Deontay Wilder returns to his home state of Alabama for what’s sure to be some down-home, southern-cooking against yet another non-de script opponent in former USC football player Gerald Washington. In case the main event is a one-side debacle, Al Haymon added two intriguing bouts for Saturday’s PBC on Fox broadcast.
Dominic Breazeale attempts to put the pieces back after suffering a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua last June. On Saturday, Breazeale will try his hand against an unknown fighter, at least stateside, in Izuagbe Ugonoh. Ugonoh is a professional kick boxer and boxer from Poland with a record of 17-0, (14ko’s).
Let’s face facts, Dominic is very basic and although his heart is big, it’s his talent that comes into question. It’s highly unlikely that Haymon would put Izuagbe Ugonoh in deep waters having just signed him. One can assume Uncle Al is grooming Izuagbe for an opportunity to challenge Wilder for his title in the somewhat near future at the Barclays Center where the polish people will respond to their countryman.
The other fight on the Fox televised portion of the undercard features a real test for both men. The unbeaten prospect from Maryland Jarret Hurd squares off versus Kronk Gym alum Tony Harrison. Hurd made a name for himself over the last year and change. First by taking care of Frank Galarza on ShoBox in late 2015, then by putting on a show in a clean victory over Oscar Molina as the co-feature bout to Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter on CBS last summer.
Tony Harrison was moving right along seemingly headed for a title shot until he ran into a flush right hand of Willie Nelson in July of 2015 on ESPN. Harrison won every round prior to being stopped late in the 9th frame of a 10-round bout. Harrison has a complete skill set but lacks endurance late in fights and of course his chin is still in question.
Line up the subpar competition and let ‘The Bronze Bomber’ knock them down. Gerald Washington had a respectable time in the 20-yard shuttle-run and shows several techniques to evade a block on tape. He can come off the edge with a quick first step making him a great weapon on third down passing plays. My bad, I must have been reading the combine stats of Washington when he was entering the league as a defensive end out of University of Southern California in 2010.
On a serious note it’s kind of sad that fans think this doable replacement is better than the original opponent. Washington is no doubt athletic enough to be competitive in the first 3 or 4 rounds due to his size and decent hand speed. He flashed at times in the Amir Mansour and Eddie Chambers fights but his inexperience will at some point catch up to him. Plus, it’s not like Wilder doesn’t have some major flaws in his defense so expect the early goings to be potentially a two-way scrap.
Let’s hope there is enough back and forth action to keep the causal boxing or common sports fans in general occupied being this card will be on free-to-air FOX. No real breakdown of this fight is needed with the storyline after the weekend being focused on whether Deontay will face a true challenge in his next outing.
My Official Predictions: Doentay Wilder by KO, Tony Harrison by Majority Decision, & Izuagbe Ugonoh by TKO
Side Note: Don’t forget to watch or DVR the best show in the business when ShoBox: A New Generation returns on Friday. Chris Pearson faces the red hot Justin DeLoach in a 10 round junior middleweights in the main event.
Written by Chris Carlson Host of the Rope A Dope Radio Podcast available at blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio or Subscribe on iTunes. Visit The Rope A Dope Report YouTube Channel & Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
