Boxingpredictions.net preview.
Posted: 21 Jun 2005, 09:44
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The heavyweight action this week sees Bob Mirovic face Rob Calloway in an intriguing contest for the vacant WBF heavyweight title, previously the possession of Audley Harrison. Both fighters have been very active of late with 35 year old Calloway having seven contest in the last year (winning six) and the 39 year old Mirovic competing in four bouts in the last 12 months (winning two). On paper you would think the recent form would favour “The All American Prizefighter”, although a closer examination of this winning run shows that he hasn’t been fighting any opponent of note with the possible exception of Jim Strohl (27-3) who he beat in his last to win the NABC Heavyweight title. Whilst, Mirovic has lost two out of his last four contest these have been against respectable opposition (Matt Skelton and Timo Hoffman), indeed most ringsider observers felt Mirovic was the victim of a home town decision in his last bout against Hoffman in which he was contesting for the IBF intercontinental fight. Do not expect a future world champion to emerge from this fight, but it is an intriguing even money contest in which possibly the home town support might give “The Big Bear” a slight edge
Fight of the week in undoubtedly the WBC Light Welterweight Super Fight between reigning champion, Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, and former two weight world champion “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Junior. Floyd is possibly facing his hardest task yet in attempting to become a three weight world champion; however he has looked electric in his two previous outings at the 10 stone. He showed his intentions at the new weight by outclassing the respectable former WBO champion, DeMarcus Corley, just over a year ago in a WBC title eliminator. This was followed up by an eighth round technical knockout win over Henry Bruseles in another eliminator clash in January. Whilst overall both performances received rave reviews in the press and from fight fans it was noted that for a brief period Corley appear to hurt Mayweather, this does raise some questions about the former Olympic Bronze Medallist’s strength and punch resistance at this weight. Whilst some fight fans have argued the Gatti’s recent opposition has flattered his reputation as an elite fighter, there can be little doubt the Canadian Warrior hits harder and faster than both Corley and Brussels and therefore may answer some of questions still yet to be answered about Mayweather, such as punch resistance and fighting heart. Mayweather is the betting favourite here as defeats to fringe contenders and a convincing loss at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya would suggest that Gatti, for all his heart and bravery, doesn’t quite belong in the status of Mayweather. However, personally, I think his new approach to his fight plan, which has been nurtured marvellously by Buddy McGirt, has yet to be tested fully at this level .Therefore, I believe Saturday night we will get some answer some critical questions about both boxers.
The chief supporting contest to the Gatti vs Mayweather fight features the WBA Light Welterweight champion “Vicious” Vivian Harris. This fourth defence of his WBA title is primarily being used to showcase the Guyana born champion’s talent in front of a pay pew view audience with the hope of unification bout with the Gatti versus Mayweather winner in the not so distant future. Unfortunately for us fight fans it would appear that the challenger, the 33 year old Columbian Carlos Maussa, fits the bill as the look good against “opponent” quite well. This is a fighter whose last win was over a year ago and is coming into this world title fight off the back of a loss. His only other previous loss was to current WBO champion, Miguel Cotto; this was back in 2003 when the Puerto Rican was learning his trade as the WBC international champion. To Maussa’s credit he appears to be fairly durable as he took the hard hitting Cotto beyond the half way stage and lost his last fight, a WBO Latino title fight, on points. His record would also indicate that he is a very big puncher with 15 of his 17 wins ending inside the distance; however the opponents who he has beaten have not been remotely world class.
Hot on the heels of Miguel Cotto’s win last week Puerto Rico’s other world champion, Ivan Calderon, makes his sixth defence of his WBO minimumweight title against unproven #3 contender Gerado Verde. The Mexican challenger is the current WBO Latino minimumweight champion but in three of his last four contests has fought opponents with more losses than wins. Verde boast a decent knockout record of 10 from 13 victories, but the fact that he was taken to a split decision Oscar Martinez (current record 7-7), a man he had previously knockout, just over a year ago doesn’t bode well for his chances against a master boxer like Calderon.
Current IBO Super Bantamweight champion Thomas Mashaba’s bid to step up and challenge for the IBO Featherweight title is a match that should get South Africa buzzing. This is because the ever improving South African is challenging a national icon in the country in Vuyani “The Beast” Bungu. Competing in his fourth straight contest in his homeland, Bungu is making his first defence of the title which he won via a split decision win over Takalani Ndlovu. The 38 year old champion, who himself enjoyed greater success as a Super Bantam, has reached the stage in his career when he could just age overnight. However, one does suspect that the edge in experience might result in a successful title defence for Bungu although Mashaba is every bit as good as fighters Bungu has recently struggled against.
Chief supporting contest to the Bungu vs Mashaba tussle is an international affair for the vacant IBO Light Flyweight title as current South African Minimumweight champion, Nkosinathi Joyi, tackles the current South American light Flyweight champion, Luis Alberto Lazarte. The tough Argentinian, who goes by the nickname of “El Mosquito”, is one of these typical South American fighters; dirty and made of leather. The only person to legitimately stop Lazarte in seven defeats was long standing WBC Flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Lazarte will probably ask more questions of Joyi than anyone in his embryonic career. However, the South African is being touted as an excellent prospect who not only has youth and has a stronger knockout percentage on his side, but he is also the hometown fighter.
The heavyweight action this week sees Bob Mirovic face Rob Calloway in an intriguing contest for the vacant WBF heavyweight title, previously the possession of Audley Harrison. Both fighters have been very active of late with 35 year old Calloway having seven contest in the last year (winning six) and the 39 year old Mirovic competing in four bouts in the last 12 months (winning two). On paper you would think the recent form would favour “The All American Prizefighter”, although a closer examination of this winning run shows that he hasn’t been fighting any opponent of note with the possible exception of Jim Strohl (27-3) who he beat in his last to win the NABC Heavyweight title. Whilst, Mirovic has lost two out of his last four contest these have been against respectable opposition (Matt Skelton and Timo Hoffman), indeed most ringsider observers felt Mirovic was the victim of a home town decision in his last bout against Hoffman in which he was contesting for the IBF intercontinental fight. Do not expect a future world champion to emerge from this fight, but it is an intriguing even money contest in which possibly the home town support might give “The Big Bear” a slight edge
Fight of the week in undoubtedly the WBC Light Welterweight Super Fight between reigning champion, Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, and former two weight world champion “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Junior. Floyd is possibly facing his hardest task yet in attempting to become a three weight world champion; however he has looked electric in his two previous outings at the 10 stone. He showed his intentions at the new weight by outclassing the respectable former WBO champion, DeMarcus Corley, just over a year ago in a WBC title eliminator. This was followed up by an eighth round technical knockout win over Henry Bruseles in another eliminator clash in January. Whilst overall both performances received rave reviews in the press and from fight fans it was noted that for a brief period Corley appear to hurt Mayweather, this does raise some questions about the former Olympic Bronze Medallist’s strength and punch resistance at this weight. Whilst some fight fans have argued the Gatti’s recent opposition has flattered his reputation as an elite fighter, there can be little doubt the Canadian Warrior hits harder and faster than both Corley and Brussels and therefore may answer some of questions still yet to be answered about Mayweather, such as punch resistance and fighting heart. Mayweather is the betting favourite here as defeats to fringe contenders and a convincing loss at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya would suggest that Gatti, for all his heart and bravery, doesn’t quite belong in the status of Mayweather. However, personally, I think his new approach to his fight plan, which has been nurtured marvellously by Buddy McGirt, has yet to be tested fully at this level .Therefore, I believe Saturday night we will get some answer some critical questions about both boxers.
The chief supporting contest to the Gatti vs Mayweather fight features the WBA Light Welterweight champion “Vicious” Vivian Harris. This fourth defence of his WBA title is primarily being used to showcase the Guyana born champion’s talent in front of a pay pew view audience with the hope of unification bout with the Gatti versus Mayweather winner in the not so distant future. Unfortunately for us fight fans it would appear that the challenger, the 33 year old Columbian Carlos Maussa, fits the bill as the look good against “opponent” quite well. This is a fighter whose last win was over a year ago and is coming into this world title fight off the back of a loss. His only other previous loss was to current WBO champion, Miguel Cotto; this was back in 2003 when the Puerto Rican was learning his trade as the WBC international champion. To Maussa’s credit he appears to be fairly durable as he took the hard hitting Cotto beyond the half way stage and lost his last fight, a WBO Latino title fight, on points. His record would also indicate that he is a very big puncher with 15 of his 17 wins ending inside the distance; however the opponents who he has beaten have not been remotely world class.
Hot on the heels of Miguel Cotto’s win last week Puerto Rico’s other world champion, Ivan Calderon, makes his sixth defence of his WBO minimumweight title against unproven #3 contender Gerado Verde. The Mexican challenger is the current WBO Latino minimumweight champion but in three of his last four contests has fought opponents with more losses than wins. Verde boast a decent knockout record of 10 from 13 victories, but the fact that he was taken to a split decision Oscar Martinez (current record 7-7), a man he had previously knockout, just over a year ago doesn’t bode well for his chances against a master boxer like Calderon.
Current IBO Super Bantamweight champion Thomas Mashaba’s bid to step up and challenge for the IBO Featherweight title is a match that should get South Africa buzzing. This is because the ever improving South African is challenging a national icon in the country in Vuyani “The Beast” Bungu. Competing in his fourth straight contest in his homeland, Bungu is making his first defence of the title which he won via a split decision win over Takalani Ndlovu. The 38 year old champion, who himself enjoyed greater success as a Super Bantam, has reached the stage in his career when he could just age overnight. However, one does suspect that the edge in experience might result in a successful title defence for Bungu although Mashaba is every bit as good as fighters Bungu has recently struggled against.
Chief supporting contest to the Bungu vs Mashaba tussle is an international affair for the vacant IBO Light Flyweight title as current South African Minimumweight champion, Nkosinathi Joyi, tackles the current South American light Flyweight champion, Luis Alberto Lazarte. The tough Argentinian, who goes by the nickname of “El Mosquito”, is one of these typical South American fighters; dirty and made of leather. The only person to legitimately stop Lazarte in seven defeats was long standing WBC Flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Lazarte will probably ask more questions of Joyi than anyone in his embryonic career. However, the South African is being touted as an excellent prospect who not only has youth and has a stronger knockout percentage on his side, but he is also the hometown fighter.