ARREOLA: says he means business. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Arreola -1200; Quezada +600
Over 6.5 +120; under 6.5 -140
Apparently disappointed with himself for his losing performance against Tomasz Adamek in April, Chris Arreola promises a much-improved display when he meets Manuel Quezada in the main event on Friday Night Fights.
I wouldn’t say this fight is make or break for Arreola, but it is very important to his career. Arreola is 29. Vitali Klitschko outclassed him, but Arreola seemed to have a very good chance of beating Adamek. It looked a fight that Arreola might have won, too, had he possessed a bit more energy. He seemed to hurt the Polish boxer at times but couldn’t sustain the offensive and Adamek deservedly and clearly outpointed him, even though it was a majority decision (one round on one card from being a draw).
ALEXANDER: Looking stronger, punching harder. / Photo: DAVID MARTIN WARR, DKP
Alexander -800; Kotelnik +500
Over 11.5 -180; under 11.5 +140
The junior welter division is star-studded, with Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana all holding championship belts while Juan Manuel Marquez has said he seeks a title at 140 pounds and Victor Ortiz is waiting in the wings.
Most people in the business believe that Bradley and Alexander are the best of this talented bunch. Bradley won comfortably but not in very exciting fashion when testing the welterweight waters on HBO a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday, it’s Alexander’s turn to show what he can do when he defends his title at home in St. Louis against the seasoned and durable former champ Andreas Kotelnik on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
AVALOS (left) weighed 118, MARTIN 120 / Photo: TOM CASINO, for Showtime
Avalos -700; Martin +450
Over 6.5 +120; under 6.5 -140
Chris Avalos is the type of young fighter that fans like to see — bright, exciting, hard hitting and someone who gets right down to business. The undefeated 20-year-old bantamweight from Lancaster, CA has blown out his last three opponents, including an impressive fourth-round demolition of the seasoned southpaw Jose Nieves on ShoBox in January.
Avalos meets another unbeaten boxer in Friday’s ShoBox main event when he faces Christopher Martin, a 24-year-old from San Diego, in a scheduled 10-rounder.
CLOUD is ready for war. / Photo: BOB BARTON, DKP
Cloud -230; Johnson +180
Over 10.5 -165; under 10.5 +135
It’s youth versus experience in what should be a bruising battle on HBO this Saturday when Tavoris Cloud defends his IBF light-heavy title against the always-tough Glen Johnson in St. Louis.
Cloud is young, strong and unbeaten, and he’s the favourite. Johnson is 41 — the older man by 13 years — but he looked just as grindingly efficient as ever when overpowering Yusaf Mack in six rounds in his last fight.
LINARES: rebuilding after a one-round shocker. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Linares -350; Juarez +280
Over 9.5 -180; under 9.5 +140
When Amir Khan suffered a shocking first round knockout loss against Breidis Prescott he picked himself up, dusted himself off, and — astutely guided by trainer Freddie Roach —came back with a series of wins to make himself one of boxing’s biggest attractions.
Jorge Linares was, like Khan, a one-round knockout victim when he lost his junior lightweight title to Juan Carlos Salgado in Tokyo last October. He, too, is attempting to pick up the pieces and show that what happened was just an accident, and he hopes to take a major step forward when he meets the tough and capable Rocky Juarez on the big PPV show in Las Vegas on Saturday.
GUERRERO and wife Casey: a load has been lifted from his mind. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Guerrero -460; Casamayor +320
Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155
Robert Guerrero goes into Saturday night’s 10-rounder against Joel Casamayor with a burden lifted from his mind. Guerrero has gone through a time of personal turmoil as his wife, Casey, battled leukaemia. A bone marrow transplant was successful and Casey is now cancer-free. A much-relieved Guerrero says he is now able to focus on his boxing career again.
The fight with Casamayor has been described as a junior welter contest, but I consider the boxers to be lightweights. The weights are what you would expect a lightweight to weigh for a non-title bout, with Guerrero coming in at 138 ½ pounds, Casamayor at 138. (Guerrero, though, looked the trimmer man at the scales.)
Ennis -105; Rosado -115
Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155
There is an echo of the past about promoter Russell Peltz’s show in Philadelphia on Friday, when Derek Ennis defends his USBA junior middle title against Gabriel Rosado. Both boxers live in Philadelphia, and Peltz has been recalling some of the great all-Philly showdowns of yesteryear.
“In 1961, when I was 14 years old, my dad took me to the old Arena at 46th & Market Street to see Harold Johnson defend his light-heavyweight title against Von Clay,” Peltz said in a communication from his office a couple of weeks ago. “Johnson was from Manayunk and Von Clay was from West Philadelphia.
Marquez -320; Diaz +280
Over 10.5 +100; under 10.5 -120
Time was when it didn’t matter too much if a fighter lost, as long as he pleased the boxing public. This old-school way of thinking resurfaces on Saturday when Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz meet in a lightweight championship rematch on HBO PPV from the Mandalay Bay casino resort, Las Vegas. Each man lost in his last fight, but this hardly seems to matter. The people at Golden Boy Promotions take the view that the first bout between Marquez and Diaz was so dramatic and thrilling that fans will surely want to see the sequel. I think they are right. Marquez-Diaz II simply looks like being a rousing fight, and that really is all that matters.
DANNY JACOBS: impressive maturity. / Photo: Golden Boy Promotions
The last time a New York boxer took on a Russian fighter in Las Vegas it wasn’t a good night at all for the representative of the Empire State. Brooklyn was in the house, but not for very long as Zab Judah crashed out of the fight in the second round, courtesy of Kostya Tszyu’s arrow-straight right hand.
On Saturday, Brooklyn’s Danny Jacobs steps up in class to meet Russia’s formidable Dmitry Pirog for the vacant WBO middleweight title in what many regard as the most intriguing bout on HBO’s PPV show at the Mandalay Bay casino resort.
What struck me immediately was the contrast between the pre-fight approach of Judah and Jacobs. “Super” Zab was full of talk about what he was going to do to Tszyu, whereas Jacobs talks respectfully about his opponent. I much prefer the Jacobs manner of conducting himself.
Casimero -160; Hirales +130
Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155
There is a fight in Mexico on Saturday that I find quite intriguing. It is a bout for the WBO’s interim junior flyweight title between Johnriel Casimero, the undefeated champion from the Philippines, and Ramon Garcia Hirales, a Mexican fighter who has lost one of 14 bouts.
Casimero looks as if he could be a bit special. Only 20, he has won 14 bouts in a row, and he scored a spectacular victory when he knocked out Cesar Canchila, the former WBA interim champion, in the 11th round in Nicaragua last December.
UZELKOV (left) weighed 172, SHUMENOV 175. / Photo: JAN SANDERS, Goossen Tutor
Shumenov -140; Uzelkov +120
Over 9.5 -160; under 9.5 +140
Eastern Europeans meet in a high-quality main event on Friday Night Fights tonight when Beibut Shumenov, from Kazakhstan but Las Vegas-based, defends his WBA light-heavy title against the mandatory challenger, Viacheslav Uzelkov, of Ukraine.
There are those who feel that Shumenov got a bit exposed when he struggled to win a much-disputed split decision over Gabriel Campillo in their rematch in Las Vegas in January, after having lost a close decision to the Spanish southpaw in Kazakhstan in August 2009.
HALL: defends British title in his home area.
Hall -220; Power +180
Over 9.5 -140; under 9.5 +120
Coming back to face the man who stopped him is a tough thing for a boxer. The fighter who won first time has the psychological advantage. In a long, tough fight, the boxer who did the stopping might think: “I got this guy out of the fight before, if I keep fighting and keep punching I can do it again.”
Yet a fighter can gain revenge over the man who stopped him. Sometimes it is a matter of learning from past mistakes. Tactics might be changed, or tweaked a little. Or, sometimes, a boxer simply trains harder for the rematch, or gets himself into a better place mentally — more focused, more determined.
