Williams/Ishida(Showtime) – At first glance this light-middleweight fight might not spark much interest, neither fighter has made much of a name for himself in comparison to the Mayweathers/Khans/Ortizs of the boxing world, but on further inspection this fight could shape up to be very interesting. In his last five fights Williams has beaten Winky Wright, Kermit Cintron, Sergio Martinez and Erislandy Lara. Yes, Sergio Martinez, in a majority decision at the end of ’09. Martinez did came back and KO him a year later which is Williams only loss in the last four years. His other recent victories have come against quality opponents, most recently Lara, who is yet another talented fighter coming out of the Cuban boxing system. Ishida has a less impressive resume at 24-6 but is coming off a 1st round dismantling of rising middleweight James Kirkland. I suspect the Kirkland victory may have been a fluke though and predict Williams to win the fight but Ishida may be able to bring some of the flash he displayed against Kirkland.
Cloud/Campillo(Showtime) – The undercard to Williams/Ishida features two light heavyweights. This is a division, along with cruiser and heavyweight, that has been barren of big name fighters for some time now, making them the least interest generating divisions in boxing (in the US anyway). Cloud is trying to change that. He is being marketed as the great American hope for the upper divisions, but Campillo (rated 9 by ESPN) may give him some fits. If Cloud earns the victory it could set up an exciting matchup with the Hopkins/Dawson winner.
V Klitschko/ Chisora(Epix) – I expect this to be another one up and another one down for the Klitschko’s, whose dominance over the heavyweight division is unprecedented but many argue this is due to lack of quality opponents. Chisora is shooting for the KO, predicting it will come in the 8th round but don’t expect anything out of character for Klitschko who, along with his brother, has been systematically dismantling opponents for years. To Chisoras credit, he did lose his last match against Helenius in a split decision but it was a hometown gift for Helenius as any objective observer of that fight would have had Chisora the winner. I do like that Epix continues to buy heavyweight matchups to broadcast in the US. Hopefully they have Dan Rafael from ESPN commentating again as his insight is always no BS and right on. Klitschko should not have much trouble with Chisora and the fight feels more like a set up fight for a bigger match, the only problem is there is no one to set him up against except his brother, and that’s not going to happen.
Cloud/Campillo(Showtime) – The undercard to Williams/Ishida features two light heavyweights. This is a division, along with cruiser and heavyweight, that has been barren of big name fighters for some time now, making them the least interest generating divisions in boxing (in the US anyway). Cloud is trying to change that. He is being marketed as the great American hope for the upper divisions, but Campillo (rated 9 by ESPN) may give him some fits. If Cloud earns the victory it could set up an exciting matchup with the Hopkins/Dawson winner.
V Klitschko/ Chisora(Epix) – I expect this to be another one up and another one down for the Klitschko’s, whose dominance over the heavyweight division is unprecedented but many argue this is due to lack of quality opponents. Chisora is shooting for the KO, predicting it will come in the 8th round but don’t expect anything out of character for Klitschko who, along with his brother, has been systematically dismantling opponents for years. To Chisoras credit, he did lose his last match against Helenius in a split decision but it was a hometown gift for Helenius as any objective observer of that fight would have had Chisora the winner. I do like that Epix continues to buy heavyweight matchups to broadcast in the US. Hopefully they have Dan Rafael from ESPN commentating again as his insight is always no BS and right on. Klitschko should not have much trouble with Chisora and the fight feels more like a set up fight for a bigger match, the only problem is there is no one to set him up against except his brother, and that’s not going to happen.
