Boxing: The Weekend Preview

Boxing: The Weekend Preview

By Rachel Aylett

There are no stand-out fights this weekend, but four of the major promotional companies have shows which will all be available to watch on tv in the UK. Probellum stage a decent card in Sheffield on Friday evening, which can be viewed free on fite.tv. On Saturday, Boxxer showcases the women’s fight of the week in Manchester on Sky; Top Rank goes low-key from Las Vegas, also broadcast on Sky; and Matchroom are in Cleveland with a decent line-up, as always on DAZN.

The best fighter in action this week is Croydon’s Sunny Edwards, who defends his IBF flyweight title in Sheffield against a very good opponent indeed, in Felix Alvarado, the former IBF champion at light-flyweight. The Nicaraguan is a formidable opponent for Sunny. He is vastly experienced, having started his pro career way back in 2010 and won his world belt at the third time of asking, stopping Filipino Randy Petalcorin in seven rounds in the latter’s home country.

Alvarado subsequently defended his belt twice – one of his defences being away again in Japan, before relinquishing to move up to flyweight. Alvarado, 38-2 (33), is on a 20-fight winning run, including 18 stoppages, going back to 2014. His only two losses were in his first two title challenges, in Japan and Argentina, where he was comfortably outscored on both occasions. This writer has previously described him as “a wild version of Chocolatito”, as he charges forward with eyes wide open, letting both hands go.

The champion from England is not to everyone’s taste. His style is the epitome of the old adage “hit and don’t get hit” as he glides and pirouettes around the ring, landing his lightning-fast, stinging jabs and making his opponents miss by a mile. Edwards is currently 18-0 (4) and although he is widely mocked on social media by a solid band of “haters”, he is quite brilliant at what he does. You only need to watch the way he demoralised and thrashed veteran South African, Moruthi Mthalane in April 2021, in his title-winning effort, to see what he can do to even the best flyweights.

The expectation then is that Edwards will be skirting the ring, being the matador yet again to Alvarado’s red-eyed bull. There were periods in Alvarado’s victory over South African challenger Deejay Kriel, when he was made to look crude and basic. But he was able to catch up with his tormentor and get the late stoppage. Kriel had the blueprint and Edwards has the capability of making him look just as bad for all 12 rounds. But Alvarado has the equaliser and, remember, Sunny has been down against the likes of Marcel Braithwaite and Junior Granados. Alvarado has the power to finish him off, if he can just catch him.

The oddsmakers do not think he will, making Edwards a 1/5 hot favourite, whilst Alvarado comes in at 7/2. Sunny surprised most watchers in his last defence, often standing and trading punches with Muhammad Waseem, which made it his hardest fight to date. Expect him to stay on his bike for most of this fight. I see him having to come through some hardships before taking a clear decision, but Alvarado will be dangerous in the first half of the fight.

On Saturday in Manchester, Natasha Jonas, 12-2-1 (8), continues on her inexorable march towards becoming undisputed world champion at super-welterweight. She already holds two of the belts and now vies for the third, the IBF, which is currently held by Canadian opponent Marie-Eve Dicaire. “Miss GB” put forth a superb display of box-fighting in her last outing, clearly outpointing Sweden’s WBC champion Patricia Berghult, in September. Jonas, who is boxing four weights above her natural size, beat Berghult on the inside and the outside in a thrilling performance.

Jonas is now 38, and has a wealth of experience in the amateur game, boxing at the 2012 Olympics in London. In any event, Dicaire herself is 36, so will not have any real advantage of youth on her side. Dicaire, like the aforementioned Berghult, is a very decent fighter in her own right. She made three successful defences of the IBF belt after winning it in 2018. At 18-1 (1), her only defeat came when she defended that belt against Claressa Shields, where she lost all 10 rounds (no shame in that). She won the same belt again, which had been vacated by Sheilds, last December and this will be her first defence.

The only downside to Jonas’ career was her stunning stoppage defeat against Viviane Obenauf back in 2018, which at the time left her career in tatters. As time goes on, that performance is looking more and more like an anomaly, as she has been consistently outstanding ever since. The fact that Dicaire only has one stoppage to her name would appear to rule out any lingering concerns about Natasha’s chin. Jonas is currently 1/5 favourite with the bookies, and rightly so, with Dicaire at 4/1. On current form, Jonas is one of the most exciting fighters in the women’s sport. If she is able to find that form again on Saturday, she will win well.

In the U.S. this Saturday, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly of Kazakhstan defends his WBO middleweight title against London’s British titleholder Denzel Bentley on a Top Rank show. Zhanibek, who is still only 29, boxed as a star amateur for many years, first becoming national champion in 2012, winning the world championships in 2013 and boxing in the Rio Olympics of 2016. He is currently 12-0 (8) in the pros and will be making the first defence of the main belt, after winning an interim version last time out against Danny Dignum.

Bentley, 17-1-1 (14), won the British title in May with a close but clear victory over Linus Udofia and has defended it once – last time out against Marcus Morrison. His only defeat was when he stepped out of his class against Felix Cash in April 2021, getting battered to defeat inside three rounds. However, Bentley is a good fighter – certainly good enough to win the European title. But, of course, that is a level below that where Alimkhanuly is currently fighting.

The odds in favour of the champion are 1/25, with Bentley at 9/1. Despite his good knockout record, Alimkhanuly is not a big single hitter. Rather, he wears his opponents down with constant pressure from his southpaw stance. Perhaps his chin has not been greatly tested as yet, which may give Bentley some hope, but the call must be for a stoppage win for the menacing Kazakh around the halfway point.

In Cleveland, hometown hero Montana Love gets to headline the Matchroom show against Aussie Steve Spark. Super-lightweight Love, 18-0-1 (9), has looked superb on occasion – certainly when stopping Ivan Baranchyk in August 2021 and also whilst defeating Mexican Carlos Diaz last December. However, Love was extremely unconvincing last time out, scraping a close points win over Gabriel Valenzuela and being knocked down in the second round. Will the real Montana Love please stand up?

On paper, his rival on Saturday, should not be able to give him too many problems. Spark really is not used to fighting at this level before and on the one occasion he stepped up in class, he was stopped in three rounds by compatriot Tim Tszyu. Granted, that was up at 154, where Spark should not have been fighting, but there is little on Spark’s record to indicate he can give Montana Love any real problems. The odds have Love at 1/9, with Spark listed at 11/2. Love has a grand stage in which to put himself back into favour with his promoters, Matchroom. He must not blow it!

Two to watch:

This week’s prospects to watch once again fight on the same card, on Dynamo Boxing’s Friday evening show in Moscow. First up, we have the second pro outing for the current World Amateur super-heavyweight champion, Mark Petrovsky. The Russian is only 23-years-old so has lots of time to develop. He faces South African veteran Flo Simba. The latter has a 15-5 record, but his last four defeats have all come via first-round stoppage. This tells you everything you need to know.

Also featuring is fellow Russian, Albert Batyrgaziev, 6-0 (5). The Dagestani lightweight is 24 and had a sparkling amateur career, culminating in winning Olympic gold in Tokyo last year. In that tournament, he posted victories over Tsendbatar Erdenebat, Lazaro Alvarez and Duke Ragan, all top-quality opponents. This writer is extremely excited about Batyrgaziev, who is being moved quickly – he is about to face Panama’s good quality Ricardo Nunez, who fought Tank Davis in 2019. This is a big step up for the undefeated prospect and should tell us a lot about his future in the pro game.