That’s Gennady Golovkin above, in a goddamn Apple Watch commercial. I mean, sure, it doesn’t mention him by name, but that’s still huge. His management team have done a crazy job of building him from a virtually unknown import from a non-traditional boxing demographic into a plausible pay-per-view star. But his fight with David Lemieux is still nearly two weeks away, and in the meantime there’s boxing on this week, so let’s take a look at the schedule.
- Julius Jackson vs Jose Uzcategui, Tuesday, Fox Sports 1/Fox Deportes, San Antonio. PBC continues to dominate the boxing landscape, this time with an early-week, prospect-centered show on Fox. Super middleweight prospect Jackson (19-0, 15 KO) is the son of infamous knockout artist Julian, and the apple mightn’t have fallen far from the the tree when it comes to power. Uzcategui (23-1, 19 KO), however, proved awkward and a tough nut to crack in his only other notable appearance, a unanimous decision loss to Matt Korobov.
- Orlando Cruz vs Gabino Cota, Friday, Telemundo, Kissimmee Fla. Junior lightweight Cruz (21-4-1, 11 KO) is perhaps most notable for being an openly gay boxer. He’s looking to bounce back from a pair of losses against Mexico’s Cota (18-4-1, 16 KO), who himself hasn’t done particularly well in recent outings. Neither guy is setting the world on fire, but they’re not completely terrible either.
- Jorge Linares vs Ivan Cano, Saturday, ESPN3.com, Caracas. Silky smooth Venezuelan lightweight Linares (39-3, 26 KO) looks to defend the strap he won from Kevin Mitchell in a showcase fight at home. Cano (23-6-2, 15 KO) is the fall guy, though you can’t totally write him off, given that Linares’ three losses have all come against tough Mexicans (of a higher caliber than Cano).
- Gabriel Bracero vs Danny O’Connor, Saturday, NBC Sports Net, Lowel Mass. Essentially a club show on TV here, with super fringe-y welterweights Bracero (23-2, 4 KO) and O’Connor (26-2, 10 KO) having a do-over of a 2011 fight that Bracero won by decision.
- Ramon Alvarez vs. Ben Tackie, Saturday, beIN Sports Español, Mexico City. Canelo Alvarez’s big brother Ramon (21-4-2, 13 KO) fights Ghana’s Tackie (30-12-1, 18 KO), who’s lost six of his last seven fights but has never been knocked out.
