What to Expect This Weekend 4/12/2012
By: José A. Maldonado, MFA
So if you beat Manny Pacquiao in three fights, he won’t give you a fourth; at least, that’s what Juan Manuel Márquez found out recently. On Saturday he’ll be fighting in his hometown of Mexico City for the first time since 1994 (yes, kids, that’s 18 years ago). The boxing legend (notice I said boxing legend and not merely Mexican legend, as many writers do) will square off against little known Ukrainian Serhiy Fedchenko (30-1-13 KOs) with the hopes of keeping alive a potential July matchup with Brandon Ríos, who will be on the split-site undercard. Dinamita’s exploits in the ring are well known and he is a surefire first ballot hall of famer; Fedchenko? Not so much. Boxing insiders know that he was chosen as a soft touch for Márquez (53-6-1-39 KOs) because a) Fedchenko’s low knockout rate decreases the chance of Márquez getting hurt and b) they want Márquez to put on an entertaining show in front of his people. Fedchenko is the logical choice for this bout, especially with the possible big Ríos fight looming in the future, but HBO PPV wants me to pay $44.95 for this and a relatively weak undercard? Hmm. . .
Speaking of which, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas the aforementioned Brandon “Bam Bam” Ríos will get fans ready for the Márquez-Fedchenko main event with his fight against the rabble-rouser Richard Abril. Ríos’ past few months have been full of surprises and odd turns, from being featured on HBO’s “2 Days” mini-documentary showing his weight issues in his past fight to being stood up by Yuriorkis Gamboa. And now this. Who could have predicted that while waiting for Gamboa to show up at the Miami press conference some random guy with a paper belt and good lungs would be able to get onto a major HBO PPV bout? That’s exactly what the Cuban Abril (17-2-1-8 KOs)accomplished. Okay, so maybe random guy is a bit unfair, I mean, he has fought Breidis Prescott, Hank Lundy, and Miguel Acosta, but seriously, had ever heard of this guy? Or better yet, how many boxing fans have been clamoring for a bout between Ríos and Abril? Which is yet another reason the $44.95 price tag for this card seems a bit much, for me at least. Don’t get me wrong, Abril is a descent fighter with pretty good hands, and if Ríos (29-0-1-22 KOs) gets caught day dreaming about a Márquez showdown, we could be in for a huge upset; but judging by the way Abril opens himself up with those looping punches, not to mention his tendency to move straight back away from attacks, I doubt it.
Coming down from the mountainous heights of Colorado will be fan favorite Mike “Mile High” Alvarado, also on this HBO PPV card. His last bout was an amazing demonstration of will and determination as he battled his way to a rousing 10th round TKO of Colombian Breidis Prescott, who had been dominating him up to that point. Alvarado (32-0-23 KOs) is the guy who no one at 140 pounds wants to fight, which is why instead of a big fight he’ll instead face California’s Mauricio Herrera (18-1-7 KOs). Fight fans may remember him as the guy who upset former amateur star Mike Dallas Jr. on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights in November. He’ll look to fashion an even bigger upset against the favored Alvarado. Though he does have the tools to pull it off, it’ll be tough to do so against a guy with Alvarado’s heart.
Friday from Las Vegas ESPN will treat its viewers with quite an intriguing matchup at 140 pounds as former two-time world champ Michael Katsidis of Australia takes on Ghana’s Albert Mensah. While Mensah hasn’t lost since 2005, going 15-0-6 KOs in that stretch, he’s built up his solid 24-3-1-10 KOs against lowly opposition. Katsidis’ resume, on the other hand, couldn’t be more different. Although he is only 1-3 in his past 4, he has been fighting elite-level opponents for years with a record that includes a who’s-who of boxing including Joel Casamayor, Graham Earl, Juan Díaz, Ricky Burns, Robert Guerrero, and future hall of famer Juan Manuel Márquez. In spite of always putting up a strong effort, Katsidis has been ineffective at 135 for quite some time, while 130 is simply asking his body for too much. So he’s hoping to kick-start his career with a move up to 140, where he’s fought before. Katsidis (28-5-23 KOs), known for entering the ring dressed as a Spartan warrior to honor his Greek roots, recently acknowledged that he stayed at 135 for too long, putting too much strain on his body to make the weight and thus adversely affecting his performance. With a win Friday he hopes to prove he belongs in the stacked junior welterweight division and perhaps get a crack at Amir Khan, Lamont Peterson, or even a rematch with Márquez. It will be interesting to see just how much the Australian brawler has left in the tank after so many wars.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Felix Sturm‘s title defense Friday will be in Germany being that 37 of his 40 bouts have come in his home country. Of course who can blame him after coming to Las Vegas in 2004 only to be blatantly robbed against Oscar de la Hoya so as to facilitate Golden Boy’s matchup against future business partner Bernard Hopkins. Of course Sturm himself is no stranger to benefiting from bad decisions after his terrible split decision victory over Matthew Macklin last November. After the fight he assured the Irishman he’d give him a rematch, but it was never made so the German of Bosnian descent took on Martin Murray, against whom Sturm (36-2-2-15 KOs) kept his title in a razor-thin split draw. So after two fights which clearly deserved a rematch, Sturm will move on to face former title challenger Sebastian Zbik (30-1-10 KOs), who is coming off a controversial decision of his own against Julio César Chávez Jr. in November. This should be an entertaining bout between two skilled fighters out to prove that their past performances were not flukes; though both usually fight in the cautious, European style where jabs and defense reign supreme, the fight card is called “Bad Blood,” something they’ve demonstrated in recent press conferences where they’ve had some heated exchanges. At this week’s final presser the two hardly said a word to each other, an indication that they plan for their fists to do the talking. The bout, therefore, may offer some fireworks not expected from these two, but either way boxing fans who appreciate the more subtle aspects of the sweet science should definitely tune in.
The undercard for Sturm-Zbik will feature heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov of Russia as he takes the tiniest of steps up in competition facing the now-faded Dominick Guinn. Boytsov’s stellar record of 30-0-25 KOs loses its sheen when looking at who it’s been compiled against. His resume consists of a collection of journeymen, club fighters, and who’s thats, his biggest win coming against Vinny Maddalone in 2008. At 6’1, he’s too small for the Klitschkos, but he’s 26 years old and needs to get moving soon if he wants a significant fight. His power and size would make him an excellent matchup for guys like Derek Chisora, Cris Arreola, and Tomasz Adamek, but after feasting on tomato cans, he would be at a serious disadvantage experience-wise. The 36 year old Guinn (33-8-1-22 KOs), on the other hand, was once a promising young fighter, but after a 4-6-1-2 KO stretch that began in 2004, his career has plummeted. He’s lost two in a row and was no doubt hand-picked by Boytsov’s handlers to put a descent name on their fighter’s record. Question is, should Boytsov win, where does he go from there?
The WBC’s silver super bantamweight champ Victor Vikingo Terrazas of Mexico hopes to terrorize Colombia’s José Palma (15-5-2-10 KOs) on Saturday. Terrazas is a top 122 pounder, having fought the likes of Rendall Munroe, Nehomar Cermeño, and Fernando Montiel, so this is a step down in opponent quality. So it’s one of those stay busy, homecoming gimmes for the champ as he looks to get something bigger later this year.
Ever wonder what Carlos Baldomir is up to these days? Getting ready for a fight this Saturday, apparently. Boxing’s former Cinderella story will take on fellow Argentine Billi Facundo Godoy (24-0-13 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round bout at 160 pounds. Of course we all remember Baldomir for his heroic exploits in the mid-2000s when he made an improbable run at the welterweight title. After a stunning upset over a lackadaisical Zab Judah (who was dreaming of big checks against Floyd Mayweather, Jr.), Baldomir was able to land big fights against the late Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest, Mayweather, and more recently, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Saturday’s fight is a far cry from those halcyon days, but the 40 year old may have enough tricks to upset the undefeated prospect. If not, he may want to consider going back to selling feather dusters.
Amidst a series of personal issues which include his father being in prison, challenges from his Gypsy community, weight problems, and mental instability, British Commonwealth heavyweight champ Tyson Fury (17-0-12 KOs) will face fellow Brit Martin Rogan (14-2-7 KOs). Fury has been known to balloon in weight between fights, and recently he’s admitted to battling depression, for which he went to the hospital, prompting him to gain even more weight after frequent trips to the vending machines. Fury, who’s an exciting fighter who is not afraid to mix it up despite leaving himself open, hopes to someday challenge one of the Klitschkos. Should he become successful in his bid, Fury must first look to resolve the opponents that plague him outside the ring. Rogan, though a limited fighter, could take advantage of Fury’s notoriously weak chin as well as his current vulnerable status. Should be a helluva fight.
After consecutive losses to Andy Lee and Peter Quillin, former amateur standout Craig McEwan of Scotland looks to bounce back in a (super) soft touch against Paul Morby (6-12-1-0 KOs). After an absolute war against Lee in which it seemed McEwan (19-2-10 KOs) was on his way to a close victory before being stopped in the last round, he was absolutely dominated by New York’s Quillin in November. Rather than change weight divisions, the 29 year old Scotsman will try to start off from square one in what should surely be a busy year as he tries to get back on track.
In terms of significant fights, we haven’t seen much of Edner Cherry since 2008 loss to Timothy Bradley for the WBC light welterweight title. With a current streak of 5-0-4 KOs with 1 no contest, he’ll step into the ring against Mexico’s Juan Carlos Martínez (19-13-1-7 KOs), a fighter whose record reflects the tough opposition he’s faced which includes current champ Antonio DeMarco, Juan Carlos Burgos, Victor Terrazas, Guty Espadas Jr, and Miguel Angel García. Though these were all losses, Martínez is coming off an upset victory over Bernabé Concepción of the Phillipines. If Cherry (29-6-2-16 KOs) wants to get back in the mix at lightweight, he should take this fight seriously and not pay too much attention to Martínez’ deceiving record.
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José A. Maldonado is senior staff writer at punchrate.com and contributor to realcombatmedia.com
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