Fight Site Boxing Preview, 11th December
(Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
2021’s winter boxing bonanza continues, with another absolutely stacked weekend. This weekend brings us five shows from four countries,five world title fights (four for the men, plus Katie Taylor) between them- and the most high profile is none of those, seeing the return of current non-titlist Vasyl Lomachenko. Let’s dig in.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Richard Commey
Look, Lomachenko should win this comfortably. Questions of age and wear should be answered by Commey being no spring chicken himself, and he’s not beaten any of the three genuinely world level fighters he’s faced in his career. Still, he’s a savvy veteran with some heft on his shots, and a solid defence.and decent countering.. Lomachenko will need to be careful approaching, but once in close he should find Commey a bit too basic to have any serious trouble there. It’s one he’ll want to win without trouble if he wants to show he’s still the best boxer in the division next year.
The card also features a number of prospects, with Jared Anderson, the flashy 22 year old heavyweight, a 140lb prospect clash between John Bauza and Michael Williams Jr, and rounded off by Xander Zayas, the prospect some consider to be the best in the sport looking to finish a strong 2021 with his sixth win of the year, so it’ll be worth looking out for for anyone who likes to keep an eye on who might be next at the top.
Nonito Donaire vs Reymart Gaballo
The other US card sees the legendary Nonito Donaire seek to continue his late career surge by winning the WBC bantamweight title against countryman Reymart Gaballo. The younger man could consider himself a bit lucky to be here, having got away with what many saw as an unjust victory against Emmanuel Rodriguez back in 2020, but he is in any case a fun, aggressive pressure fighter. What could give him problems is that Rodriguez, not known as a power puncher, seemed to have him hurt a few times, and Donaire is known as a power puncher as well as lethal with a counter. It’ll be fun while it lasts, but unless Donaire has fallen off a cliff- always possible at his age- a KO win for him is reasonably likely.
Also on the card is Marlon Tapales vs Hiroaki Teshigawara, which could be a fun clash albeit one that should end with Teshigawara being punished for hanging his chin out in the air the way he does. Okay, he hasn’t been yet, but neither has he faced someone of Tapales’ level, and the Philipino’s love of a crouching back to draw an attack then exploding into a big counter could be perfect here. Also in action is highly-thought-of 140lber Brandun Lee.
Dmitri Bivol vs Umar Salamov
Dmitri Bivol has received his share of criticism around these parts in the past for seeming to be a bit shallow, too committed to boxing at distance to be convinced that he’s got anything if a fight comes in close. Unfortunately, his opponent for this WBA light-heavyweight defence, Umar Salamov, won’t go any way to proving this one way or the other. It’s not that he’s a bad boxer, but - although he does like to get on the front foot - he’s ultimately also an out-boxer by trade, and not as good at it as Bivol. What we’re likely to see is a battle of movement won by Bivol behind a jab with occasional raids to punish Salamov’s tendency to keep his lead hand low without actually having the stance or shell-handling technique to justify that. Bivol isn’t a devastating finisher, so it’ll likely go 12, but while it won’t be devoid of a challenge it should be pretty one-sided.
The card also features Magomed Kurbanov, following his controversial win over Liam Smith in May with another defence of his WBO light-middlweight belt against Brazilian Patrick Teixiera. Also involved is Shavkhatzdon Rakhimov, but since his opponent is a 4-4 journeyman, that’s unlikely to be worth seeking out.
Conor Benn vs Chris Algieri
The first British card of the evening- the one actually in Britain- is headlined by Conor Benn’s continued quest to reach the top of the welterweight division by taking on Chris Algieri. This could be quite a good one- if Benn is to be the fighter he wants to be he should be beating a 37 year old Algieri comfortably, but despite his recent successes whether he is that guy is not at all clear yet. Although the American is, like Granados and Vargas, somewhat past his best days (and actually a lot older than either), he’s not to date had a problem with his chin, and in his recent appearances looks like he still has a good portion of his handspeed. Benn will tag him, he’s become a solid and creative offensive fighter, but it’s the defence that could be the worry, with the young Englishman being very very open down the middle- exactly the sort of thing Algieri’s clean, fast combinations would be suited to exploiting, especially since he moves well and Benn can still tend to reach into things if an opponent doesn’t come at him. Realistically Matchroom have picked this out as a reputation-building aging name for Benn’s resume, but we could see an upset- and should see a good fight with neither fighter being overly defensively focused, with the winner depending on whether Benn can get his bigger, flashier power shots home enough to not be outvolumed by Algieri’s more composed but less powerful stylings.
The co-main sees Katie Taylor take on another fresh challenger, 27 year old Firuza Sharipova. The Irish star hasn’t looked as smooth at times in her pro career as her legendary amateur run, but she’s still unbeaten and mostly dominant, and Sharipova doesn’t appear to have boxed anywhere near this sort of level before. Her last fight suggests decent movement and a nice line in working counter bodyshots, but she’s probably too open herself to really deal with what Taylor’s bringing. Still, she’s not here to lay down.
Beyond that, unfortunately possibly the best fight on the card fell apart last second, with classy prospect Jordan Gill now facing Argentine journeyman Alan Castillo rather than what could have been an excellent European title fight with Karim Guerfi. That’ll be a setback for Gill whose career has been a bit stop-start, but hopefully he’ll take care of business and be back soon. Also involved is another Brit whose career has been badly hobbled by repeated opponent pullouts and other issues- Joe Cordina now faces what looks like a prospect himself, the 27 year old Belgian Miko Khatchatryan. With both fighters at 13-0 it could be a bit of a crossroads, and despite Khatchatryan’s not-too-impressive record, this one could be fun, with both fighters enjoying throwing fast hands in sharp combination. Cordina should prevail thanks to Khatchatryan’s tendency to get a bit more sloppy and wide with his shots, but this could be better than advertised.
Sunny Edwards vs Jayson Mama
The other British card of the week actually takes place in Dubai, brought to us by new promotional outfit Probellum. The headline act is twitter’s big bad, Sunny Edwards, doing his talking in the ring this time in defending his flyweight world title against mandatory challenger Jayson Mama. Mandatories have gotten a short shrift of late, with some ludicrous matchups taking place, but while Edwards should definitely be expecting to defend the title he won off Moruti Mthalane with some more of the same- movement, combinations, and a sharp sense of rhythm manipulation- in truth Mayma is better than just someone to walk past, a dedicated and intelligent pressure puncher with some solid power for the weight. He’ll probably end up being a bit too basic to pin down the elusive champion over 12 rounds, but he’ll bring a performance out of him.
This card is another affected by late pullouts, with John Riel Casimero having to withdraw from his fight with British veteran Paul Butler. Thankfully they did have Joseph Agbeko on standby, and Butler will be hoping that Casimero’s failure to declare before he didn’t show to the weigh-ins makes this a bantamweight world title fight (unclear as of this writing), having fought his way back to this level after failures in his two previous attempts. The 44 year old Agbeko is probably a rather easier target for Butler than Casimero would have been, but Butler’s no spring chicken himself and hasn’t ever really looked world level, so we’ll see who’s fresher. The bill also features fan favourites Donny Nietes and Jono Carroll.