No, it’s not the Eye of Sauron, it’s just Antonio Margarito. Don’t worry, though, the eye is TOTALLY HEALTHY according to Mexican doctors, and Margarito has been cleared to fight on Saturday night. That sordid affair won’t be the only fight on this week, though. The other names in the headline are in action on HBO and Showtime, and there are a few other lesser bouts too.
- Luis Ortiz vs Tony Thompson, Saturday, HBO, Washington, D.C. Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz seems to be on the outside looking in as bigger heavyweight fights, such as Anthony Joshua vs Charles Martin, are made. Coming off the back of an impressive stoppage of Bryant Jennings, I’m not sure how this fight helps his cause. Best case scenario: he beats a 44-year-old, big whoop. Virtually every other scenario involves said 44-year-old making him look really bad (he has a knack for it). On the undercard welterweight slicksters Sadam Ali and Jessie Vargas meet in what should be a tactical battle.
- Julian Williams vs Marcello Matano, Saturday, Showtime, Bethlehem Pa. Williams, a junior middleweight prospect on the way to contendership, faces an unknown from Italy in a fight that doesn’t really cut the mustard as a Saturday night premium cable main event. On the undercard it’s more middleweights, with Antoine Douglas fights Georgian swarmer Avtandil Khurtsidze in what could be an entertaining bit of matchmaking and Detroit’s Tony Harrison looking to bounce back from his upset knockout loss to Willie Nelson against Fernando Guerrero, who is chinny but no pushover.
- Lucas Browne vs Ruslan Chagaev, Saturday, AWE, Grozny, Russia. Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne puts his undefeated record on the line against Ruslan Chagaev. It’s Browne’s first real step up and frankly, it’s a shocking style match-up for him. He’s not that fast and the well-schooled Chagaev should be able to box his socks off.
- Antonio Margarito vs Jorge Paez, Saturday, beIN Sports Español, Mexico City. What can you say about this? A medically unfit has-been versus a physically unfit never-was. If Margarito wants to go blind, fine. But I won’t be watching.
- Mike Perez vs Martin Honorio, Friday, Estrella TV, Los Angeles. In what could be an interesting fight, Perez, a one-time junior welterweight prospect who has been in the ring only sporadically in recent years, takes on hard-bitten veteran Honorio.
- Orlando Cruz vs. Romulo Koasicha, Friday, Telemundo, Tampa Fla. Junior lightweight fringe contender (and the first openly gay pro boxer) Cruz fights Mexico’s Koasicha, who you right remember as Vasyl Lomachenko’s last victim.
- Shinsuke Yamanaka vs Liborio Solis, Friday, Kyoto. The world’s #1 bantamweight, Yamanaka, fights Venezuelan fringe contender Solis at home.
