Boxing! (8-13)

August 13
At Las Vegas (Showtime): Bantamweight tournament final, Joseph Agbeko vs. Abner Mares, 12 rounds, for Agbeko's IBF bantamweight title; Eric Molina vs. Warren Browning, 12 rounds, heavyweights.

There is a very important boxing card on Showtime tonight, starting at 10 pm/est. While the sport of boxing has lost some of its attraction among the more casual sports fans – largely because a lack of good American heavyweights – tonight promises to be an entertaining time for the boxing community.

The first bout pits two young US heavyweights, in an elimination for the WBC USNBC title. Regional titles such as this offer the great sport far more potential than the meaningless “paper” world titles (which are mere promotional gimmicks).

Eric Molina, 29, is from Texas. His record is 17-1, with 13 knockouts. He faces Kentucky's Warren Shane Browning, who is 14-1, with 9 knockouts. Although Molina is 6' 5” tall, I'm going with Browning for two reasons: first, he and I are personal friends, and I am impressed with his attitude towards the sport. In fact, I may invite myself down to Kentucky soon, to meet with him and some other buddies. I want to show him a few tricks that “Hurricane” Carter taught me, for knocking opponents through the ropes in devastating fashion.

Second, while both men have faced limited competition – primarily due to geography – Kentucky offers a tougher level of competition. I've been in communication with him this evening, as he has had to deal with the nonsense that promoters throw at young warriors close to a bout. His focus is perfect. I predict he will take a unanimous decision – though if he gets that knockout, I'll be happy.

The main event is one of the most anticipated bouts of 2011. In the finals of the Showtime bantamweight tournament, two of the most highly skilled fighters will meet in a fight that had been scheduled for April. Agbeko had a back injury, which caused the postponement.

Abner Mares, 25, is the betting favorite. He's younger, and has been more active recently. At 5' 5”, he is a half-inch shorter, but his 68” reach gives him an almost three inch advantage. Mares is 21-0-1, with 13 knockouts.

His lone draw was highly disputed. In May of 2010, he challenged undefeated champion Yohnny Perez for the IBF belt, in a bout most viewers believed Mares won. That placed him in the Showtime tournament; last December, he pulled out a tough win over Vic Darchinyan. Both fighters were decked in the action-packed war. Mares lost a point for a low blow, but still had too much for his more experienced opponent.

Agbeko is 31. His record is 28-2, with 22 knockouts. In July of '09, he defended his title against Darchinyan. Fifteen months later, he lost it to Yohnny Perez. But in the opening round of this tournament, he recaptured the title with a convincing decision over Perez.

I'm not surprised that Mares is favored in this bout. However, I can not see why anyone would make him a big favorite over Agbeko. I think it's too close to call.

Enjoy the fights!

wins by TKO in 3.