What to Expect This Weekend
By: José A. Maldonado, MFA
In what is surely his quest for 100 victories, Luís Ramón Campas, better known as “Yori Boy” Campas, will fight in his native Sonora, Mexico on Friday against former title challenger Mauro Lucero (46-16-1-32 KOs). Campas’ best fights took place over a decade ago, having taken on Fernando Vargas, Felix Trinidad, and Oscar De La Hoya, all losses. The 40 year old ran off 7 consecutive victories against obscure opponents before losing by TKO to the then 8-0 Jorge Cota last November. Whether Campas (99-16-1-78 KOs) will continue fighting after earning his 100th win is unknown, yet one must wonder: what else can he do? I always say that older, unproductive fighters should retire sooner rather than later, but I also understand that many boxers have little else to resort to. While Roy Jones Jr. can turn to his promotional company and commentating (which we hope he does soon), many others like Campas simply don’t have the resources to do so. I’ve met Yori Boy several times and he’s a personable, good guy, so I wish him the best. Only problem is, the best for him would be to hang ’em up, something he may not be able to do, financially speaking.
On this Friday’s edition of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, Hank Lundy will defend his NABF lightweight title against Saint Louis’ hard hitting Dannie Williams (21-1-17 KOs) in what should be an entertaining bout, especially considering all the trash talk they’ve exchanged leading up to the fight. Lundy said Williams was a “joke,” adding that he has only fought nobodies and that he will “hurt this boy.” Williams, whose only loss came to Eloy Pérez in 2009, answered by saying that the loudest person in the room is usually the weakest. On the undercard, someone apparently thought it’d be a good idea to have Héctor Camacho Jr fight, so if you tune in, you’ll see him against Elvin Ayala (24-5-1-11 KOs). Ayala hasn’t beaten anyone of note, drawing against Sergio Mora 5 years ago and being KO’d by Arthur Abraham in ’08; Camacho Jr (53-4-1-28 KOs), meanwhile, started at 142 pounds and has gone all the way up to light heavyweight in the past, has made a career of beating mediocre opponents. I’d recommend skipping this one and waiting for Lundy-Williams.
WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco has already signed a contract to face former champ Jorge Linares in a rematch of DeMarco’s stunning come-from-behind 11th Round TKO victory over Linares last October. The fight is scheduled to take place in Carson, CA’s Home Depot Center on July 7th. There’s only one problem: Linares must first beat Sergio Thompson (21-2-19 KOs) Saturday in Cancún. Earlier this month DeMarco went home for a title defense and KO’d Miguel Roman in the 5th to keep up his end of the bargain; Linares, meanwhile, will have to be careful against Thompson, who said he’ll try to make Linares bleed, adding that he plans to go after the Venezuelan’s eyebrows, which have been prone to cuts in the past. If Linares wants his title back, he’s gonna want to get rid of this guy early to avoid any complications.
Saturday at San Antonio’s Illusions Theater, former middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik makes his return to the ring after nearly a year away. It seems The Ghost has been in his own personal theater of illusions, having pulled out of fights against Brian Vera due to what is in hindsight a suspicious rib injury, Darryl Cunningham, and Lucian Bute, not to mention his well-documented battle with alcoholism. The last time we saw him in action was against Alfonso López in an unimpressive majority decision victory on the Manny Pacquiao–Shane Mosley undercard. Now training in Oxnard, CA with Robert “Grandpa” García, he’ll have a long hill to climb to get back to the top, starting with Aaron Jaco (where do they find these guys?) Jaco (15-2-5 KOs), of course, is a soft touch for Pavlik (37-2-32 KOs), yet it’ll be interesting to see which Pavlik shows up (if indeed he does show up). Expect to see some ring rust at the beginning, but if his training has been going as well as he claims, Jaco is the kind of guy Pavlik should destroy in the middle rounds, lest he choose to take it slow to log some rounds. But, should The Ghost pull another disappearing act, this will pretty much be curtains for the theater that was Pavlik’s career.
Another former middleweight champ trying to return to the spotlight this weekend is Germany’s Arthur Abraham. After an abysmal performance in Showtime’s Super Six tournament in which he was exposed after being a favorite, Abraham’s stock plummeted with boxing fans. His last fight, a victory over Pablo Oscar Natalio Farias, ended in a TKO victory, but this didn’t help matters much since he looked lethargic and disinterested; he simply lacked the fire that allowed him to survive Edison Miranda despite a broken jaw back in 2006. This Saturday Abraham (33-3-27 KOs) will face
Poland’s Piotr Wilczewski (30-2-10 KOs) for the WBO’s European super middleweight title (yes, the WBO has continental titles in spite of being the World Boxing Organization). Wilczewski has earned this title shot by beating a series of nobodies, tomato cans, and bums, although his biggest win did come against Amin Asikainen, a tough Finnish fighter. Should Abraham win this one, don’t be surprised if he just holes up and fights the rest of his career in Europe, where he’s still a popular draw. If he loses, however, he’ll have some serious thinking to do.
It’s been widely rumored that rising pound for pound fighter Nonito Donaire‘s next opponent will be Mexican veteran Cristian Mijares in a fight tentatively scheduled for July. Mijares (44-6-2-20 KOs) first has to get past the ancient Cruz Carbajal (32-18-2-26 KOs) in Michoacán, Mexico this weekend. The Donaire-Mijares matchup would be much more exciting if not for the fact that Mijares has been shaky in his past couple bouts and he’s not really a super bantamweight, which is where this fight will take place. Expect Mijares to handle Carbajal, then get handled by Donaire.
The White Buffalo is back! If you thought you’d seen the last of the 43 year old Frans Botha after his (surprisingly exciting) KO loss to Michael Grant last November, you (and many others) were wrong. Saturday he’ll step into the ring against slugger Carlos Takam (24-1-19 KOs) for the WBO’s Africa title, even though the fight is taking place in Takam’s adopted France (go figure). Botha (48-6-3-29 KOs) has never lost by decision, meaning every defeat has come by knockout. Takam has a high knockout percentage, so unless Botha can use his veteran tactics against the younger Takam, this will most likely end up badly for the South African.
George Foreman’s son, George Foreman III, fights in South Dakota on Saturday against Ryan Shay [crickets chirping].
He’s 2-5 in his past 7, he’s 41 years old, and his last big win came against Shannon Briggs 10 years ago, but this doesn’t hold back Jameel McCline (40-11-3-24 KOs). On Saturday in New Jersey he’ll be in action against Livin Castillo (16-11-10 KOs), a tough fighter who has faced numerous top heavyweights including Alexander Povetkin and Oleg Maskaev. The huge McCline, who is 6’6 and often weighs over 250, was once a top heavyweight and has challenged for the world title numerous times. His best days are obviously behind him, but with the heavyweight scene being what it is, he probably figures he can make one last run at it. Heck, if Tony Thompson can do it, why not?
38 year old Danny Williams, the second-to-last fighter to beat Mike Tyson, will fight Marvin Meyer in Germany. Big deal, right? Well, maybe. See, Williams, though mostly unsuccessful, has fought good opposition like Derek Chisora, Vitali Klitschko, John McDermott, Michael Sprott, and Matt Skelton. He’s fought 290 rounds and has a record of 44-11-33 KOs. His opponent, you ask? Meyer, who is from Germany, is 0-3, all losses coming by stoppage. So I ask: how does a German commission allow one of its own to partake in such a gross matchup? Just one of the many things wrong with the sport we love.
José A. Maldonado is senior staff writer at punchrate.com and contributor to realcombatmedia.com
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