After a fairly chill week, boxing is back with fights on ESPN2 and Showtime (mainly). Apart from the names in the headline, Gary Russell, Jr., the Charlo twins and Juan Francisco Estrada will also be on the box. Let’s jump right in:
- Breidis Prescott vs. Fredrick Lawson, Thursday, ESPN2, Hialeah Fla. Friday Night Fights is on Thursday night, as it sometimes is. The headliner is an internationally-flavoured welterweight fight between Ghana’s Lawson (23-0, 20 KO) and Colombia’s Prescott (27-6, 20 KO). Lawson is really very fast (if a little wild) and this is his natural weight. I don’t think he’ll have too many problems with Prescott, who’s parlayed his knockout of Amir Khan in 2008 into a long career as a gatekeeper.
- Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Gary Russell, Jr., Saturday, Showtime, Las Vegas. Probably the most exciting fight of the weekend is at featherweight: Veteran puncher Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KO) takes on Russell, Jr. (25-1, 14 KO), who might have the fastest hands in the sport. I think this is a really difficult fight to call — Gonzalez hasn’t fought anyone of note in the two years since he knocked out Abner Mares. And was that a fluke in any case? Russell might be slick enough to find out, and he certainly proved he’s tough enough against Vasyl Lomachenko. On the undercard, junior middleweight Jermell Charlo (25-0, 11 KO) fights Vanes Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 KO) in a fight that could be a bit of an awkward standoff.
- Kell Brook vs. Jo Jo Dan, Saturday, Sheffield, Showtime. Sheffield’s Brook (33-0, 22 KO) fancies himself the future of the welterweight division, but fighting Dan (34-2, 18 KO) isn’t going to prove that to anyone. Still, he’s a tough little unit, and he’ll make sure Brook knows he’s been in a fight.
- Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Rommel Asenjo, Saturday, beIN Sports Español, Merida Mexico. Top flyweight Estrada (31-2, 22 KO) stays busy against the intriguingly named Asenjo (26-3, 20 KO), whose record looks somewhat inflated.
