September ShoBox Cards: Olusegun vs Chebah on 9/30, Chris Avalos and Lateef Kayode on 9/9

Mike Coppinger has reported at BoxingScene.com that Gary Shaw Productions has set up a pair of events to be featured on ShoBox: The New Generation in September, and both shows have some promise.

On September 9 from a site to be determined, super bantamweights and cruiserweights will be in action. The super bantamweight fight would pit the exciting Chris Avalos (19-1, 15 KO) against Jhonatan Romero (18-0, 11 KO). Avalos has won three in a row since losing to Christopher Martin in August 2010, and won a 10-round decision over Khabir Suleymanov on June 10, which was part of a ShoBox event. Romero is a Colombian who has faced the typical Colombian opposition at home, but did come to the States for a win over Cecilio Santos (also part of Avalos' win streak) on June 24. Avalos is on paper a big step up for Romero, but Romero is also essentially an unknown quantity.

The cruiserweight bout would see Freddie Roach-trained Lateef "Power" Kayode (17-0, 14 KO) matched with St. Louis' Ryan Coyne (17-0, 6 KO). Coyne nearly fought for a major title on June 25 before Guillermo Jones did as expected and pulled out of the fight, which left Coyne to fight 38-year-old West Virginia club fighter who had been inactive for four years. Coyne had a lot more trouble than he should have, and truthfully if this fight gets made, I expect Kayode to roll.

Shaw has also secured a ShoBox slot for the September 30 WBC junior welterweight eliminator pitting Ajose Olusegun (29-0, 14 KO) and Ali Chebah (35-1, 28 KO). I've seen Olusegun fight a few times on Sky Sports cards in the past, and while he's unlikely to win over any new fans with his fighting style, he is a tricky, crafty guy who could give a lot of name fighters in the division plenty of trouble. Chebah is French-born and based in Montreal, but has fought his last four bouts in Algeria. His only loss came back in 2008 when he was battered by Reyes Sanchez, a tough and game fighter but not one with a lot of skills. I do favor Olusegun pretty heavily in this fight, but it's nice that the two will be getting the exposure either way.