SERGEY GULYAKEVICH vs HUMBERTO GUTIERREZ

Mexico’s Humberto Gutierrez faces a formidable task tonight in Los Cabos when he takes on Sergey Gulyakevich for the interim WBC super featherweight title.

At this stage, I couldn’t name all the titleholders in the major sanctioning bodies, with the proliferation of interim champions and “super” champions, but Gulyakevich against Gutierrez is a significant fight.

The bout will be televised on TV Azteca in Mexico, but not in the U.S.

When Azteca America was launched about four years ago I thought this would be great news for U.S. boxing fans, with all the excellent TV Azteca shows now becoming available to fans north of the border on the new sister station.

Sadly, this has not been the case. Azteca America long ago stopped picking up the TV Azteca fights. I would imagine that this is something to do with promoters who deal with TV Azteca having a contractual clause stipulating that the broadcast will cover Mexico only, meaning that there would be extra expenditure involved should the sister station in the north wish to carry the boxing shows. In this economic climate, TV companies are more likely to be cutting back than loosening the purse strings — especially where boxing is concerned.

It is all a bit frustrating for boxing fans, but then I suppose being a boxing fan and frustration go hand in hand these days.

Anyway, the fans in the arena and the Mexican viewing audience should see an outstanding fight tonight.

Gulyakevich is the obvious favourite, but the wagering lines at the sportsbooks seem on the high side to me. I think that this has the potential to be a highly competitive fight.

The 28-year-old Gulyakevich, from Belarus, is a difficult proposition for anyone. He is tall (5ft 10ins), skilful and fast, with a high workrate. His only loss was on a technical decision against the much more experienced Alex Arthur, in Scotland, but that was three years ago and he has matured into a more authoritative, all-around better fighter. He is unbeaten since losing to Arthur, and in his last fight he travelled to Germany and clearly outscored the unbeaten Olympic bronze medallist Vitali Tajbert, although perhaps his most impressive performance came when he won the European title by completely outboxing and even outclassing the stocky Armenian slugger, Leva Kirakosyan. The fight was in Italy, where Kirakosyan was the house fighter. Kirakosyan was known to be heavy handed and dangerous, but Gulyakevich left him at the starting gate. How one judge could have had that fight scored as closely as 115-113 was a mystery.

Gutierrez has his work cut out for him and no mistake. The 20-year-old Mexican fighter does have a chance, though. He is a southpaw with good hand speed who can punch. His biggest win was his unanimous 10-round decision victory over the cagey counter puncher Guadalupe Rosales, when he reversed his only loss.

I was able to see several of Gutierrez’s early bouts (before Azteca America stopped televising the TV Azteca shows) and he looked like an outstanding prospect, easily blowing away his opponents. He hasn’t looked nearly such a hard hitter lately (two stoppage wins in his last eight bouts), but he has been meeting a tougher type of opponent even if their records were not always impressive — some Mexican fighters are a lot better than the statistics suggest.

Gutierrez has a cocky way about him, often dropping his hands, and I have noticed that he tends to get hit perhaps more than necessary. He is a good offensive fighter, though — and he seems able to hurt the other man early or late. In his rematch with Rosales, it looked as if Gutierrez was fading in the last round when he suddenly staggered his opponent across the ring with a big left hand.

Looking at the talent level of the fighters and their respective records, it is hard to see Gulyakevich losing. There is even a bit of the man-versus-boy look to the fight. Gulyakevich is tough, talented and hungry, and he has just signed a promotional contract with one of the top U.S. promoters, Dan Goossen, so if he wins tonight his career could really take off.

I get the impression with Gutierrez, though, that he has never really fought up to his full potential. He has boxed a number of times as a lightweight or even as a junior welter, which suggests that he hasn’t always been in the best possible condition. At 130 pounds, motivated and in tiptop shape, he just might be a live underdog — certainly he has greater boxing ability than the one-dimensional Kirakosyan and he is a far better puncher than the competent but not very hard hitting Tajbert.

Still, if Gutierrez is going to spring a surprise tonight he will have to fight better than he has ever fought. In Mexico, with the fans behind him, he might be able to rise to the occasion. As a straight pick, the choice has to be Gulyakevich. For those of the sporting persuasion, though, Gutierrez, at attractive odds, might be worth a tickle.