Live video is available via UStream and Boxing Channel.

I'm joining the card a hair late myself, but it's still very early in the show, and the main event and most of the card is still to come. Tonight in Mississauga, Ontario, there's some live boxing going down, and since Ortiz vs Berto was supposed to happen tonight, we've got the room to cover some of the more unsung fighters in the boxing world, so we will.

In the main event, Samuel Vargas (8-0-1, 2 KO) meets Manolis Plaitis (17-1-1, 8 KO) in a 10-round welterweight bout. Vargas, a Colombian-born fighter now based in Ontario, had a great fight last year with Ahmad Cheikho.

Won't lie and say it's the biggest show in the world, but you'll get a chance to see some fighters you otherwise wouldn't, and hey, it's boxing, you know what I mean? Let's watch some boxing. Let's talk about some boxing. Let's do this, you guys. It'll be fun. I promise.

Friday Night Fights is live tonight at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2 and ESPN3, with a main event that has aroused a lot of suspicion.

In that 10-round junior middleweight fight, former Olympian Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade will face 36-year-old Angel Hernandez of Chicago. Andrade (15-0, 10 KO) is considered a blue chip prospect, while Hernandez (30-10, 17 KO) is just a veteran club scrapper, and in some ways a good opponent considering he came in as the third guy scheduled for the fight on two days' notice. The original opponent was Derek Ennis, who bailed due to illness, and he was replaced by Terrance Cauthen, who then canceled to take a fight next Friday on ShoBox against Thomas Dulorme, which eventually went to Aris Ambriz instead.

Continue reading this post »

The show is already live on BoxNation in the UK, so join us for some afternoon boxing from York Hall in London.

In the 10-round main event, lightweight contender Kevin Mitchell (32-1, 24 KO) is staying busy against Felix Lora (14-8-5, 8 KO), a Dominican-born fighter now living in Spain. It's a mismatch on paper, and Mitchell says he's taking the fight purely to get some rounds in and stay busy. He's not fought since his impressive win last July over John Murray, which won British Fight of the Year.

Continue reading this post »

Tonight at 10 p.m. EST, HBO goes live with the network's first boxing show of 2012, a double-header featuring a pair of title fights.

In the main event, WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (44-0-1, 31 KO) defends against Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KO) in a 12-round bout. Chavez is making the second defense of the title he won from Sebastian Zbik last June, following a win over Peter Manfredo Jr in November.

[ Related: Early Undercard Results ]

The co-feature will decide the vacant WBO super bantamweight title. Nonito Donaire (27-1, 18 KO) is back in action in his first fight at 122 pounds, facing ex-titlist Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (21-1-1, 18 KO) in another 12-round bout. Donaire is looking to pick up a title belt in a third weight class, following titles at 112 and 118 (he won only an interim belt in his stopover at 115).

These two fights will conclude a long day of live coverage here at Bad Left Hook, so join us as we wrap up our first really big weekend of fights this year.

Tonight's Chavez vs Rubio undercard is streaming live via Top Rank's web site, and you can watch the fights there or just above here in the embedded player.

Featured on the undercard tonight is junior middleweight motormouth Vanes Martirosyan (31-0, 19 KO), taking another easy stay-busy fight against 41-year-old club fighter Troy Lowry (28-11, 17 KO). Martirosyan, 25, is starting to take more and more heat for his matchups, as they seem to be getting worse while he complains about not getting big fights. In his last three fights, Martirosyan has stepped down some each time, going from game veteran Saul Roman to indifferent veteran Richard Gutierrez and now a guy who has no business in the ring with him.

Also featured tonight is welterweight prospect Wale "Lucky Boy" Omotoso (20-0, 17 KO). Omotoso's first two fights with Top Rank haven't exactly been smooth, with rocky victories over Calvin Odom and Lanardo Tyner. Tonight he takes a little step back against Nestor Rosas (11-2, 7 KO), and you wonder if perhaps Top Rank hasn't figured he needs some more work before making any big moves.

Tonight marks the setting of a new standard for Bad Left Hook, as from this point forward, when a full undercard is available, we will be covering the event live from start to finish.

The rest of the lineup after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Scott Quigg defends his British super bantamweight title today against Jamie Arthur in Bolton, live on Sky Sports, and Bad Left Hook will have live, round-by-round coverage. Dave Oakes will handle the round-by-round duties.

The fight will go live at 3 p.m. EST.

Here's a snip from Dave's preview of the fight:

Arthur has slight height and reach advantages over Quigg, though Quigg is the much more powerful physically and in terms of punch power. Quigg is also the fresher fighter and looks to be the hungrier - Arthur’s coquetry with retirement may be a sign that he’s not as ambitious as he once was, although we won’t be able to tell until fight night.

If Arthur still has the desire to become a champion, he could put up a sterling effort, even if it’s most likely to be in vain. If Arthur doesn’t have the fire in his belly, Quigg could steam roll him. One senses it could be somewhere between the two, Arthur giving it a go in the first four rounds but going into his shell as he realises the monumental task in front of him.

Continue reading this post »

Today at 1 p.m. EST on BoxNation (fights likely to start around 2-2:30 p.m.), Steve Cunningham looks to regain the IBF cruiserweight title from Yoan Pablo Hernandez in Frankfurt, Germany, and two European titles are also on the line.

[ Related: Quigg vs Arthur Round-By-Round Coverage ]

Cunningham (24-3, 12 KO) and Hernandez (25-1, 13 KO) met last October in what turned out to be a controversial technical decision going Hernandez's way. Neither man has fought since then, and today they rematch in a fight that deserved a second go.

Also featured on the card will be European light heavyweight champion Eduard Gutknecht (22-1, 9 KO) defending against Vyacheslav Uzelkov (25-1, 16 KO), and the vacant European cruiserweight title is on the line between Enad Licina (21-3, 11 KO) and Alexander Alexeev (22-2, 20 KO).

Bad Left Hook will have live coverage of the entire lineup. Join us!

Continue reading this post »

Tonight's edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights is live at 10 p.m. EST on ESPN2 and ESPN3, with a triple-header headlined by a light heavyweight crossroads bout.

In the main event, former middleweight contender Edison Miranda (35-6, 30 KO) is back in the ring in a 10-round bout against late replacement opponent Isaac Chilemba (18-1-1, 9 KO). It's a good fight for Chilemba, a 24-year-old South African with some real potential, who is replacing Yordanis Despaigne in this fight, meant to be a rematch of a controversial FNF main event last year, after Despaigne pulled out about two weeks ago, following a loss in December to Cornelius White.

Miranda, 31, is still a pretty entertaining fighter who talks some good trash, but at light heavyweight he's small and doesn't have the same power he used to have as a middleweight. This was even a problem at super middleweight for the limited Colombian brawler. If Chilemba beats Miranda, it's a step forward. But if Chilemba isn't good enough to turn into a contender, Miranda could let us know tonight, win or lose.

Miranda vs Chilemba is set for 10 rounds.

Continue reading this post »