Boxing: August 6-8, 2008

(All bouts subject to change)

WEDNESDAY - at New York (ESPN2) - 10 rounds, light
welterweights: Ali Oubaali (21-3, 17 KOs) vs.
Christopher Fernandez (15-4-1, 9 KOs); 10 rounds,
heavyweights: Albert Sosnowski (43-1, 26 KOs) vs.
Kevin Burnett (13-1-1, 8 KOs).

WEDNESDAY - at New York - 8 rounds, light welterweights:
Randall Bailey (36-6, 33 KOs) vs. Dairo Esalas
(31-13, 25 KOs); 8 rounds, heavyweights: Vinny Maddalone
(29-4, 20 KOs) vs. Joe Stofle (11-13-2, 10 KOs); 8 rounds,
light middleweights: James Moore (15-1, 10 KOs) vs. Lloyd
Joseph (12-6-3, 5 KOs); 6 rounds, featherweights: Dat
Nguyen (12-1, 6 KOs) vs. Juan G Cruz (5-2, 1 KO).

FRIDAY - at Chicago (ESPN2) - 12 rounds, light heavyweights:
Tavoris Cloud (18-0, 17 KOs) vs. Julio Cesar Gonzalez
(41-5, 25 KOs); 8 rounds, welterweights: Carlos Molina
(11-4-1, 4 KOs) vs. Donald Camarena (19-4, 9 KOs); 8 rounds,
lightweights: Oscar Leon (27-9, 18 KOs) vs. Zaid Zavaleta
(17-4-2, 11 KOs).

FRIDAY - at Toa Baja, Puerto Rico (Telefutura) - 12 rounds,
junior welterweights: Alex de Jesus (17-0, 11 KOs) vs.
Adrian Navarrete (17-5-1, 13 KOs).

FRIDAY - at Sacramento, California - 10 rounds, welterweights:
Cosme Rivera (31-11-2, 22 KOs) vs. Bobby Joe Valdez
(9-4-2, 4 KOs).


Boxing tends to have an August lull; most "big" fights are scheduled for early spring or the fall. This year is no exception. Still, there are some interesting fights involving the second and third tier fighters, as well as the Olympics.

The best bets this week are on ESPN's WNFs and FNFs. Teddy Atlas will not be in NYC or Chicago, as he will be doing the Olympic coverage. But both cards look interesting, and on Friday, Mark Breland will be the studio guest.

In other non-televised fights, 3rd tier journeyman Cosme Rivera and 5th tier club fighter Vinnie Maddalone will fight in non-competitive matches against guys with 9-4-2 (4 KOs) and 11-13-2 (10 KOs) records. Neither of these two fights is likely to be showcased on ESPN-Classic. However, with "impressive" wins like these, they will soon be in line for their next loses to younger contenders moving up.

Almost forgot about the boxing matches thank's for the heads up. Will have to check out the schedule. Anyway a quick convo from another thread we were having on the De La Hoya December fight. Main thing is remind me not to put a dime on the PPV that night ..... He's what 154 super welterweight and talk is he'll meet Manny Pacquiao (lightweight 135 lbs) ????? WTF? Think they were talking about meeting at 147 lbs when all is said and done. Oscar 5' 10" ...... Manny 5' 6" . I'll of course watch any replay or catch it on that really cool streaming site online that DUer Wetzelbill recently turned me onto. But don't think I'll buy into the hype Oscar if your last fight is against someone normally like three weight classes smaller than you. Manny's great ..... but man I think Oscars obvious size advantage will make me pass on this one.

And we know Oscar wants no part of Margarito, Clottey, or Cotto. And yeah probably not even Zab Judah at this point. Okay didn't mean to simi-hijack your this weeks boxing thread with my simi-rant on De La Hoya. :)

The Olympic bouts ought to be entertaining. They always are. Have a great day man. :)

had interesting information on the US Olympic fighters. I've also found Teddy Atlas's comments on ESPN in the past week or so interesting. I'm more inclined to enjoy the US amateur style of fighting than the European style that is valued more in international competition. As Atlas says, our fighters will be able to transition to the professional ranks faster than other countries' fighters.

In the best of situations, Manny Pacquiao would need an easy fight before fighting another tough fight. Even if his last fight didn't appear as hard as some other recent ones, it didn't allow him the rest he needs. Even then, I would hope that he wouldn't fight Oscar; I can't believe that Freddy Roach would tell him it's a good option.

I had thought that Oscar should have fought Cotto before. It is a matter of styles. But Oscar must not have believed that he could beat Cotto, or he would have made the match. At this point, guys like Cotto and Judah wouldn't be considered a "super fight." That's what Oscar wants -- a victory in a super fight. A win over Clottey (in theory) would not make it. And he wants no part of guys like Margarito or Pavlik, who are his own size.

If he doesn't get Manny, he has no super fight, even on paper. So I think he'll try to do the next safest thing: fight Sergio Mora in what will be promoted as a semi-super fight. The funny thing is that Oscar is smart enough to know that while the guy isn't a threat to really hurt him with a single punch, Mora has an intensity that could easily make for an upset. Styles make fights, and I think Mora could frustrate Oscar for 10 rounds, and humiliate him in the final two.

your thought actually crossed my mind also in a round about way earlier. With the name recognition Sergio Mora got from the Contender, and then upsetting Vernon Forrest for his belt .... then wanting to go back up to 160 lbs ...... and Oscar knowing he at least 'wouldn't get beat up' by Sergio, maybe out-boxed with Mora's unorthodox style at times, but definitely not 'beat up' .... that might be the fight that takes place. It's all about $$$$$$$ and well because most of the rest of my family know the former 'Contender' contestants by name rather than being able to name 1 fricking world champion ..... well I think you know where I'm going with this. The PPV might rake in more $$ from my family alone than the regular boxing community. ;) ....

From your lips to Gods ears ... "Mora has an intensity that could easily make for an upset. Styles make fights, and I think Mora could frustrate Oscar for 10 rounds, and humiliate him in the final two." I was gonna say Okay I lied earlier and I WOULD PAY TO SEE THAT !! But if Mora is involved ..... bet I could get like 10 cousins, even the mom, nephew, niece etc ... to all pitch in $5.00 and I still wouldn't have to put a dime on that PPV fight. :)

Haven't kept up on how the boxing Olympic trials went this year, not even sure if they were televised at some point? And that stuff doesn't normally get by me. Maybe I was distracted with work at the time though .... I'll have to do a quick education online here soon to get acquainted with our team of boxers. This may be the first Olympics in a long time I haven't a clue what weight classes we're favored in. Cubans always tough, probably some hard nosed eastern europeans as always, etc... etc... always fun.

1976 Leonard, Spinks, Spinks, Leo Randolph and Howard Davis Jr ..... 5 golds. Always root for the home team .... but now and then you'll catch me getting behind the obviously more talented fighter wherever he's from. Really detest bad decisions, especially in the Olympics. If I remember correctly the boxing takes place in the second week of the games .... so I have a little time to catch up. Peace. :)