I know everybody told you the schedule is sparse this week, but there are actually some really good fights. I know, I was as shocked as these lions. Still, there's not much point in going through our normal format, since there's not a huge number of fights. On Wednesday there's a streaming card from Montreal on something called PunchingGrace.com. Do not actually punch a lady called Grace, please. Welterweight Antonin Decarie is fighting, along with philosophically named super middleweight Schiller Hyppolite. Meanwhile, enjoyably named strawweights Xiong Zhao Zhong and Oswaldo Novoa are fighting in a place called Haikou in China. You might say it's poetic.
The fights you're more likely to watch take place on Friday and Saturday nights, with ESPN2 showing a bout between middleweights Norberto Gonzalez (20-2, 13 KO) and "The Other" Roberto Garcia (33-3, 22 KO). OK, his nickname isn't really "The Other" (it's "La Amenaza" — the threat), but he's not the coach from Oxnard. I'm not that high on either guy — Garcia is slow and Gonzalez is too showy for his own good — but together they might make a good fight.
The next night there are two cards from Mexico. The first, broadcast on UniMas, is a classic Mexico vs. Puerto Rico card from Baja California headlined by junior lightweight Miguel Beltran, Jr. (28-2, 18 KO) against Jose Gonzalez (22-1, 17 KO), last seen losing to Ricky Burns after giving him a hard time. The hard, straight punching Gonzalez is certain to pose some problems for the more experienced but energetic Beltran with his eight inch reach advantage.
The other Mexican card pits Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #1 junior flyweight Adrian "El Confesor" Hernandez (28-2-1, 17 KO) against up-and-coming Puerto Rican Janiel Rivera (10-1-2, 6 KO) in Mexico State. Rivera has decent pop and an good jab, but Hernandez is going to make him confess. OK, that was an awful metaphor, but you get the picture.
