-
According to Boxingscene, light heavyweight prospect Beibut Shumenov will be taking on Gabriel Campillo for his version of the light heavyweight title. This is news to me simply because I can't remember a recent prospect who has had such ridiculously aggressive matchmaking so early in his career. He went pro less than two years ago. By his fourth fight, he was already facing rugged gatekeeper Donnell Wiggins. Since then, he's faced former super middleweight titlist Byron Mitchell, former title challenger Epifanio Mendoza and former light heavyweight titlist Montell Griffin. Shumenov may not be the most physically gifted fighter in the world, but he brings it on offense and he's technicnally solid. Campillo, who recently upset Hugo Garay for a title, would be only the second southpaw that Shumenov has faced as a pro. - New Mikkel Kessler promoter Sauerland Event won the purse bid for Kessler-Perdomo with an obscenely high bid of over $2.1 million. The other two bidders were Mogens Palle (with an offer around $1.2 million) and Perdomo promoter Universum (with a lowball bid of about $250,000). Part of the reason the bid was so high was probably to make sure that Palle couldn't crash the party and delay the fight, hence hindering Kessler's ability to participate in the Super Six tournament. Kessler shouldn't sleep on Perdomo though. Many thought he beat Dmitry Sartison, and he's a tricky southpaw. Let's just hope Kessler doesn't get cut or hurt in this one, because that could get the tournament off to a shaky start. In promotion of the tournament, Showtime will be carrying this fight on September 12.
- Also at the purse bid, it looks like Bernard Dunne's next opponent will be his mandatory, Poonsawat Kratindaenggym. The bidder listed Dublin, New York and Macau as potential locations. As much as I'd love to see Dunne fight before the Irish-American fans in New York, Dublin's the only place that this fight makes a lot of sense. Poonsawat's a tiny fighter with a big punch, and as we've seen, Dunne doesn't have the best chin in the world. While I think Dunne is a very entertaining fighter, he should be the underdog for this one. Poonsawat beat Ricardo Cordoba a few years back by unanimous decision, and he recently knocked out Somsak Sithchatchawal. The wild card is level of competition. Like many Thai fighters, Poonsawat keeps himself busy, but he probably hasn't faced anyone of Dunne's caliber since losing to Wladimir Sidorenko in 2006.
- Nobuo Nashiro will be defending his title against Hugo Cazares. This may be one of the tougher tests of Nashiro's career, although Cazares has recently made a big jump up in weight himself. If there is a fighter who was recently moved as quickly as Shumenov, it's Nashiro, who won a title in his eighth fight himself.
Filed under:
