Boxing: The Weekend Preview

Boxing: The Weekend Preview

By Rachel Aylett

This weekend’s action sees Matchroom try to win back some recently lost ground and public support by putting on what could potentially be one of the best shows of the year. Hosting in the UAE, their latest card features three world championship fights, all of which are filled with intrigue and uncertainty. DAZN are the broadcasters, as they continue with their outstanding run-in to the end of the year.

Headlining the show is the latest outing of Russian WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, who looks to follow up on his break-out victory from earlier in the year against Canelo Alvarez by taking on top contender Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico. The combined record of these two is 64-0 with 41 stoppages. This fight really is an acid test for both men, neither of whom have been seriously challenged or threatened in their respective careers to date.

Bivol’s stock went up dramatically after beating the sport’s golden goose in May, but as good as Canelo is, he is never a true light-heavyweight and Bivol did exactly what he should have done by beating him convincingly. This victory is surely the reason that he is a 1/4 favourite for this Saturday’s fight, whilst “Zurdo” Ramirez is currently a 3/1 outsider. This writer finds those odds surprising, especially when considering the size and relentless work rate of the southpaw Mexican, who aside from a couple of close-ish fights with Jesse Hart when boxing at super-middleweight, really hasn’t been asked to dig deep. We still don’t know, therefore, how good he really is.  Bivol is rightly the favourite and he has so far been able to nullify his opponents in mostly dull affairs. Expect this fight to be different, as Zurdo goes for glory. Bivol has to be given the edge, but it could be close.

In the super-featherweight chief support, the IBF belt, which was so harshly stripped from incumbent champion Joe Cordina due to his recent injury, is being fought for by Shavkat Rakhimov of Tajikistan and Britain’s Zelfa Barrett. This should be another excellent match, with the Tajik, who is more experienced at the top level, currently rated as a 2/7 favourite, whilst Barrett is an 11/4 bet.  The oddsmakers seem to have got this one right. Rakhimov has fought in the away corner twice against high-level opposition; including getting a draw against Joseph Diaz on the latter’s promoters’ show in California. On the other hand, the Mancunian Barrett struggled in two home ties; getting a hotly disputed decision over Kiko Martinez and being seriously outboxed by Eric Donovan before coming from behind to get a great knockout victory. Rakhimov’s experience should see him home to a points win, but again, a Barrett win is not out of the question. Hopefully, as promised, Cordina will get the first shot at the winner.

The third championship fight will be a real corker, pitching undisputed world welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill against unified super-lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron at the lighter weight for all four belts. Therefore, if the American McCaskill wins, she will become the undisputed world champion at two different weights, certainly putting her in the high echelons of the pound-for-pound rankings. But she is not favoured to do so, with the bookies seeing Northampton’s Cameron as a 3/5 favourite, with the American currently at 11/8. These are rightly the closest odds on the card. With Cameron having barely lost a round yet during her 16-0 career and looking unstoppable in doing so, she will be confident of victory. But McCaskill has already beaten the legendary “First Lady” Cecilia Braekhus twice and has only tasted defeat against Katie Taylor, and Cameron will be tested to the full. McCaskill and manager/trainer Rick Ramos are a truly formidable team and if there is to be an upset on Saturday, this could be it. This is also likely to be the best fight of the weekend.

This Saturday also sees a PBC on Showtime event from Minneapolis, which features a tasty-looking main event at super-middleweight, where Cuban David Morrell (7-0) defends his WBA belt against Kazakh Aidos Yerbossynuly (16-0). Although these two have yet to really establish themselves at the top of the weight class, they are both quality operators. The bookies do not see this as a close one though, with Morrell currently at 1/10 for the victory and the Kazakh as a big outsider at 11/2. A big win here would further push Morrell’s claims of being one of the top fighters in the division.

The rest of this card shapes up like a rehabilitation programme, with a trio of discredited fighters looking to work their way back into the mix in their respective weight classes. Former IBF and WBA super-welterweight champion Jeison Rosario was badly humbled with two stoppage defeats inside nine months against Jermell Charlo and Erickson Lubin.  He has returned, now boxing at middleweight, with three non-descript victories and simply has to win against Brian Mendoza (20-2) on Saturday. This should not be a big ask.

The man who lost those two super-welterweight belts to Rosario – Julian Williams – also fights on the same card.  Williams shockingly lost his last fight to Vladimir Hernandez and has not won a fight since his brilliant victory over Jarrett Hurd, three and a half years ago, which catapulted him to the top of the sport. So far has his stock fallen that he has a real “gimme” on Saturday against veteran Argentine Rolando Mansilla (18-11-1). The latter is a travelling loser and is brought in merely to give J-Rock’s confidence a boost with a long-awaited victory.

Also getting an outing is veteran Andre Dirrell, whose brother Anthony was so convincingly knocked out by Caleb Plant just a few weeks ago. Andre was an Olympic bronze medallist way back in 2004 and after turning pro went to 18-0 before facing Carl Froch for the WBC super-middleweight belt in 2009. Dirrell lost a wafer-thin decision in Froch’s hometown. Next time out, he was involved in the fight which perhaps will define his career. Against big rival Arthur Abraham, Andre was ahead on points when he was struck with a punch whilst kneeling on the canvas after a slip. He suffered a serious concussion and although he won the fight via disqualification, he really has not been the same since. However, he still harbours dreams of fighting for another world title – this time at light-heavyweight – and on Saturday faces another veteran, Yunieski Gonzalez (21-4), of Cuba. There really is nowhere to go for the loser of this fight. Dirrell has been more inactive than the Cuban and this might just prove to be the telling factor.

Two to watch:

Elsewhere on Saturday, German promotional outfit Universum showcase two excellent prospects on their card in Oberhausen. Tokyo Olympian Mourad Aliev, a heavyweight from Russia but now boxing out of France, looks to go to 6-0 in the pro game against 45-year-old Turkish veteran Yakup Saglam (46-7).  Good fighters stop Saglam – Aliev needs to do the same. Also on the card, Belarussian lightweight Dzmitry Asanau tries to get to 5-0 against Ramiro Blanco. The latter is one of the band of Nicaraguan journeymen who fight out of Spain and has lost 12 fights on the bounce. Asanau really deserves better opposition than this. He is a double Olympian, who scored wins over the likes of Andy Cruz, Hector Luis Garcia, MJ Akhmadaliev and Lazaro Alvarez in the amateurs. Make no mistake, if Asanau is handled correctly, this 26-year-old could have a great career ahead of him.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing