By James Slater: This coming weekend, from Friday Nov. 4th through to Saturday Nov. 5th, sees one of the biggest, most potentially action-packed fight schedules of recent times. Fight fans all over the world really will be spoilt for choice at the end of the week.
From the U.K to the U.S, from Mexico to Canada, there are hugely important fights taking place, all of them involving big names. I cannot recall a time when so many intriguing, must-see fights were set for one blockbuster weekend.
The following is what’s on offer starting this Friday evening in Moscow, Russia:
James Toney-Denis Lebedev, for the interim WBA cruiserweight belt; with Ismayl Sillakh-Ali Ismailov and Alexander Bakhtin-Luis Melendez on the under-card.
Sergio Mora-Jose Alfredo Flores from Indio, California.
Saturday:
Lucian Bute-Glen Johnson for the IBF super-middleweight title from Canada, with Steve Molitor-Sebastian Gauthier and Allan Green-Sebastian Demers as support.
Alfredo Angulo-James Kirkland in an important light-middleweight encounter from Mexico (in a can’t miss slugfest if ever there was one!), with Peter Quillin-Craig McEwan as support, also featuring Deontay Wilder against TBA.
Chris Arreola-Raphael Butler also from Mexico, with slugger Jose Luis Zertuche-Julio Cesar Garcia as the co-feature.
George Groves-Paul Smith for the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles from U.K, with Michael Katsidis-Ricky Burns for the interim WBO lightweight belt, and Derek Chisora-Larry Olubamiwo and Gary Boulden-Billy Joe Saunders on the under-card.
Mariusz Wach-Oliver McCall, for the WBC international heavyweight title from Connecticut.
And finally, Guillermo Jones-Michael Marrone for the WBA cruiserweight title from Florida.
Whichever way you look at it, that’s a hectic schedule. Will fight fans be able to catch all the action though?
Prospective highlights for me are the Angulo-Kirkland and Toney-Lebedev fights. I can’t see the 154-pound showdown being in any way dull. Both guys deserve huge credit for taking such a risky fight. As far as picking a winner, this one will likely be a simple, but hugely entertaining case of who lands with the biggest bomb first. I’m going against the odds and picking “The Mandingo Warrior” to pull it out.
As far as Toney-Lebdev goes, I feel “Lights Out” will pull out a close points win.
This weekend, however, (and it’s a cliché I know!) the real winners will be the fans.