STURM dominated with the jab. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
The big boxing action was in Europe last weekend with title fights in Germany, Scotland and Slovenia but U.S. fans were able to see Felix Sturm’s middleweight title fight with Giovanni Lorenzo on ESPN Deportes (also online at espn3.com, coverage that is available only to fans with American internet providers).
Sturm always looked like being on a different level to Lorenzo based on their respective fights with Sebastian Sylvester (Lorenzo lost to Sylvester while Sturm outclassed his German rival). This was one of those fights where the form line proved to be accurate.
LORENZO, STURM: Challenger has the power advantage.
Sturm -350; Lorenzo +280
Over 9.5 -200; under 9.5 +160
Felix Sturm is back in action on Saturday, boxing for the first time in 14 months in his middleweight title defence against Giovanni Lorenzo in Cologne, Germany.
Sturm was inactive while involved in litigation with the once powerful Universum outfit and now promotes his own fights in partnership with Ahmet Öner’s Arena Box-Promotion. Saturday’s fight is a homecoming of sorts, taking place close to Sturm’s hometown of Leverkusen.
MARTINEZ: He's won in Britain before. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Martinez -295; Burns +185
Over 10.5 -145; under 10.5 +125
Home advantage will help Scot Ricky Burns when he challenges junior lightweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez in Glasgow on Saturday, but the heavy hitting champion from Puerto Rico has won in Britain before.
The fight, on the same show as John Simpson’s featherweight bout with unbeaten prospect Stephen Smith, is intriguing, and promoter Frank Warren has delivered a strong double-header to launch the new season of weekly fights on Sky Sports in the U.K. although the switch from Fridays to Saturdays means that European boxing fans will now be faced with fights clashing on TV on a Saturday night. (The Felix Sturm-Giovanni Lorenzo fight in Germany will be televised at around the same time as the Sky show, for instance).
BALOYI: won last time
Baloyi -165; Fana +145
Over 11.5 -180; under 11.5 +150
Cassius Baloyi and Mzonke Fana, well-matched South African veterans, meet in a rematch for the vacant IBF junior lightweight title on a big show at the Carnival City resort on Wednesday. With four competitive, world-class fights on the bill this is one of the strongest South African shows in recent memory.
Baloyi, 35, beat Fana on a majority decision two years ago. One judge had the fight even but the other two scored widely in favour of Baloyi.
CALDERON has the skill and experience advantages. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Calderon -180; Segura +140
Over 10.5 -185; under 10.5 +155
There usually comes a time when great champions with long winning runs suffer their first loss and it always comes as something of a surprise. Antonio Cervantes losing to Wilfred Benitez, Eder Jofre to Fighting Harada, Pascual Perez to Pone Kingpetch, Ruben Olivares to Chucho Castillo, Wilfredo Gomez to Azumah Nelson, are all fights that come to mind in which champions who had been winning title fights almost as a matter of routine left the ring as ex-champs.
One wonders if Ivan Calderon might be coming to the end of his long winning sequence. The Puerto Rican southpaw is a magnificent boxer but at 35 he is at an age when a fighter in the lighter weight classes can suddenly not so much grow old overnight but become old enough to lose a fight they would once have won.
MAIDANA: Showcase fight in front of his Argentinean fans. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Maidana -2000; Corley +900
Over 7.5 +120; under 7.5 -140
Two of Marcos Maidana’s last three fights were on HBO but he is back home in Argentina on Saturday and a prohibitive favourite to defeat DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley in their junior welter title fight.
This is really just a showcase for Maidana in front of an Argentinean crowd. Corley, 36, stopped Damian Fuller in four rounds in July, which was a nice bounce-back win after Corley’s knockout loss in the fifth round against the much bigger Freddy Hernandez when he was stepping up to welter. Before this, Corley was outhustled by stocky swarmer Fariz Kazimov in Russia, although a case could be made that Corley deserved to win that bout with his cleaner punches.
RUBIO: fan-friendly fighter.
Rubio -800, Zertuche +450
Over 7.5 +120; under 7.5 -140
On a weekend where the boxing action is thin on the ground, fights such as the all-Mexican rematch between Marco Antonio Rubio and Jose Luis Zertuche merit a look.
Rubio has come back with four wins in a row after the battering he suffered against Kelly Pavlik in a middleweight title challenge. He has scored a couple of good wins, stopping fellow-Mexican Rigoberto Alvarez in nine rounds and outpointing the Colombian, Samuel Miller.
ADAMEK 217, GRANT 261: big difference in size. / Photo: Mike Gladysz, Millenium Photo
Adamek -1000; Grant +600
Over 9.5 -+100; under 9.5 -120
They’re calling it “The Big Challenge”, and Michael Grant certainly brings size to his fight with Tomasz Adamek on Saturday. Grant is a towering presence at 6ft 7in and his wide-shouldered physique is among the most impressive in boxing. What remains to be seen is how much Grant has left at the age of 38. He is on a winning run but his career has been stop and start, with spells of inactivity.
What is encouraging, though, is that Grant has been training under the direction of Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in Las Vegas, so he is showing that he is serious about the fight and his career. Grant, by bringing in a top trainer and moving away from his home to prepare, is giving himself the best possible chance to win.
GODFREY, HUCK: Champion has the advantage in power.
Huck -1200; Godfrey +650
Over 8.5 -160; under 8.5 +140
Busy champion Marco “Käpt’n” Huck makes his fourth defence of the cruiserweight title in 12 months on Saturday when he meets American challenger Matt Godfrey in Erfurt, Germany.
Each man is saying the same thing about the other, basically: “He’s never faced anyone like me.”
KIM: all-action slugger. / Photo: Banner Promotions
Kim -125; Vazquez -105
Over 9.5 +140; under 9.5 -120
The Top Rank organisation pledged to deliver quality shows in its series on Fox Sports Espanol, but tonight’s double-header in Texas is the best yet. This is simply a superb show, with Korean slugger Jihoon Kim meeting Mexican stylist Miguel Vazquez in the lightweight championship main event, while undefeated Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia faces his biggest test against Cornelius Lock in a featherweight title eliminator.
The official betting line had Kim slightly favoured but money has shown strongly for this exciting if wide-open banger. “He gets hit with everything but, boy can he punch,” Kim’s promoter Art Pelullo noted in a recent telephone conversation.
Lopez -140; Soto +120
Over 9.5 +120; under 9.5 -140
One fight that is a bit under the radar this weekend is the bout for the WBC Silver 105-pound belt between Mexico’s Ganigan Lopez and Puerto Rico’s Omar Soto, which takes place on Saturday in Mexico City.
Soto is the more experienced of the two boxers, having fought in bigger fights. This includes two world title attempts.
DAWSON, PASCAL: title clash should be absorbing.
Dawson -380; Pascal +260
Over 11.5 -165; under 11.5 +145
Probably the greatest light-heavyweight title fight in history took place in Montreal in December 1958 when Archie Moore rallied from the edge of defeat to knock out Yvon Durelle. Saturday’s title bout on HBO between Chad Dawson and Jean Pascal in the French-Canadian city is unlikely to be as dramatic (what could be?) but it should nevertheless provide absorbing entertainment.
Dawson is a firm favourite, and for a very good reason. Bad Chad is an undefeated, fast, athletic southpaw with excellent hand speed and combinations. People whose judgement I respect believe that Dawson should be near the top of the so-called pound-for-pound list — a ranking of the world’s best boxers regardless of the weight division in which they compete.
