Another week, another stupid video. Thanks to the return of big time boxing to TV, we’re still in a celebratory mood here at TQBR. Even the scrapping of this week’s big fight, Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto II, can’t dampen our enthusiasm. We’re da bessssssssss.
It is a little slow though, without Ortiz and Berto and their knockdown-trading antics to look forward to. But there’s a Friday Night Fights show on ESPN2 featuring junior middleweight prospect Demetrius Andrade, Puerto Rican featherweight Orlando Cruz on Telemundo and various offerings from around the world.
- Demetrius Andrade vs. Angel Hernandez, Friday, ESPN2, Connecticut. Junior middleweight Demetrius Andrade has had more opponent switches for this Friday’s Friday Night Fights main event than you and I have had hot dinners. He was originally scheduled to face Philadelphia’s Derek “Pooh” Ennis but Ennis withdrew with a fever. Terrance Cauthen then stepped into the void but failed to return a signed contract (bit of an oversight there, Terrance). Now the job of being Andrade’s (15-0) next victim falls to Angel Hernandez (30-10). Hernandez has been around the block a few times since going pro in 1996, including some respectable performances against the likes of Winky Wright. He’s a fairly standard pressure fighter, which is a young man’s game. And judging by the fact that he’s lost his last three, including being stopped by Peter Manfredo Jr., Hernandez ain’t a young man any more. Andrade’s fight against Grady Brewer was probably the most boring fight I saw last year, with Andrade arrogantly describing his strategy in a pre-fight interview as “jab, jab, jab, jibbity-jab.” And that’s what he did, taking no risks. That’s most likely what he’ll do here too. Consider me not enthused. On the undercard, Philadelphia welterweight prospect Ray Serrano (17-0) takes on Kenny Abril (11-4-1).
- The Rest. Featherweight Orlando Cruz (17-2-1) follows his upset victory over Michael Franco last October with a relatively uninteresting fight against Alejandro Delgado (15-5) on Telemundo on Friday night… The Ring’s number four junior welterweight, Lucas Matthysse (29-2) stays busy in front of his home crowd in Argentina against Ivan Valle (29-11-3), also Friday… Number four junior flyweight and renowned dirty fighter Luis Lazarte (49-10-2) is fighting on a different card in the same country on the same night against Johnriel Casimero (15-2)… Popular D.C. area junior middleweight Jimmy Lange (37-4-2) fights Ruben Galvan (27-20-4) in Virginia off TV on Saturday… HBO’s “On Freddie Roach” series continues on Friday night.
