Above is my face when I’m looking at the boxing schedule (a joke I stole from Twitter boxing funnyman @theboxingseed). To be fair, at least this week there’s the start of ESPN’s junior middleweight Boxcino tournament, starring Brandon Adams, a finalist from last year at middleweight. Apart from that there are a few bits and pieces, but nothing really of note. Let’s get to it.
- Boxcino Junior Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinals, Friday, ESPN2, Uncasville Conn. It’s great to see that ESPN has brought back the Boxcino format — it really worked last year and produced some workable contenders/fringe contenders. As mentioned above, Brandon Adams (15-1, 10 KO) is back for more — he was runner up in the middleweight stakes last year, but has moved down to his natural weight for this tournament. He’s taking on Alex “The Brick City Bullet” Perez (18-1, 10 KO), an extremely tall and awkward fighter best known for laying an egg against Antonin Decarie in 2012. I hope Adams’ compact punching carries the day — he’s a likable dude. Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis (17-4-2, 6 KO) has graced TV screens before, along with his ridiculous nickname, and takes on Ricardo Pinell (10-1-1, 6 KO). Vito Gasparyan (14-3-5, 8 KO) has been around the traps at this weight, having taken Josesito Lopez and Jermell Charlo the distance. The rest are a cast of undefeated unknowns — but that’s half the fun.
- Derric Rossy Vs. Akhor Muralimov, Saturday, CBS Sports Network, New York. Boxing is on CBS Sports. That kind of snuck up on everyone, what with Al Haymon getting boxing back on real NBC and all, but more outlets showing boxing can only be a good thing. This show isn’t anything special, though, and pits heavyweight journeyman Rossy (29-9, 14 KO) against Uzbekistan’s Muralimov (16-0, 13 KO). The taller, more boxing-savvy Rossy might be too much for the plodding Uzbek, despite his shiny record. Notre Dame alum/submarine sandwich salesman/heavyweight boxer Mike Lee is fighting before the main event. According to the press release, he’ll be commentating after he finishes in the ring (“This marks the first time in history that a boxer will fight and commentate in the same evening”), which tells you everything you need to know about his opponent’s chances.
- David Sanchez Vs. Juan Alberto Rosas, Saturday, beIN Sports Español, Hermosillo. beIN Sports continues its admirable devotion to the lower weight classes with this junior bantamweight bout between these two Mexican mini monsters (Rosas’ nickname is actually “The Monster.)
- Brian Rose Vs. Carson Jones, Saturday, Blackpool. Junior middleweight Rose (26-2-1, 8 KO) continues on the comeback trail after his brutal loss to Demetrius Andrade last year, taking on Jones (36-10-3, 26 KO), a hard done by could-have-been who gave Kell Brook a scare in 2012. Nearly three years and a hard loss in the Brook rematch later and there’s a question mark over how much he has left. How good is Rose really, though? The undercard is one of the one night Prizefighter tournaments that the Brits so love, this time at middleweight (big weekend for tournaments).
