Be forewarned: There’s some technical stuff going on at Bloguin that I won’t bore you with, but things might be a little herky-jerky around here for a couple days.
- Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.-John Duddy, Saturday, Top Rank Pay-Per-View, Texas. A little more than a year ago, I would have bought this middleweight fight. Duddy was flawed, but exciting. Chavez was flawed, but exciting. Duddy had the rabid Irish fan base and Chavez the rabid Mexican fan base. Then Top Rank — famous for nurturing youngsters into stars — overcooked the fight a bit too long, which is something they don’t get enough knocks for doing sometimes. Duddy had already been exposed in 2008 but remained fun, then in April of 2009 lost against a journeyman, Billy Lyell, and subsequently became less exciting. Chavez was coming off two slugfests with Matt Vanda in 2008 but hasn’t been fun to watch since starting with his next fight in March 2009. Chavez may have Freddie Roach in his corner, but I doubt he’ll suddenly be good, so we’re talking two fringe contenders who are no longer enjoyable to watch to make up for not being that good. On the undercard, lightweight Marco Antonio Barrera tries to come back from his bloody, somewhat unjust loss to Amir Khan by fighting Adailton De Jesus, who was the first man to deck Yuriorkis Gamboa as a pro. Barrera is a shell of his old self. This is a greaaaaaat card.
- Tyson Fury-John McDermott II, Friday, England. Many think McDermott deserved the upset win over ballyhooed British heavyweight prospect Fury last year, but Fury got the decision. Yes, Fury is a loudmouth and punches himself on accident. I’m still impressed that he would get back in there with someone who gave him a scare.
- Fight Night Club, Thursday, Fox Sports Net/RingTV.com/ustream.com, California. Last time junior welterweight prospect Frankie Gomez was on Fight Night Club, he was explosive, so I’ll be watching. His opponent is Geoffrey Gaya, who has the kind of record you’d expect for an opponent of a prospect in his fourth pro fight. Fellow junior welterweight prospect Jesse Vargas takes on Ernesto Zavala, who’s a legit step up even if he’s lost two of his last five by knockout.
- Solo Boxeo, Friday, TeleFutura, Mexico. Lightweight prospect Pablo Cesar Cano has gobs of knockouts, and Oscar Leon has been knocked out by a whole slew of prospects. Are there any math whizzes in the building?
