It looks as though this weekend will be a very active one for the sweet science. Of course, we have the HBO World Championship Boxing card featuring Ricky Hatton and JL Castillo tomorrow night. But, hell, that's a whole day away. In the meantime, we have three pretty decent fight cards to keep us busy tonight:
In the least promising of these cards, ESPN will showcase former light welterweight champ Randall Bailey against some dude named Harrison Cuello who's 13-4-2. Bailey sports a 34-5 record, with 31 of those wins coming by way of KO. I foresee number 32 tonight. Bailey's last big fight came against Miguel Cotto, who easily dispatched him in 6 rounds. Since then, the former champ has won six straight.
When that one's done, another card should be just about starting on Showtime. The Shobox series looks to continue its tradition of showcasing some of the top prospects in the game. Personally, I'm very excited about tonight's card, which will feature Juan Manuel Lopez and Victor Ortiz. Lopez, who hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico, is 14-0 with 12KOs. Though he's just beginning his career, he has already garnered a good deal of exposure, fighting on PPV undercards. I have no doubt he has the potential to be a featherweight champion in the near future. As for Ortiz, I've never seen him fight, but from what I've heard, I'm really looking forward to watching him tonight. He's 16-1, with that lone loss coming by DQ. Tonight both of these prospects will face pretty tough tests against Cuauhtemoc Vargas (15-1) and Marvin Cordoba (12-0), respectively.
Here's what I predict will be the best fight of the night (of the weekend, even): Henry Bruseles vs. Wilfredo Negron on Telefutura. Unfortunately, I don't get Telefutura in this damn cornfield I live in, so I won't be able to see it. These guys fought a couple of years ago, in what was Puerto Rico's 2004 fight of the year. Simply put, it was a slugfest. Both fighters went down, and Bruseles ended up scoring a 7th Round TKO. I'm picking Bruseles to win once again. The winner of this fight will probably be taking on Ricardo Torres for his 140-pound belt this summer.
A piece of advice: If you get Telefutura, watch this fight. It will be a lot better than the ESPN card.