11/2 - 11/3 Preview

Lots of action this week and some huge fights. Let's start with Friday.
The Undercard:
On Telefutura, we start with Cesar Morales vs. Nestor Rocha in a 10 round Bantamweight matchup. Cesar Morales was born in Ecatepec, Mexico and fights out of Tijuana. He represented Mexico as a Bantamweight in the 2000 Olympics. He is 19-5-0 and 29 years old. He is coming off a 14-month layoff, before which he had suffered two TKOs, the first of them to a bit of a loser, the second to a respectable kind of guy (Al Seeger). I have seen him fight a couple of times, but nothing memorable. In addition to Seeger, he has fought Clarence Vinson and Ivan Hernandez who are both decent guys, he beat Vinson, lost to Hernandez. He is currently rated 39th in the All-Time Super Bantamweight ranking and if he were active, he would be rated 26th. Rocha was born and fights out of Montebello, CA. He is 17-1-0 and is 25. He last fought at the beginning of September when he suffered his only loss to a kid named Jonas Hernandez. I have also seen him fight unmemorably once. The best name on his record is probably Cecilio Santos, but really he hasn't fought anybody of note. He is rated 35th on the All-Time Super Bantamweight ranking and 22nd in the Active ratings. So, essentially an up-and-comer, trying to rebound against an old guy who has a name but is on the fade. The Brian's put this at Rocha 737.9 over Morales 674.35. I will also pick Rocha.
In the Telefutura main event, we get Kassim Ouma vs. Saul Roman in a 10 round Light Middleweight matchup. Kassim Ouma was born in Kampala, Uganda where he was impressed into one of the youth military gangs and forced to carry and use an automatic weapon. He now fights out of West Palm Beach, FL. He was on the Ugandan national amateur team and on a visit to the US, he defected and was granted political asylum. He was the IBF Light Middleweight champ and lost in his second defense to Roman Karmazin. He is 25-3-1 and 28 years old. His last fight he lost to Jermain Taylor in a fight for the WBC and WBO Middleweight titles. I have seen him fight six times, including his last four. He is a big action guy, occassionally getting off 100 or more punches in a round. He doesn't have great power, but his volume punching can wear guys down and take them out. He has fought a gazillion name guys and beaten a lot of them. He is currently rated 79th in the All-Time Middleweight ranking and 6th in the active Middleweight ratings, though if he were a Light Middleweight, he would be 12th All-Time. Roman was born in Culiacan, Mexico and fights out of Tijuana. He is 27-4-0 and is 27. He last fought at the beginning of June and got TKO'd by Daniel Stanisavljevic, a loser. This was his second KO loss in a row. I have never seen him fight. He beat Manning Galloway, but long after Galloway was any good. He beat Marco Antonio Rubio early in Rubio's career, but in the rematch, after Rubio had his legs under him, he lost. He is rated 45th on the All-Time Light Middleweight ranking and 45nd in the Active ratings. What we have here is a big name guy that I like, fighting to stay active against an opponent with a decent record who has never fought anybody in this league. The Brian's put this at Ouma 952.9 over Roman 785.2. No question. I like Ouma, I pick Ouma in a walk.
Showtime also has a card on Friday night. On their undercard, we get Josesito Lopez vs. Tyrone Harris in an 8 round Lightweight matchup. Josesito Lopez fights out of Riverside, CA. He is 21-2-0 and 23 years old. His last fight he KO'd Luis Antonio Arceo in mid-August. I have never seen him fight. Other than Arceo, he beat Allen Litzau, Jason younger brother in his debut and he lost to Wes Ferguson, who is decent. He is currently rated 112th in the All-Time Lightweight ranking and 31st in the active Lightweight ratings. Harris was born and fights out of Lansing, MI. He is 21-3-0 and is 26. He last fought in mid-August and decisioned Rafael Ortiz, also a loser, in a fight I saw but was not memorable. He has fought two name guys, Stevie Johnston and Koba Gogoladze, but he lost to them both. He is rated 120th on the All-Time Lightweight ranking and 39th in the Active ratings. So we have two young guys, in a decent matchup typical of Showtime's Friday night offerings. One guy is younger and coming up fast, losing to a decent guy and a no-name, the other is older, not coming up quite so quickly, fought the better competition, but lost against the good ones. The Brian's put this at Lopez 780.8 over Harris 766.9. This is a close one, but I'll agree again and take Lopez.
In the main event, we get Eddie Chambers vs. Calvin Brock in a 12 round Heavyweight fight. Eddie Chambers was born in Pittsburgh and fights out of Philly. He is 29-0-0 and is 25. His last fight he won a decision against a typically lackadaisical Dominick Guinn. Including the Guinn fight, I have seen him fight three times, including his last two. He is not great, he is more of a mover and a pattycake puncher then a heavy handed type. Think Chris Byrd, but bigger and less defensive minded. His fight against Guinn represented a real step up in class from the pugs he had been beating up on. He is currently rated 118th in the All-Time Heavyweight ranking and 25th in the active Heavyweight ratings. Brock, "the boxing banker" was born and fights out of Charlotte, NC. He is 31-1-0 and is 32. He last fought at the beginning of June and beat a no-name guy with a good record. I have seen him fight five times, the last being the only loss of his career, last November against Wladimir Klitschko for the Heavyweight Championship. He is not a technically great fighter, he is often awkward. But he got up the canvas to beat Jameel McCline and showed a lot of heart despite being a bit outclassed by Klitschko. He also has a surprising knack of making an opponent bend to his will as the fight slowly goes his way. In addition to Klitschko and McCline, he has also faced Zuri Lawrence and Timor Ibragimov. He is rated 82nd on the All-Time Light Heavyweight ranking and 20th in the Active ratings. This should be a close but boring fight. I like both of these guys ok, but I have a particular fondness for Brock. This will be Chambers opportunity that the unbeaten record he his compiled means something by following up on his victory over afading guy with a victory over a quality guy. Brock is looking to prove that he still deserves to be considered in the heavyweight picture, having compiled two get back wins after the Klitschko fight and now facing a good guy. The Brian's put this at Brock 942.3 over Chambers 918.5. I hope they are right. I pick Brock.
And Now the Main Event:
Big stuff on Saturday, we'll start with the Showtime card.
In the undercard of the Saturday Showtime fights, we get Robert Guerrero against Martin Honorio in a 12 round Featherweight fight for the IBF Featherweight Title. Robert Guerrero fights out of Gilroy, CA. He is 20-1-1 and is 24. His last fight he won the vacant IBF Title with a 9th round TKO of Spend Abazi. I have seen him fight four times, including the only blemish on his record, the draw against a mediocre Julian Rodriguez. He is typically a quick guy and he has heavy hands. I like him. He has beaten Eric Aiken, Enrique Sanchez, and Cesar Figueroa. He is currently rated 45th in the All-Time Featherweight ranking and 16th in the active ratings. Honorio was born in Iztapalapa, Mexico and fights out of Mexico City. He is 24-3-1 and is 27. He last fought at the beginning of July and won a split decision against Joe Morales, a reliable journeyman type. I have seen him fight twice, including the Morales fight which he was supposed to dominate but only managed to squeak by, looking a bit bored. He has beaten Rogers Mtagwa and handed Steven Luevano his first loss. He drew against Jorge Lacierva and lost to William Abelyan. He is rated 24th on the All-Time Super Featherweight ranking and 8th in the Active ratings. We've got here the young firebolt who has already seen what happens when he mails it in for a fight against the also young guy who has suffered the effects of mailing it in, but hasn't figured out how not to do it. The Brian's put this at Honorio 873.7 over Guerrero 824.5. I think Honorio will be focused for this fight, but I think Guerrero will be passionate and will overpower Honorio. Give me Guerrero.
On any other weekend, the Showtime main event would be a huge deal. Juan Manuel Marquez vs Rocky Juarez in a 12 round Super Featherweight fight for the WBC Super Featherweight Title. Juan Manuel Marquez was born in Mexico City and he now fights out of Anaheim, CA. He is 47-3-1 and is 34. His last fight he took this title from Marco Antonio Barrera in a 12 round decision that was stunningly not very close. I have seen him fight five times, including his last three. He is a smart guy, a good boxer. He has the ability to take a guy out and he takes a good punch. He is and has been one of the best little guys out there. He has fought all kinds of name guys, including Barrera, Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales, and the memorable one against Pacquiao where he got knocked down three times in the first round and managed to earn a draw. He is currently rated 2nd in the All-Time Super Featherweight ranking and 2nd in the active ratings. Juarez was born and fights out of Houston. He is 27-3-0 and is 27. He last fought in May and won a decision against a decent Jose Andres Hernandez. I have seen him fight nine times, including his last four. He has a lot of heart, he has some good power. I thought he was too young when he fought Barrera, but he fought him very close in the first fight and also in their second fight. I like him and I think he is ready for Marquez. His losses were to Barrera and Humberto Soto, another stud. He has beaten Frankie Archuleta, gave Zahir Raheem his first loss, and also beaten Emmanuel Lucero. He is rated 12th on the All-Time Featherweight ranking and 5th in the Active ratings. Again we have a young guy coming up to challenge the old lion. I think Marquez still has a lot of fight left in him. I think he has been known to drop his concentration on occasion. I think Juarez is going to bring all his game to this fight and I think it will be enough to squeak by. The Brian's put this at Marquez 1085.7 over Juarez 940.9. This time I disagree. I'll take Juarez.
But the real deal this weekend is on HBO. Joe Calzaghe, the Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champ, vs. Mikkel Kessler, the Ring Magazine Number One Ranked Contender, for the Ring Magazine, WBA, WBC, and WBO Super Middleweight Championships. Joe Calzaghe was born in Hammersmith, England and he now fights out of Newbridge, Wales. He is 43-0-0 and is 35. His last fight he destroyed Peter Manfredo, Jr. (an early stoppage, but this was still not close). I have seen his last three fights. His fight against Jeff Lacy was a stunning display of dominance. He just destroyed Lacy, who was supposed to be big time. Two fights ago, against Sakio Bika, he did not look great, but Bika is hard to look good against. He is a smart, great boxer and shows up big when he is in the spotlight. In addition to those three, he has beaten Mario Veit twice, Robin Reid, and Omar Sheika. He is currently rated 1st in the All-Time Super Middleweight ranking and 1st in the active ratings. Kessler was born in Copenhagen and fights out of Monaco. He is 39-0-0 and is 28. He last fought in March and crushed a good Librado Andrade. The Andrade fight is the only time I've seen him fight. Against Andrade, he looked strong, he threw lots of punches, but he had some defensive deficiencies. He has fought Markus Beyer, Eric Lucas, and Anthony Mundine, among others. He is rated 3rd on the All-Time Super Middleweight ranking and 2nd in the Active ratings. Two guys near their peak battling for the real deal title. Huge. Calzaghe may be closer to the downside, but I think tonight, in his home soccer stadium, surrounded by over 74,000 fans, I think he will carry the day. Maybe a big shot to cap off his steady barrage and end it in the 9th. The Brian's put this at Calzaghe 1133.3 over Kessler 1037.1. I will also take Calzaghe.
In review, the Brian's take
Rocha-----------I pick Rocha
Ouma-----------I pick Ouma
Lopez-----------I pick Lopez
Brock-----------I pick Brock
Honorio----------I pick Guerrero
Marquez--------I pick Juarez
Calzaghe--------I pick Calzaghe
And, if you can only watch one, spend some time on Calzaghe-Kessler. A historical event and it should be great.