but these fights cannot be helpful to the fighter and it definitely isn't helping him in anyone else's eyes either.
As for Kelly, he is coming off an upset win over 28-0 Kanat Islam in February but the only other fight of note was a decision defeat to Dennis Hogan in 2018, and he will need a career-best effort to trouble Munguia.
ESPN-Top Rank is in New York for the latest for super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga in a ten-rounder against veteran Roamer Alexis Angulo.
Berlanga stopped his first sixteen opponents in the first round but has been taken the distance in his last three fights including being knocked down two fights ago by Marcelo Cocares.
Berlanga looked a little better in his most recent appearance in a decision win over veteran Steve Rolls but also tired in the later rounds and allowed the Canadian to rally on the scorecards.
Berlanga needs an impressive performance against another durable veteran in Angulo, it will be interesting to see if Berlanga attempts to increase his aggression and tries to score a knockout against a boxer that lasted ten rounds before being stopped in a 2020 fight against David Benavidez and lasted until the final bell in a title challenge against then-WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez in his only two losses.
This is a step up for Berlanga and Angulo should provide a stern test.
Boxing Challenge
TRS: Munguia KO 7
V.S: Munguia KO 10
V.S: Angulo Unanimous Decision
No comments:
Post a Comment