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This is an interesting weekend for boxing fans. There are three good fight cards on TV, including two on ShowTime's "Free Preview Weekend." Let's take a look:
{1} On Friday night, ShowTime has the semi-final round of their high-quality Super Middleweight tournament. There are four very talented boxers, and each stands a good chance of winning. Jean Paul Mendy fights Henry Buchanan, and Anthony Hanshaw fights Lafarrell Bunting.
Mendy, from France, is 32 years old. His record is 22-0, with 12 KOs. In the first round, he scored a TKO in 1:45 of round one against tough Dallas Vargas. He is 3 inches taller than Buchanan.
Buchanan, 28 years old, is 14-0, with 11 KOs. In the first round, he fought with a broken hand, and won a lopsided decision over Lucas Green-Arias.
Anthony "The Tiger" Hanshaw, age 28, is 20-0, with 13 KOs. He won a decision over Estaban Camon in the first round. He has had two extended periods of inactivity in his professional career; one for 23 months, another for 21 months. The Ohio fighter is 6' tall.
Lafarrell "Memphis Fairway" Bunting, age 26, is 16-1-1, with 16 KOs. He was a substitute for Sakio Bika, and had only 4 days' notice (and dropped 14 lbs!) before scoring a 5 round TKO over Jose Luis Herrera. He is also 6' tall. The only match he has had that didn't end by knockout was the draw.
{2} On Saturday at 9pm est, ShowTime has a fantastic card. In the first fight, IBF/IBO Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan (26-0, with 21 KOs) defends against Glenn Donaire (16-2-1, with 9 KOs). The champion is one of the toughest, most exciting small fighters in the game today. I think he would be the "main event" on almost any fight card. I think he has a good challanger in front of him, and boxing fans are in for a real treat!
The main event is outstanding. It pits Diego "Chico" Corrales defending his WBC Lightweight title against former WBA Super Featherweight champion, Joel Casamayor. This is their "rubber match."
On 10-4-03, Casamayor won a 6 round TKO. He decked Corrales twice; was decked once; stunned several times; lost a point on a foul (and got away with a half-dozen others); and had a controversial decision made by the ringside doctor go his way. On 3-6-04, Corrales won a tough 12-round split decision. ShowTime has been playing both fights for the past 10 days. They are very exciting, and I think it makes for a more interesting rubber match than Corrales vs Castillo would have.
Corrales is 40-3, with 33 KOs. He is widely recognized as one of the most explosive, exciting fighters of this era. Win or lose, he never is in boring fights.
Casamayor was 380-30 in the amateurs. He won a Gold Medal in the '92 Olympics, and was expected to repeat in '96, when he walked away from the Cuban team. He is 33-3-1 with 20 KOs, and is very talented.
Both of these guys are getting older, and are a step slower than they were in their first two fights. But it is a "grudge match." Neither man likes the other. I think that we are going to see a brawl.
{3} HBO has a card starting Saturday at 10pm est that will be interesting. On the undercard, there is a re-match of the lightheavyweights Tomasz Adomek versus Paul Briggs. Adomek won a close 12 round decision 17 months ago. He is 30-0, with 21 KOs. He defends his WBA title against Briggs, who is 25-2, with 18 KOs.
The main event will be Nikolay Valeuv defending his "title" against Monte Barrett. The Russian fighter is 7' tall, and weighs 325 lbs. His record is 44-0, with 32 KOs. He has most recently beat John Ruiz and Owen Beck. I've only seen a few film clips of this guy, and he is something of a mystery. But Don King is convinced he can market him in the USA.
Monte Barrett seems a safe choice on paper, but he may surprise King. We remember that he was a top amateur in New York State, winning both the Golden Gloves and Empire Games. And he won the national PAL title.
Barrett started off strong as a pro, and has wins over guys like Owen Beck, Domminick Guinn, and old-times Greg Page and Tim Witherspoon. But he has lost to guys like Joe Mesi (controversial decision), and to large guys like Lance Whitaker. Bert Sugar says he has a good chin, because he got up after being decked by Mesi, and 5 times by Vladimir Klitschko. He is 6' 3", with a record of 31-4, with 17 KOs.
Enjoy the Fights!!! Any predictions?
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