(Via Reddit)
Talk to the hand, Karo, ‘cos Smoges’ face ain’t listening. Hello and welcome to the week’s boxing schedule. Let’s all take a moment to pray that the only hand-to-face action this weekend comes from good old fashioned punching. It’s not a packed week, but there are a few things to get pumped about. Things like the return to the ring of Gennady Golovkin, the middleweight beast from the east who’s creating some major buzz in boxing circles. And also things like two of the biggest (well, actually the smallest) action stars in the sport, Giovani Segura and Hernan Marquez, in a flyweight showdown. Saturday also brings the premier of HBO's "Face Off With Max Kellerman" for Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios.
- Gennady Golovkin vs. Curtis Stevens, Saturday, HBO, New York. In this interview, Golovkin says he’s a different person when he takes his kids to preschool than when he’s boxing. I should bloody well hope so. Otherwise he’d be going around punching small children in the liver, and he’d probably be in prison right now. He’s not, though, so we’ll be able to enjoy him punching Curtis Stevens (25-3, 18 KO) in the liver and face on Saturday. Stevens is a brave dude for wanting a piece of GGG, but I have absolutely no idea how this ends well for him. He’s just out-everything-ed by Golovkin (27-0, 24 KO), though he does have power so maybe he can check his chin. Probably not, though. Sorry Curtis, and remember to be careful what you wish for. D.C. welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez Harrison (17-0, 10 KO), who Tim Starks wrote an excellent feature about last week (have you read it? You should read it), fights on the off-TV portion of the undercard against New Mexico’s Josh Torres (12-2-1, 5 KO). Russian heavyweight prospect Magomed Abusalamov (18-0, 18 KO) is also making an appearance, fighting Cuban heavyweight Mike Perez (19-0, 12 KO). Abdusalamov is a bit of a destroyer and Perez has not-terrible footwork, head movement and handspeed (for a heavyweight), so this could actually be quite a decent scrap.
- Hernan Marquez vs. Giovani Segura, Saturday, UniMas, Hermosillo. Possible Fight of the Year alert! Segura (30-3-1, 26 KO) and Marquez (36-3, 26 KO) are going to go to war, there’s no doubt about it. These little guys have some of the biggest hearts in boxing. I favour Marquez, probably to stop Segura, though. Let me explain my reasoning: at flyweight, Segura just isn’t the clubbing beast he was at light flyweight. He can still win fights and he still hits hard, but he’s no longer an unstoppable steamroller. Marquez isn’t the caveman that Segura is, which will serve him well. While Segura is trying to throw big, wide, looping bombs, Marquez’s straight shots will be landing down the pipe, along with his more compact left hook. And “Tysoncito” doesn’t lack for power either.
- The Rest. Fox Deportes has a fight between junior featherweights Andres Gutierrez and Ernie Sanchez from Queretaro, Mexico on Saturday… Also Saturday Hull lightweight Tommy Coyle (16-2, 6 KO) continues his comeback from a disappointing, last gasp knockout loss to “Dirty” Derry Matthews, facing John Simpson (25-9, 11 KO). Lightweight gold medallist Luke Campbell (2-0) fights on the same card.
