There’s tough and there’s Ann Wolfe tough, as the video above demonstrates. You know what’s better than having a medicine ball chucked at your head by the baddest bitch on the planet? This week’s boxing schedule — check it out.
- Adonis Stevenson Vs. Sakio Bika, Saturday, CBS, Quebec City. Al Haymon continues his steady March to world domination withPremier Boxing Champions’ debut on CBS. Stevenson (25-1, 21 KO), the not-very-likable light heavyweight champion, takes on rough-and-tumble Bika (32-6-3, 21 KO). If Stevenson wanted a soft touch while avoiding Sergey Kovalev, Bika is a strange choice. Those he’s moving up from super middleweight and was outclassed in his last fight by Anthony Dirrell, he’s never, ever an easy outing. Stevenson is 36 and was dropped in his last outing by the relatively unheralded Andrzej Fonfara, so you never know what might happen. Stevenson will know he’s been in a fight, though. On the undercard, the light heavyweight Russian wrecking ball not called Kovalev, Artur Beterbiev (7-0, 7 KO), continues his assault on the pro ranks against Spanish lefty Gabriel Campillo (25-6-1, 12 KO). It’s an interesting move in a fast-moving career — Campillo is an accomplished, awkward southpaw cursed with the Achilles heel of a weak chin. Beterbiev can definitely throw, so if he can catch Campillo he can put him down, it just might have to suffer through some frustrating rounds to do so.
- Gabriel Rosado vs. Curtis Stevens, Saturday, DirecTV PPV, Las Vegas. Middleweight fringe contenders Rosado and Stevens are boxing, just not under the Queensberry Rules. This is “Big Knockout Boxing” pay-per-view will take place in a pit and the gloves will be less padded. Rosado (21-9, 13 KO under the Queensberry Rules) stopped Brian Vera in the same set-up last August, but faces a fresher and harder punching foe in Stevens (27-5, 20 KO). It’s kind of hard to say what will happen, given the smaller gloves. In a sense they give Rosado an advantage, in that he wasn’t a huge puncher in bigger gloves, though a knockout artist like Stevens may not need much to end the fight givens Rosado’s porous defence.
- Julian Ramirez vs. Raul Hidalgo, Thursday, Fox Sports 1/Fox Deportes, Los Angeles. Golden Boy loves the idea of hosting club fights in Los Angeles, and to that end they have featherweight prospect Ramirez (13-0, 8 KO) taking on veteran Hidalgo (23-12, 17 KO). I think you can guess how this one ends.
- Petr Petrov vs. Gamaliel Diaz, Friday, ESPN2/ESPN Deportes, Corona Calif. Lightweight Petrov won Friday Night Fights’ inaugural “Boxcino” tournament and then promptly did nothing with his momentum. That wasn’t his fault; in January a scheduled fight with Hank Lundy fell through when Lundy, a late replacement, failed to make weight. Now he’s coming back after nearly a year out of the ring and his first assignment is Diaz (38-11-3, 17 KO), a former junior lightweight titlist. It’s a good, potentially entertaining scrap for FNF, I’d favour Petrov as the naturally bigger guy, but not with a huge amount of conviction — Diaz is probably better than any of the guys Petrov beat in “Boxcino”.
- Carlos Cuadras vs. Luis Concepcion, Saturday, Metepec Mexico. A fun junior bantamweight fight between entertaining Mexican boxer-puncher Cuadras (31-1, 25 KO) and Panamanian puncher Concepcion (32-3, 23 KO). Concepcion hasn’t fought the best competition since a pair of punishing losses to Hernan Marquez in 2011, so it’s a bit hard to gauge where he’s at. I’d favour Cuadras’ more disciplined approach in any case. He’s a really fun one to watch.
