Boxing usually slows down for the month of August, sometimes due to the Olympics, and sometimes just because it's a traditional month to take slow as summer begins to heat up and wind down (though if it gets hotter this year, we should file a protest). But there are a couple of big fights coming next month, and a few names taking fights that might not be as easy as they appear.
The Big Two
The most notable fight of the month is probably the 140-pound bout on August 27 (HBO) between Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KO) and Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KO). Guerrero is coming up from lightweight and taking a big challenge to do so. Maidana, for those who may be unfamiliar, made current hot welterweight and upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr opponent Victor Ortiz quit in 2009, and last December gave Amir Khan all he could handle in the BWAA's Fight of the Year. Guerrero has been looking for a big fight, and while Maidana may not be the big event that he was hoping for, it's no doubt the toughest test of his career. Maidana is a solid 140-pounder with power, and though Guerrero has the superior boxing skills, it's an open question how he'll handle the size, power, and pressure of Maidana. Heavyweight prospect Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell is slated to co-feature.
On August 13, Showtime's bantamweight tournament comes to a long-awaited conclusion, as Joseph Agbeko (28-2, 22 KO) faces Abner Mares (21-0-1, 13 KO) in an interesting clash. Agbeko had to pull out of the fight earlier this year with sudden onset sciatica in his back, and Mares patiently waited and made no big stink about it, showing his class and just wishing for Agbeko to recover for the fight. Showtime was also reported to be showing Jermain Taylor's comeback fight that night, but Taylor still has no opponent and it doesn't seem likely that fight's even going to happen, let alone be televised.
ShoBox: It's "Special"!
In a "special" ShoBox that doesn't adhere to the show's mission statement of the best up-and-coming fighters in tough matchups, former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO) takes on Darryl Cunningham (23-2, 10 KO). It might not look like much on paper, but Pavlik struggled in May with Alfonso Lopez, a pure club fighter, and there's reason to be concerned that he's back to old bad habits outside of the ring. This is meant to be a final tune-up before facing Lucian Bute in November, but Cunningham isn't a terrible fighter or anything, and better than Lopez. This could be a trap, though realistically Cunningham would have to do something pretty special to beat Pavlik in Youngstown. He's not a puncher, and Pavlik can take a good shot anyway. So he'll have to win by decision, which won't be easy.
Friday Night Fights
ESPN's Friday Night Fights wraps up what I would call a successful season of fights in August, with three cards.
On August 5 from Santa Ynez, Calif., junior welterweights Tim Coleman (19-1-1, 5 KO) and Vernon Paris (24-0, 14 KO) headline, and there's an interesting co-feature that will probably fall apart between Art Hovhannesyan (14-0-1, 8 KO) and veteran Cristobal Cruz (39-12-2, 23 KO), too. Paris is a Detroit fighter worth tuning in to see, not because he's so great, but because he does tricky, crafty old school things that basically nobody else in the sport does, and when he's on his game, he can be very interesting to watch ply his trade. He has some stamina issues and occasionally fights with too much arrogance, which has gotten him in trouble in the past. The co-feature is really more interesting to me. Cruz is a former featherweight titlist who hasn't fought since a 12-round decision loss to Orlando Salido in May 2010, and would be stepping up to lightweight to face Hovhannesyan, who recently obliterated prospect Archie Ray Marquez on ShoBox.
August 12 will see Kermit Cintron (32-4-1, 28 KO) look to bounce back from an awful performance on July 2 against Carlos Molina against Antwone Smith (20-2-1, 12 KO). This may seem like a "safe" comeback fight for Kermit, but Top Rank also thought Molina was a safe comeback fight for him, and Smith is a hungry, aggressive guy and a legitimate spoiler, much like Molina. Cintron is make-or-break with this one, and with a win could still secure a fall PPV spot on the Pacquiao-Marquez or Cotto-Margarito cards.
The season finale of Friday Night Fights will return to where the season started, at least in terms of main event. On January 7, Mauricio Herrera upset unbeaten Ruslan Provodnikov in the season opening main event, setting a trend for the entire seven-month run of the show this year. Now, Provodnikov (19-1, 13 KO) will look to get revenge at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., which if you've never been to it, it's...well, it's there and you can gamble there and they put on fights pretty frequently. Herrera (18-1, 7 KO) recently defeated Mike Dallas Jr on Friday Night Fights, so this will be the third appearance for both he and Provodnikov this year. Provodnikov beat Ivan Popoca on April 15, too. The junior welter main eventers will be complemented by a lightweight crossroads fight between veteran ex-titlist David Diaz (36-3-1, 17 KO) and Hank Lundy (20-1-1, 10 KO). Diaz will be largely responsible for whatever draw there is, as he's a native of nearby Chicago.
Other Notable Fights
August 6, Tokyo: Ryol Li Lee (17-2-1, 8 KO) vs Rikiya Fukuhara (24-5-1, 18 KO), featherweights.
August 10, Tokyo: Kazuto Ioka (7-0, 5 KO) vs Juan Hernandez (18-1, 13 KO), strawweights. Both are top ten in their division.
August 11, Panama City: Luis Concepcion (22-2, 17 KO) vs Cesar Canchila (30-3, 23 KO), flyweights.
August 13, Broadbeach, Australia: Michael Katsidis (27-4, 22 KO) vs Michael Lozada (38-8-1, 30 KO), lightweights.
August 13, Atlantic City (FSN): Teon Kennedy (17-0-1, 7 KO) vs Alejandro Lopez (21-2, 7 KO), super bantamweights. Matt Remillard (23-1, 13 KO) vs Aaron Garcia (10-2-2, 2 KO), featherweights.
August 13, Miami, Okla.: Kimbo Slice (0-0, 0 KO) vs James Wade (0-1, 0 KO). Not really notable if you're actually a boxing fan, but there's interest out there from the lookie-loos.
August 19, Ponce, P.R.: Cesar Seda Jr (20-1, 15 KO) vs Yan Barthelemy (12-2, 4 KO), bantamweights. Though Seda proved his class in a debated loss to Omar Narvaez earlier this year, I keep getting the feeling that Barthelemy has to have a one-off performance where the former Cuban amateur standout lives up to his credentials.
August 26, Donetsk, Ukraine: Vyacheslav Senchenko (31-0, 20 KO) vs Marco Antonio Avendano (30-7-1, 22 KO). Senchenko still holds the WBA welterweight title, which he won in 2009 and has hoarded ever since. This is a typical Senchenko defense.
August 27, Erfurt, Germany: Alexander Povetkin (21-0, 15 KO) vs Ruslan Chagaev (27-1-1, 17 KO), heavyweights. Robert Helenius (15-0, 10 KO) vs Sergei Liakhovich (25-3, 16 KO), heavyweights.
August 31, Hobart, Australia: Daniel Geale (25-1, 15 KO) vs Eromosele Albert (24-4-1, 12 KO).