11/15 - 11/17 Preview and Review

Last week's results:
Brian's-Mendez I pick Mendez Winner-Mendez
Brian's-Lorenzo I pick Rosales Winner-Lorenzo
Brian's-Margarito I pick Margarito Winner-Margarito
Brian's-Casamayor I pick Santa Cruz Winner-Casamayor
Brian's-Cotto I pick Mosley Winner-Cotto


It was an inauspicious week for me, to be sure. Mendez won and won pretty easily. Rosales looked bad with Lorenzo. He was clearly nervous about moving up in skill level of opposition. He lost a fairly close one. On HBO, we got an extra, Victor Ortiz vs. Carlos Maussa. It was exciting for the round it lasted, as Ortiz clocked Maussa in the first. Very dramatic. Margarito also won in the first with an easy KO. In the Casamayor fight, Santa Cruz got totally robbed. He may not have done a whole lot, but all that Casamayor did was grab and hold. Not tie up, grab and hold, two hands behind Santa Cruz's shoulders and clutch. It was like he was trying to slow dance. And then he got a split decision. Ridiculous. The Cotto Mosley fight was very entertaining. It started with Cotto being bullish, coming in, applying pressure and Mosley trying to stay in and slug with him. Then, midway through the 6th, Mosley decided to change tactics and box, and Cotto outboxed him. It was a wonderful performance, demonstrating the vast skills of both boxers. Cotto won a close one, and that seemed fair. Mosley was great in defeat, no whining or excuses at all. I hope he is not done, though it looks like he may suddenly be on the downside. This fight was not as good as Calzaghe, but it was very good. The Brian's went 5-0 and I went 2-3.

Lots of fights this weekend, but no great ones. I am looking forward to a couple, though.
The undercard:On Thursday, on Versus, we start with Jesus Soto Karass vs. Juan Manuel Buendia in a 10 round Welterweight matchup. Soto Karass fights out of Los Mochis, Mexico. He is 17-2-3 and 25 years old. In his last fight he TKO's Jose Antonio Ojeda, decent, but not good, in the 3rd round, in August. Including the Ojeda fight, I have seen him fight four times. He is tall, skinny and can punch. He lost to Nurhan Suleyman and Yuri Foreman, he drew with Manuel Gomez, but he beat Vince Phillips, though Phillips was on the downside. He is currently rated 146th in the All-Time Welterweight rankings and 35th in the Active ratings. Buendia was born in Durango, Mexico and fights out of Lincoln Park, MI. He is 14-1-1 and is 26. He last fought in July, a no-contest one rounder with Oscar Diaz. I saw him fight a couple of times early in his career but he is not memorable. There are no real names on his record, outside of a victory over Delvin Rodriguez, perhaps, though, tellingly, he drew and lost to the same aforementioned Jose Antonio Ojeda. He is rated 163rd on the All-Time Welterweight rankings and 49th in the Active ratings. Looking at the records, this is set up as a fairly evenly matched fight, but clearly Soto Karass has fought the much better opposition. Buendia is making his first big step up in class. With Soto Karass' power, this may be a quick one. The Brian's put this at Soto Karass 780.3 over Buendia 741.2. I agree, Soto Karass.
In the Versus main event, Hasim Rahman vs. Zuri Lawrence in a 10 round Heavyweight fight. Rahman was born and fights out of Baltimore. He is 44-6-2 and 35 years old. In his last couple of fights, in September and October, he has beaten up journeyman tomato cans in early rounds. I have seen him fight at least nine times. In recent years, he has gotten a bit tubby. He does not have a particularly unique style, kind of your typical heavy handed plodding heavyweight. He has been to the mountaintop, knocking out Lennox Lewis to win the heavyweight championship. He also fought for the interim and real titles a couple of other times. He fought Evander Holyfield and sported a lovely grapefruit on his forehead near the end of the fight. He fought David Tua and James Toney and Oleg Maskaev, among others. He once was a big time heavyweight, he is now trying to recapture the magic. He is currently rated 58th in the All-Time Heavyweight rankings and 9th in the Active ratings. Lawrence was born in Poughkeepsie, NY and fights out of Wappinger Falls. He is 23-12-4 and is 37. He last fought in October, winning a decision against a no name kid. I have seen him fight twice, both KO losses, one in spectacular fashion against Calvin Brock. He inexplicably beat Jameel McCline, but he lost to Dominick Guinn and Timo Hoffman. He is rated 331st on the All-Time Heavyweight rankings and 111th in the Active ratings. This is a fading guy trying to go from C level fighters to B level fighters to get tuned up to make another title run. Rahman will get old one day, though. Maybe this is the day. Probably not. The Brian's put this at Rahman 988.4 over Lawrence 703.9. I'll also take Rahman.
Friday gives us a card on Showtime, Telefutura, and Telemundo. In the undercard of the Showtime fight, we get Teke Oruh vs. Joey Abell in a 10 round Heavyweight fight. Oruh was born in Lagos, Nigeria and fights out of Las Vegas. He is 14-0-1 and 29 years old. In his last fight he beat journeyman in the making Jason Gavern in a majority decision in May. He fought for Nigeria in the 1999 World Championships. I have never seen him fight and Gavern, who barely counts, is the only guy he has ever fought. He is currently rated 299th in the All-Time Heavyweight rankings and 96th in the Active ratings. Abell fights out of Minneapolis. He is 17-1-0 and is 26. All 18 of his fights have ended in knockouts, including his last, in September. He has also never fought anybody worth anything. He is rated 303rd on the All-Time Heavyweight rankings and 101st in the Active ratings. Two guys trying to make a name for themselves. One has big power apparently, the other doesn't. The Brian's take Oruh 747.7 over Abell 741.6. Me, I'll take the power, Abell.
In the Showtime ShoBox main event, we get Andre Ward vs. Roger Cantrell in a 10 round Super Middleweight fight. Ward was born in San Francisco and fights out of Oakland. He is 13-0-0 and 23 years old. He was a gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics. He has won his last three fights by TKO, including his last in July against a decent but outmatched Francisco Diaz. I have seen six of his early fights. He has flashy skills and decent power, but he looked very coltish. Perhaps he has settled down a bit in recent fights as he gained experience. He has fought some decent records, but Diaz was his only real opponent to date. He is currently rated 89th in the All-Time Super Middleweight rankings and 52nd in the Active ratings. Cantrell fights out of Puyallup, WA. He is 12-0-0 and is 21. He has won his last three fights by KO, including his last, in June against a long-time loser, Jonathan Corn. I have seen him fight once, in a narrow split decision win over Marcus Pernell, another no-name with a record. He did nothing to make himself stand out in that fight, and he hasn't fought anybody better than Pernell. He is rated 136th on the All-Time Light Heavyweight rankings and 44th in the Active ratings. This may be a slight step up in class for Ward. But, mainly, this is a glossy record that hasn't fought anybody with the tools that Ward has. These are the classic opportunities for looking ahead, but Ward should have it pretty easy. The Brian's put this at Ward 772.8 over Cantrell 727.1. I'll take Ward.
On Telefutura, we start with a 10 round Super Bantamweight fight featuring Jhonny Gonzalez and Jose Angel Beranza. Gonzalez was born in Pachuca, Mexico and fights out of Mexico City. He is 34-6-0 and 26 years old. In his last fight he lost his Bantamweight title to Gerry Penalosa in a big upset in August. I have seen him fight seven times, including his last five. He is a quick guy with a wicked hook to the body. 29 KOs in 34 wins. He has fought plenty of top notch competition, including wins over Ratanachai Sor Vorapin, Mark Johnson, Francisco Montiel, and Irene Pacheco, and a loss to Israel Vazquez. He is currently rated 4th in the All-Time Bantamweight rankings and 3rd in the Active ratings. Beranza was born in Tepito, Mexico and fights out of Mexico City. He is 30-10-2 and is 31. In his last fight, in August, he lost a whitewash to Diosdado Gabi. In addition to the Gabi loss, he also lost to Jorge Lacierva, but he has wins over Vernie Torres and Ivan Hernandez. He is rated 34th on the All-Time Bantamweight rankings and 24th in the Active ratings. This is another guy trying to get his comeback on against an older club guy who is better than plenty but not in his league. The Brian's take Gonzalez 956.5 over Beranza 704.7. No doubt, Gonzalez.
In the Telefutura main event, we get David Lopez vs. Darryl Salmon in a 10 round Middleweight fight. Lopez was born and fights out of Nogales, Mexico. He is 32-12-0 and 29 years old. He won a big decision in his last fight in August against a decent Larry Marks. I have seen him fight four times and I shook his hand after one of them. He is decent, not spectacular, just solid. He has beaten some middle of the road guys, Rocky Montoya, Epifanio Mendoza, Danny Perez, among others and hasn't lost since 05. He is currently rated 34th in the All-Time Super Middleweight rankings and 18th in the Active ratings. Salmon was born in Savannah and fights out of Troy, AL. He is 16-2-0 and is 28. He lost a forst round KO to the up-and-coming Joe Greene in August. I have seen him fight once, the Greene fight, but he was not around long enough to form any kind of opinion. He hasn't really fought anyone else of note. He has no power, only 4 KOs, and he has lost his last two. Seems like he may be being served up. He is rated 228th on the All-Time Middleweight rankings and 56th in the Active ratings. This is the solid veteran getting one last bite out of the trumped up young guy before all traces of respectability have been beaten out of his record. The Brian's put this at Lopez 891.3 over Salmon 681.7. I'll take Lopez.
In the Telemundo main event, we get Francisco Figueroa vs. Noel Rodriguez in a 12 round Light Welterweight bout for a regional belt. Figueroa fights out of the Bronx. He is 17-2-0 and 29 years old. He has won his last three by knockout, including his last against a less than decent Ubaldo Hernandez in July. Hernandez is probably as good as he has fought, which is to say, he hasn't ever really fought anybody. He is currently rated 150th in the All-Time Welterweight rankings and 37th in the Active ratings. Rodriguez fights out of McKinney. He is 13-1-0 and is 22. He last fought in May, whitewashing the practiced loser Willie Diamond. He has never fought anyone of note. He is rated 198th on the All-Time Welterweight rankings and 63rd in the Active ratings. Two guys who haven't been tested, looking to test each other. It could be interesting. The Brian's put this at Figueroa 776.2 over Rodriguez 705.8. On a whim, I'll take the Texas kid, youth over age, Rodriguez.
And, for the Main Event, the Saturday night HBO card. We start with Abner Mares vs. Damian David Marchiano in a 12 round Bantamweight bout. Mares was born in Guadalajara and fights out of Montebello, CA. He is 14-0-0 and 21 years old. He was a 2004 Olympian for Mexico. In his last fight, in September, he beat a good Isidro Garcia inside the distance. I have seen him fight once, it was not memorable. He has mostly been protected, with Garcia being his first step up of any real measure. He is currently rated 25th in the All-Time Bantamweight rankings and 18th in the Active ratings. Marchiano was born in and fights out of San Nicolas, Argentina. He is 14-2-1 and is 28. He last fought in February, winning a big decision against a no-name. This will be his first fight outside of Argentina, so I have never seen him fight and there are no real names on his resume. He is rated 99th on the All-Time Featherweight rankings and 52nd in the Active ratings. Not much is known about Marchiano, but I suspect that this should bea showcase kind of fight for Mares against a game but loser opponent. The Brian's put this at Mares 777.9 over Marchiano 679.5. I'll trust Mares camp and take Mares.
And in the HBO Main Event, we have Joan Guzman vs. Humberto Soto in a 12 round Super Featherweight bout for the WBO Championship. Guzman was born in Santo Domingo, DR and fights out of Brooklyn. He is 27-0-0 and 31 years old. He was an Olympian in 1996. He previously held the Super Bantamweight title and this will be his second defense of the Super Featherweight title. His last fight was a lopsided decision win against Antonio Davis. I have seen him fight twice and he is a big puncher, though his last 6 have gone the distance. He has fought some good folks, Javier Jauregui, Jorge Rodrigo Barros, Fernando Beltran, Agapito Sanchez, beating all of them. He is currently rated 6th in the All-Time Super Featherweight rankings and 3rd in the Active ratings. Soto was born in Los Mochis, Mexico and fights out of Tijuana. He is 43-5-0 and is 27. He last fought in September, getting a TKO in a tuneup at Welterweight against a no-name. He hasn't lost since 2002, when he lost a majority decision to Kevin Kelley. I have seen him fight 4 times and have been impressed. He looks very good and has been knocking everybody out lately. Nobody can stay with him for long. He has fought In addition to the Kelley fight, he beat Humberto Toledo and Rocky Juarez, among several other decent folks. He is rated 38th on the All-Time Welterweight rankings and 5th in the Active ratings. If he were rated at Super Feather, he would be 3rd. This should be a good, exciting fight. Both guys are pride types who will come forward and look to take the other guy out. Soto has been more successful with that lately. The Brian's put this at Soto1012.8 over Guzman 978.8. I will also take Soto to take the title.

In review, the Brian's take
Soto Karass-------I pick Soto Karass
Rahman---------- I pick Rahman
Oruh--------------I pick Abell
Ward--------------I pick Ward
Gonzalez----------I pick Gonzalez
Lopez-------------I pick Lopez
Figueroa----------I pick Rodriguez
Mares-------------I pick Mares
Soto---------------I pick Soto
And, if you can only watch one, make it Soto-Guzman, there should be lots of leather flying.