The Summer's About To Get Hot

Things have cooled down since Cotto's dramatic victory over Zab Judah, so I could understand why boxing fans might be hanging their head. Andre Dirrell vs. Curtis Stevens was horrific and Paulie Malignaggi's lopsided decision over Lovemore N'dou was... lukewarm (refer to the post I made on the 18th). We were subjected to three awful bouts on ESPN's Friday Night Fights when Richard Gutierrez was unexpectedly docile in his lackluster UD over harmless journeyman Luciano Perez, an undefeated suspect and some character who had lost his last 8 fights fought to a messy, I'm-insulted-this-garbage-was-on-my-TV 4 round draw, and prospect Julio Cesar Garcia put on such a non-performance against the undersized Troy Browning, folks were wondering out loud if he threw the fight. Not to mention last night's disappointing match between Castillo and Hatton.

The two week long cold front is nothing compared to the upcoming heat wave though. One that promises to be the most intense in recent memory.

Boxing brethren, this schedule is just nasty.

- June 29th, ESPN, Darnell 'Ding-A-Ling Man' Wilson (21-5-3 [18 KOs]) vs. Emmanuel Nwodo (21-3 [17 KOs])
Mind you, I don't know anything about Nwodo other than what I gathered from boxrec. What I do know is that Wilson's one of the hardest hitting, most exciting fighters in boxing and is on an incredible run. And from boxrec, it looks like this Nwodo cat has a pretty lethal punch himself. Seems like a winning formula to me.

- June 30th, Youtube, Alexander Povetkin (12-0 [10 KOs]) vs. Larry Donald (42-4-3 [24 KOs])
Why am I including this? Because a lot of people think the Russian gold medalist Povetkin is the future of the heavyweight division and this is his first step up fight (there's plenty of footage of him here). Last we saw Donald, he was taking Nicolai Valuev to school before the obligatory robbery we've come to expect out of Germany. So while Donald's prehistoric, he's still serviceable. Should be a good test for the kid.

The fight won't be televised here in the US, but it's sure to pop up on youtube shortly after.

- July 7th, Showtime, Travis Simms (25-0 [19 KOs]) vs. Joachim Alcine (28-0 [18 KOs])
I may be one of the five people in the world that can't wait for this fight, but so be it. Simms is a big, strong, slick, very quick southpaw, so when people ask questions like 'who at 154 and under can beat Floyd Mayweather', I don't hesitate to throw Travis' name in the fray. Yes, the funny looks soon follow; I don't care, to me the dude's that good.

Alcine's a lanky, well rounded boxer-puncher with fast hands and decent pop. I've seen a few fights of his (thank jeebus for the innanet) and he may very well be the truth.

Someone's 0 must go.

- July 14, HBO, Arturo Gatti (40-8 [31 KOs] vs. Alfonso Gomez (16-3-2 [7 KOs])
It's a Gatti fight. There'll be no defense to speak of. There'll be some broken hands. There'll be drama.

Gomez - from the Contender fame - is a kid with a TV-pleasing style that tends to fade after four rounds or so. While I don't hold Gatti in nearly the same esteem most boxing fans place him in, his handlers did good here. Very winnable fight with guaranteed excitement.

- July 14, HBO, Kermit Cintron (27-1 [25 KOs]) vs. Walter Matthysee (26-1 [25 KOs])
Another fight with guaranteed excitement. Cintron is clearly the superior boxer and logic tells you he'll carve Walter up and serve him his own head. But this is the same Kermit that folded like a futon against Margarito, and Walter applies the type of ear popping pressure that'll make a motherf-- fold. He's going to put the heat lamp on that ass and we'll have to see whether Cintron has developed the ice water in his veins needed to withstand it.

- July 14, HBO, Antonio Margarito (34-5 [24 KOs]) vs. Paul Williams (32-0 [24 KOs])
Meh, it's an old story. Williams is a hotshot prospect that claims he handled Margarito when they sparred some years ago. Margarito is a veteran champ who claims Williams is a snot-nosed punk kid that likes to tell stories, and he's gonna spank him accordingly. We shall see.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, this will be one of the top three fights of the year. Put that in the bank. There's no possible way this won't be amazing. None.

- July 14th, Satan's Torture Chambers, Zahir Raheem (28-2 [16 KOs]) vs. Derrick Gainer (40-7-1 [24 KOs])
This is a Dana White concoction - a conspiracy to destroy a rival sport. It's the only explanation.

Back to the realness...

- July 21st, HBO PPV, Oscar Larios (59-5-1 [37 KOs]) vs. Jorge Linares (23-0 [14 KOs])
This is a huge leap for 21 year old prospect Jorge Linares. Oscar Larios is a veteran with 65 fights and a pretty nice rack of skullcaps on his resume. This ain't the kiddie-to-grown-folk pool transition Povetkin's making, this is a kiddie-pool-to-middle-of-the-Bermuda-Triangle-during-a-storm type jump-off. The untested Linares is a beast though. It'll be up there with Margarito-Williams as fight of the month/ year.

- July 21st, HBO PPV, Bernard Hopkins (47-4-1 [32 KOs]) vs. Winky Wright (51-3-1 [25 KOs])
I tend to disagree with those saying this will be a boring fight. Wright will press Bernard and make him fight, like he did with Jermain 'Bad Decisions' Taylor. It's my theory that Hopkins won't dance around and try to potshot Winky; instead, he'll make it an ugly, inside fight ala his bout with Keith Holmes. It won't be scintillating, but it'll be interesting. If anyone can solve the puzzle of The Shell, it's old man Hops.

- July 27th, ESPN, Andre Berto (18-0 [16 KOs]) vs. Cosme Rivera (30-10-2 [21 KOs])
Everyone's favorite prospect finally in a step-up fight. The normally tough Cosme Rivera (who deserved a decision over Joel Julio in his last fight) should give us a good look at where the explosive phenom is at.

- August 4th, Showtime, Israel Vasquez (41-4 [30 KOs]) vs. Rafael Marquez (37-3 [33 KOs]) II
The first bout was a fight of the year candidate and this one will be too. If you're a boxing fan, you'll watch it. 'Nuff said.

Marquez, in my humble opinion, is the best offensive fighter living today.

- August 4th, HBO, Erik Morales (48-5 [34 KOs]) vs. David Diaz (32-1-1 [17 KOs])
Morales is a faded legend and they put him in with a big, strong kid just limited enough not to blow 'El Terrible' out the water. My thinking is that Diaz has too much size on Morales, but this fight won't disappoint in the blood department. It should be electrifying.

- August 4th, HBO?, Kendall Holt (22-1 [12 KOs]) vs. Ricardo Torres (31-1 [27 KOs])
Throw Holt's feint-fest with Mike Arnaoutis out the window. Holt is a counter-puncher and Arnaoutis fought scared - Torres has never fought scared. Most famous for damn near knocking out Cotto, Torres has the power to crack Holt's iffy chin and the skills to touch it. Holt, on the other hand, has more athletic ability than anyone else in the division. He has the speed, power, and talent to embarrass Torres.

But then again, that chin...

If you're a gambling man, you stay away from this bout.

- August 11th, HBO, Daniel Ponce De Leon (31-1 [28 KOs]) vs. Rey Bautista (23-0 [17 KOs])
Rey Bautista showed plenty of skill, heart, and power against Sergio Manuel Medina during the Mayweather/ De La Hoya PPV telecast in a fight that outshined the main event. Problem is, Medina rocked him pretty badly. Medina was an unknown, but it doesn't bode well that he was able to seriously hurt Bautista when he only had 16 KOs out of 28 fights against local, obscure foes in Argentina.

Maybe Medina has deceptive power. Maybe this was just a Henry Cooper incident (when Cooper decked and staggered Cassius Clay, leaving everyone in the world to believe that Clay's chin wouldn't hold up to Sonny Liston's punch). We'll find out, because Ponce De Leon is one of the hardest hitters in boxing. He's sloppy as all hell though, and liable to get outboxed by any decent boxer with a set of whiskers.

- August 11th, HBO, Gerry Penalosa (51-6-2 [34 KOs]) vs. Jhonny Gonzales (34-5 [29 KOs])
I'm high on Gonzales. He's one of those rare technically proficient, pure boxers who isn't satisfied with a lopsided decision. He'll outbox your ass for five, six rounds, then go ahead and kindly knock your head off. It backfired against Israel Vasquez. I doubt it will against Penalosa, who's a very good boxer himself, but doesn't have the power to hurt Gonzales. Nevertheless, we have a good fight on our hands.

Honorable Mentions: Juan Salgado vs. Ivan Valle (June 29th), Evander Holyfield vs. Lou Savarese (June 30th), Vic Darchinyan vs. Nonito Donaire (July 7th), Wladimir Klischko vs. Lamon Brewster (July 7th), Roy Jones vs. Anthony Hanshaw (July 14th), Michael Katsidis vs. Czar Amonsot (July 21st), Carlos Baldomir vs. Vernon Forrest (July 28th), Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Ricardo Castillo (August 4th), Celestino Caballero vs. Jorge Lacierva (August 4th).