Robert Brizel Thanksgiving Editorial: Big Heavyweight Fights Coming Up
Editorial By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
A number of significant crossroads major heavyweight bouts are coming up. In the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (until it is fully resolved), professional boxing will rely on the heavyweight division, for the most part, to keep the ball rolling and interest in the sport alive.
Major Heavyweight Fight Number One: Tony Yoka versus Christian Hammer, 10 rounds
Friday, November 27, 2020, H Arena, Nantes, France
Yoka, 2016 Olympic Games Super Heavyweight gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, age 28, 8-0 with seven knockouts, Paris, France, at 6’7″ and 239 to 242 pounds approximate, is favored to win by 10 round unanimous decision over veteran Christian Hammer, 25-6 with 16 knockouts, Germany, age 33. At 6’2″, 253-257 pounds approximate, is a bit too small to outpoint Yoka. Hammer has been in with Tyson Fury, Alexander Povetkin, Mariusz Wach and Luis Ortiz, and has comported himself well. Yoka’s technical inexperience will allow Hammer to go the distance. Not a close bout.
Major Heavyweight Fight Number Two: Daniel Dubois versus Joe Joyce, 12 rounds
Saturday, November 28, 2020, Church House, Westminster, United Kingdom
Vacant European Heavyweight Title
BBBof C British Heavyweight Title
Commonwealth (British Empire) Heavyweight title
World Boxing Council Silver Heavyweight title
World Boxing Organization International Heavyweight title
Five belts and a probable world title shot at Tyson Fury or the winner of Anthony Joshua versus Kubrat Pulev (if not Dillian Whyte) awaits the winner of this high stakes heavyweight bout, an all-British bookies delight. Dubois, 15-0 with 14 knockouts, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, is the favorite to win by knockout or stoppage within the first seven or eight rounds. Dubois survived the first test by knocking out 16-0 Nathan Gorman in the fifth round with a right hand at 02 Arena in Greenwich last year. Dubois is a a young 23 years old, 6’5″ and 239 to 244 pounds approximate, is a still evolving modern day reincarnation of a rising Cassius Clay.
Joyce, 11-0 with ten knockouts, Putney, London, United Kingdom, 2016 Olympic Games Super Heavyweight Silver Medalist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At 6’6″ 261 to 270 pounds approximate, Joyce has gone the distance with Bryant Jennings, and will look for the points win here. However, Joyce will turn 36 years old in 2021 and is too old to make a serious run against Dubois, and will likely be exposed. If the bout does go the hard distance, Joyce figures to get the scorecards. Dubois by knockout or stoppage within eight.
Major Heavyweight Bout Number Three: Anthony Joshua versus Kubrat Pulev, Heavyweights, 12 rounds, December 12, 2020, 02 Arena, Greenwich, United Kingdom
World Boxing Association World Heavyweight Title
World Boxing Organization World Heavyweight title
International Boxing Federation World Heavyweight title
International Boxing Organization World Heavyweight title
Joshua, 23-1 with 21 knockouts, Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, inactive for over a year after winning a rematch against Anthony Ruiz. At 6’6″ and 237 to 247 pounds approximate, 31 years old, Joshua towers over Pulev, 18-1 with 14 knockouts, Sofia, Bulgaria. At 6’4 ½” 248 to 255 pounds approximately, Pulev has gone 12 rounds with Tony Thompson, Dereck Chisora, Travis Walker, Kevin Johnson and Hughie Fury. A lengthy technical fight favors Pulev. However, Pulev’s fifth-round knockout loss to Vitali Klitschko in 2014 exposed the disadvantage in size differential. Look for Joshua to knock Pulev out or stop him within eight or nine rounds, probably sooner. If Pulev cuts as he sometimes does, the bout will eventually be stopped if he takes too much punishment.
Also on the same Anthony Joshua versus Kubray Pulev card
Hughie Fury versus Mariusz Wach, Heavyweights, 10 rounds
Hughie Fury, 24-3, 14 knockouts, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom, at 26 years old, 6’6″, is still smaller than Wach, 6’7 ½ , 36-6 with 19 knockouts, Krakow, Poland. Wach is 40 years old though, and Fury is favored to win by 10 round majority decision in what should prove a razor close matchup of two warriors. Good matchmaking here.
Martin Bakole versus Sergey Kuzmin, Heavyweights, 10 rounds
Bakole, 15-1 with 12 knockouts, Airdrie, Scotland, United Kingdom, by way of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will face the dangerous Kuzmin, 15-1 with 11 knockouts, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, in a rising prospects crossroads bout. Both fighters have lost to Michael Hunter. Kuzmin went the 12 round distance with Hunter, while Bakole got stopped by Hunter within five rounds. Therefore, Kuzmin is therefore favored to win this bout by 12 round decision,
Demsey McKean versus Bowie Tupou, Heavyweights, 10 rounds, Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta, Australia, Wednesday, December 16, 2020
International Boxing Federation Inter-Continental Heavyweight Title
World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific Heavyweight title
At 6’6″, 240 to 250 pounds approximate, southpaw McKean, 18-0 with 12 knockouts, age 30, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, is unknown outside of Australia, but he was still able to stop Jonathan Rice in March 2020 in the tenth round of a scheduled 10 rounder. Tupou, 26-8 with 20 knockouts, Redfern, New South Wales, Australia, by way of Tonga, is smaller than McKean at 6’2 ½”, and at age 38, too old to go the distance or win a round against a younger opponent. Joseph Parker took out the durable Tupou in one round in 2015. In a lengthy ten rounder, Tupou will be stopped by McKean in a competitive bout while it lasts.
Stephen Shaw versus Lyubomyr Pinchuk, Heavyweights, 8 rounds
Thursday, December 17, 2020, Wild Card Boxing, Los Angeles, California
Shaw, 13-0 with 10 knockouts, Saint Louis, Missouri, will outweigh Pinchuk, 12-1-1 with seven knockouts, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by way of Ukraine, by at least 50 pounds. Still, both fighters are in the early stages of their career, so Shaw should win by eight round decision. Pinchuk, the Pennsylvania cruiserweight champion, is not a heavyweight.
Kevin Lerena versus Patrick Ferguson, Heavyweights, 10 rounds (nontitle)
Saturday, December 19, 2020, Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa
Southpaw International Boxing Organization World Cruiserweight champion Lerena, 25-1 with 12 knockouts, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, will move up to heavyweight against Ferguson, 17-2-1 with 13 knockouts, Spokane, Washington. Ferguson is really a cruiserweight, so look for this bout to go off around 205 pounds for both combatants, in effect a super cruiserweight (210 pounds or less) 10 round contest. Lerena is predicted to win by a 10 round decision but is recommended to return to the cruiserweight division.
Damian Wills versus Carlos Reyes, Heavyweight, 6 rounds
Monday, December 28, 2020, Arizona Federal Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona
Wills, 31-4-1 with 24 knockouts, Los Angeles, California, who has battled the likes of Oliver McCall and Chris Arreola, will attempt a comeback at age 40 after seven years of inactivity.
Alexander Povetkin versus Dillian Whyte (rematch), Heavyweights, 10 rounds
Saturday, January 30, 2020, SSE Arena, Wembley, United Kingdom
Whyte, 37-2 with 21 knockouts, Brixton, London, United Kingdom, having been knocked out by Povetkin in the fifth round of a bout he was winning in august 2020 at Matchroom Fight camp in Brentwood, and then exercising his mandatory rematch clause, will have to wait. The rematch has been rescheduled as Povetkin, 36-2-1 with 25 knockouts, Chekhov, Russian Federation, is recovering after contracting the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus.
21-0 Montenegro heavyweight prospect Marko Radonjic (eight-rounder), 19-0 Connecticut USA prospect Cassius Chaney (six-rounder), and 19-0 Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA prospect Darmiani Rock (ten rounder) are also scheduled to appear in December 2020 bouts, against opponents to be named.
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