Boxing! It’s been round for a long time, so there are lots of good archival photos I can find to put on my weekly boxing schedules. This one comes from the Library of Congress: it shows French boxer Charles “Little Apache” Ledoux demonstrating the devastating “punch ’em and kick ’em in the shin at the same time” technique on Frank Fleming.
There’s modern boxing happening this week, though, so I should probably concentrate on that. Omar Figueroa has a relatively easy date with Antonio DeMarco in the biggest fight of the week, on NBC. And besides him and the other names in the headline, British heavyweight hope Antony Joshua is fighting in London. Oh, and Roy Jones, Jr. is fighting Enzo Maccarinelli in Moscow, but the less said about that the better.
- Omar Figueroa vs Antonio DeMarco, Saturday, PBC on NBC, San Antonio TX. You know, I picked DeMarco against Adrien Broner, and I’ll never make that mistake again. Even then he was slow and ponderous, and he’s absorbed a couple more bad beatings since. The hard-nosed Mexican southpaw should have stayed retired. Texas’ Figueroa mightn’t be a defensive genius, but I don’t think it really matters at this stage. The undercard, which will be played on NBC Sports Net, features a weird mixed bag of former contenders and up-and-comers: Dominic Breazeale, Chris Arreola, Victor Ortiz and Terrell Gausha among them.
- Felix Verdejo vs Josenilson Dos Santos, Friday, truTV, San Juan Puerto Rico. Top Puerto Rican prospect/contender Verdejo fights Brazil’s Dos Santos in a bit of a sideways step. At 5’11” Dos Santos is enormous for a lightweight, but he doesn’t offer much else, often lunging into his shots. Meanwhile, on the undercard, Nonito Donaire continues his comeback, taking on Mexican southpaw Cesar Juarez, the owner of some completely meaningless sanctioning body trinket. It’s not like Donaire has looked fabulous in recent years, but Juarez, a pretty wild dude, isn’t there to win.
- Oscar Valdez vs Ernie Sanchez, Saturday, UniMas, Tucson Ariz. Valdez, a 2012 Olympian and the Mexican equivalent of (and possible future rival for) Verdejo, takes a stay-busy fight against undistinguished Filipino Ernie Sanchez, who’s lost three of his last five.
- Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte, Saturday, London. A big English card headlined by enormous London heavyweight Joshua, who’s taking on Whyte, a less impressive but nevertheless undefeated bloke from across town. Joshua is rightly a big favourite, but neither man has beaten anyone of note in the pros yet, so there may be some element of unpredictability (at least that’s what the promoters would have you think). Paulie Malignaggi (?), Kevin Mitchell and Chris Eubank, Jr. appear on the undercard.
- Regis Prograis vs Abel Ramos, Friday, Showtime, Houston TX. A clash of undefeated junior welterweights on ShoBox. Neither fighter looks like a future world beater to me, but they’re not exactly shy, retiring types, either.
- Pedro Campa vs Aaron Herrera, Saturday, HBO Latino, Glendale Calif. Two low-profile Mexican welterweights. They’re both halfway decent. Could be fun.
