The boxing world is pumped because Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao has finall been signed (and rightfully so). The boxing schedule grinds forward like Marcos Maidana at a buffet table (pic via friend of the site Rafe Bartholomew), and we must follow. There’s no truly high level stuff happening this week, just various bits a pieces from around the world. Feel free to dip in and read what interests you, or don’t.
- Cletus Seldin Vs. Johnny Garcia, Friday, ESPN2, Huntington N.Y. After an average week last week with the heavyweight Boxcino tournament Friday Night Fights looks to make good with a clash of come-forward junior welterweights. They’re obviously hoping that “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin (15-0, 12 KO) will become something of a star, because Garcia (19-2-1, 11 KO) is coming off a draw and a loss and hasn’t fought anyone of note. From what footage of seen of him, he’s game, though.
- Pablo Cesar Cano Vs. Juan Carlos Abreu, Friday, FS1/Fox Deportes, Indio Calif. Welterweight Cano (28-4-1, 21 KO) has a lot of what you expect from a Mexican fighter: pressure, aggression, combination punching. But he lacks speed and stamina, and he’s cut very easily. He’s limited enough that this bout with Abreu (18-1-1, 7 KO), a wild puncher from the Dominican Republic, is likely to turn into an all out war.
- Tony Thompson Vs. Odlanier Solis, Friday, Antalya Turkey. I think this is my favourite fight of the week. Not because it’s that good or meaningful (it’s a rematch of Thompson’s upset victory over Solis last year), but because it’s a heavyweight fight between an American and a Cuban at a Turkish golf resort. If that’s not fucking weird, I don’t know what is.
- Julian Rodriguez Vs. Raul Tovar, Saturday, UniMas, Tampa. This is a development bout for junior welterweight prospect “Hammer Hands” Rodriguez (8-0, 7 KO). He doesn’t actually have hammers for hands, luckily for Tovar (14-8-1, 4 KO), and really for himself as well, I guess, because living with hammers for hands would be really difficult.
- Carl Frampton Vs. Chris Avalos, Saturday, AWE, Belfast. If TQBR’s Andrew Harrison is to be believed, a Frampton fight in Belfast is one of the great experiences in modern boxing. The junior featherweight has made his hometown a pugilistic destination, and his run of impressive victories their looks set to continue against Avalos (25-2, 19 KO). The American is a tough cookie to be sure, but he doesn’t possess the speed, skills or savvy of Frampton (19-0, 13 KO), who’ll one-two him all night.
- Tyson Fury Vs. Christian Hammer, Saturday, London. Huge heavyweight chav Fury (23-0, 17 KO) stays busy in against Christian Hammer (17-3, 10 KO), who doesn’t bring much to the table except his comic book name.
