Cheer up, dog with boxing gloves on its feet! There’s some decent boxing on this week, including luscious locked contender Keith Thurman in a showcase-y bout on ESPN and master boxer Mauricio Herrera on HBO Latino (the other, other HBO). Let’s jump right in.
- Keith Thurman vs Luis Collazo, Saturday, ESPN, Tampa Fla. “Premier Boxing Champions” makes its ESPN debut with an only moderately interesting welterweight bout between rising star Thurman (25-0, 21 KO) and veteran Collazo (36-6, 19 KO). In a sense it’s an odd match, in that few boxers look good against Collazo, a tricky southpaw, and you’d think advisor Al Haymon would be trying to showcase Thurman. But maybe that’s just what he’s doing: Amir Khan managed to put the New Yorker down three times in their fight, and Thurman hits a LOT hard than Khan.
- Mauricio Herrera vs Hank Lundy, Saturday, HBO Latino, Los Angeles. Junior welterweight contender Herrera (21-5, 7 KO) might be the hardest done by man in boxing, having lost decisions to Danny Garcia and Jose Benavidez, Jr. that most observers believed he deserved to win. On Saturday he faces Lundy (25-4, 12 KO), an athletic but inconsistent figure. “El Maestro” does virtually everything better than “Hammerin’ Hank,” so he should probably win.
- Donnie Nietes vs Francisco Rodriguez, Saturday, beIN Sports Español, Cebu Philippines. A nice junior flyweight bout here, with former strawweight titlist Rodriguez (17-2-1, 11 KO) facing divisional stalwart Nietes (35-1-4, 21 KO).
Image: Reddit