HBO, SHOWTIME BOXING WEEKEND PREVIEW

As we all know, Top Rank and Golden Boy won’t be doing any business in the near future and now HBO & Showtime are involved in it too. They both are offering up interesting, if not spectacular, cards tomorrow night and to set a good example, as well as because I’m lazy, I’m offering up a potpourri of the weekends bouts with no care of where or when they are televised. I’m just running them down in the order of my interest. It’s an eclectic group of match ups that have some level of interest, yet it’s difficult for me to predict which ones will deliver. That’s the beauty of such an unpredictable sport. One thing I am certain of; something is going to be, at a minimum, very good.

I’ve long considered Erislandy Lara a guy that would be a multiple time champion and a P4P mainstay. While I still think those achievements are well within his grasp, tomorrow night’s bout with Alfredo Angulo is his proving ground. The Cuban is an expert counter puncher who struggles to remain active if he is forced into the lead role. That’s led to some less than stellar performances, but with Angulo he will have no such worries.

Angulo is always going to come forward and fire punches with both hands. His defense is not a strong suit, but he has a solid chin and if Lara fights passively he is exactly the kind of opponent that can outwork him. The big question is what kind of dent they can put on each other. I’ve never seen Erislandy hurt, but I’ve never seen him hit very clean either. Alfredo took a lot of punishment at the hands of Kirkland, but I’d call his beard above average. That doesn’t mean he can’t be rocked by a precision counter he doesn’t see coming.

While I have some trepidation that initially didn’t exist, I still believe in Lara and I think this is his time to prove it in entertaining style. Angulo will never stop coming, but Erislandy lands hard enough with his left hand to keep him from full blown pressure and takes a fairly wide decision.

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Like Lara, Chad Dawson is one of my favorite fighters. I fully understand that the masses don’t find either of them appealing, but I do. Dawson has long taken on the toughest opposition he can get in the ring and that deserves respect no matter what your opinions are on the entertainment value of his fights. Stevenson definitely has one punch power and the confidence to try and use it. However, this is a steep climb in competition for Adonis and I don’t know if the home crowd and one shot power can overcome the experience and skills of the champion.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Stevenson caught Chad at some point and scored a knockdown, I would be completely shocked if Chad didn’t get up and go back to work. He’s resilience is something I’ve always considered a strength and I expect him to bounce back from the brutal loss to Ward in emphatic fashion with a mid-round stoppage of an over matched foe.

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I haven’t read a whole lot about Yuriorkis Gamboa and Darleys Perez, but this battle of unbeatens promises to be action packed. Gamboa hasn’t done himself any favors with incessant inactivity, but when he is in the ring his product is always intriguing. Nothing like a fighter that combines dynamic talent with culpable and exhibited vulnerability. Perez is a big puncher, in a division that Gamboa is just entering. I would also add his criticized performance over, the then unknown; Bahodir Mamadjonov now looks like a much better result than it did at the time.

Gamboa has the kind of upper elite speed that could make things easy for him in a lot of fights, he also loves to bang and the combination of the two is what makes him so thrilling. Perez is a very dangerous opponent and I think the odds are selling him way shorter than he deserves. I expect some explosive action and for Yuriorkis to suffer more than a flash type of knock down along the way, but I’m still going with the Cuban by decision.

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The most overlooked bout of the weekend is coming from Germany when Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi continue their exciting rivalry with a third fight after they drew in one of the better fights of 2012. Say what you will about Marco, he takes on all comers and should be applauded for giving another fight to a man with a style that is absolutely wrong for him. Afolabi is faster, a bit tighter and equally as tough. While I’m tempted to side with Ola, I think Huck does enough to get another controversial decision at home in an excellent fight.

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In a fight that I imagine tops a high number of weekend lists for fans, two absolute warriors go at it when Marcos Maidana battles Josesito Lopez in the Showtime Main Event. There is no doubt there will be tremendous action in this one, they both deliver nothing but. My only concern is whether Lopez has the skills and power to match his heart. While I know he’ll give a compelling effort, I just have the feeling that Marcos is a step too far and after some competitive early action he will start to break Josesito down before stopping him late. If I’m wrong, and I’m wrong a lot, this could be epic.

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–          Jermell Charlo over Demetrious Hopkins in a wide, dull, decision.

–          With both Main cards starting at 10. Showtime Extreme offers up a sleeper of an action fight with Yoshihiro Kamegai taking on Johan Perez. I’ll take Kamegai by tight decision in a war.

–          War Noguiera! Got to mention Big Nog and I’ll take him by decision over Fabricio Werdum.

–          In a column about fighting, I feel obligated to mention that Chris Bosh is the softest athlete I’ve ever seen!