A big week of heavyweight boxing need a heavyweight mullet. And nobody in boxing has a more heavyweight mullet than Australian heavyweight Mark de Mori (pictured), who’s taking on David Haye on Saturday.
In other news: Welcome to 2016! Boxing is back on TV and that’s reason enough to celebrate. I hope you’re feeling nice and relaxed after the holidays, and even if you’re not, then I hope you’re in the mood to see people punch each other in the face.
- Deontay Wilder vs Artur Szpilka, Saturday, Brooklyn, Showtime. Wilder, a pretender to the heavyweight throne, is kinda treading water here before facing some kind of sterner test. Szpilka, a Polish southpaw, is tough and game, it’s just that all the natural attributes line up for Wilder, reach and power chief among them. Meanwhile, on the undercard fellow heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov and Charles Martin face off in an audition to be Wilder’s (or Anthony Joshua’s) next opponent. I don’t think the better-drilled Glazkov is going to have any trouble with Martin, a tall, sloppy southpaw.
- David Haye vs Mark De Mori, Saturday, London. Former cruiserweight champ turned heavyweight loudmouth Haye returns to the ring after “retiring,” but doesn’t manage to land on a major TV channel. Can’t say I’m weeping for him. He’s fighting de Mori, whose impressive record of 30-1-2 has come against limited opposition in Australia and in Europe. De Mori won’t be threat unless Haye has really slipped. He does have great hair, though.
- Erick De Leon vs. Fidel Navarette, Saturday, Dallas, Unimas. Detroit junior lightweight prospect De Leon takes on the once-beaten Navarette, who has done all of his fighting in Indiana, a state not exactly known as a hotbed of boxing talent.
