08.02.05 – By Coach Tim Walker – tpwalker@hotmail.com – With the Judah Spinks fight in the books lets turn our attention to the rest of February. We have four major fight cards next weekend, two the following weekend and finish the month up with two more. The biggest card of all of those is of course HBO’s Hopkins/Eastman, Taylor/Edouard and Montiel/Nacorro card.
Starting with next week (February 10-11)
FOX jumps back into the ring with an Oscar Larios vs. Wayne McCullough, Andre Ward vs. Kenny Kost, and Cedric Boswell vs. Gilbert Martinez card. The most interesting thing about this card is that James Prince is pitting his Olympic Gold Metal winner against a highly motivated Kenny Kost. Kost is certain of the position that he has been placed in and according to sources he is coming to take Ward out! Ward though has the height edge and an amazingly quick left hand. I like the fact that Prince isn’t protecting him. This will be a good gauge for Ward to see how he deals with strength. ~ At 34 years of age it seems that McCullough is being served up as dinner for Oscar Larios. McCullough on the other hand strongly believes that he has what it takes to dominate and beat Larios. ~ As is the case of the current heavyweight division Cedric Boswell was a journeyman who upon stepping his class of opponent up lost to Jameel McCline. Subsequently he walked off into the sunset and then reviewed the heavyweight landscape and is making a comeback against undersized Gilbert Martinez. Yada yada yada… ~ This card will also feature 5 other bouts including a bout with heavyweight Malcom Tann.
(ESPN2) Laila Ali, considered the best female boxer in the world, again does not fight Ann Wolfe or Leatitia Robinson. If Ali is number one then Wolfe and Robinson are numbers 2A and 2B. Enough said. Leatitia will however take on (pause for yawn) Monica Nunez on the same fight card. I’m sure you remember the pitiful showing she put up against Laila Ali. This ex 120 pounder is up for more of the same against the very talented Robinson who won’t wait around to put the beat down. Hopefully this will be a prelude to an Ali vs. Robinson bout. There will be three other bouts on this card.
(Telefutura) has a card featuring Antonio Diaz and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The problem is we don’t know whom they are really fighting yet. I mean we know whom they are fighting but we don’t know who they are. Julio Diaz was scheduled to fight Levander Johnson on this card but opted out for a March showdown with Jose Luis Castillo. This card isn’t that great but hopefully the addition of Marcos Licona vs. Hector Velazquez will add some spice.
On a non-televised fight card David Telesco will face Eric Harding. They should have faced other much earlier in their careers. Telesco has a tendency to not show up against substantial competition while Harding has been on the downslide since loosing to Roy Jones. Telesco probably has a slight edge but the fight has the potential to be very competitive considering their skill levels. ~ This card will also feature a Randy Griffin bout. Griffin who is a 22-fight veteran has yet to step up to the second tier of competition though he has a number 19 ranking with (www.boxrec.com).
The following week (February 18-19)
ESPN2 will showcase Antonio Margarito vs. Sebastian Andres Lujan. If you have never heard of Lujan it is because he has only fought outside of his native Argentina only once. His record of 22-1-1 (14) is really misleading because he has fought only Argentinean competition with the exception of one Swede he fought in Finland. This fight appears to be the tune up for his April showdown with Kermit Cintron. ~ Joshua Clottey takes on Steve Martinez in a 10 round bout. Should be a fairly easy bout for Clottey. Martinez’s biggest claim to fame is being KO’d by Vernon Forest in less than two minutes of the first round. ~ There are two other bouts on this card one featuring heavyweight Kevin McBride.
(HBO) The fight card that many boxing fans are salivating over is HBO’s Bernard Hopkins vs. Howard Eastman, and Jermain Taylor vs. Daniel Edouard. Hopkins goes for his 20th middleweight defense in taking on the very durable Eastman. The only common opponent they share is William Joppy. Eastman lost a very very very close decision to Joppy. Hopkins dictated the pace in virtually every round in his 12 round unanimous decision win over Joppy. The 20th win is not guaranteed Hopkins has to earn it. ~ The co-main event is probably as anticipated as the main event. Taylor vs. Edouard is said to be Taylor’s first step up to a young hungry powerful middleweight talent. Taylor’s choice of opponents came down to Edouard and Troy Rowland. Taylor and HBO eventually settled on Edouard who was positioned to take on hard hitting German boxer Arthur Abraham. Both fighters have really obvious strengths and flaws and the winner will be the fighter who imposes his will. ~ Also fighting on this card will be Kingsley Ikeke, Demetrius Hopkins and the pro debut of Olympian Vicente Escobedo.
The Week After That (February 26)
(Germany) Universum Box Promotion will put on an excellent fight card featuring Fabrice Tiozzo vs. Dariusz Michalczewski, Zsolt Erdei vs. Hugo Herman Garay, and Julio Zarate vs. Wladimir Sidorenko. Tiozzo will definitely have his work cut out for him with Michalczewski though Michalczewski is coming off the split decision loss to Julio Cesar Gonzalez. Gonzalez in his next fight lost the WBO title he won from Michalczewski to Zsolt. Zsolt and Michalczewski being on the same card may be a prelude to a showdown if they are both successful. ~ Zarate and Sidorenko battle it out for the vacant WBA Bantamweight title.
(Puerto Rico) Miguel Angel Cotto and DeMarcus Corley headline a six-bout fight card for the WBO Light Welterweight title. Cotto’s name is being mentioned in the same breath with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and he can’t afford a loss here. Though the fight is in Puerto Rico it will be televised by HBO.
Coach Tim Walker