TV and Internet Fight Schedule - Weekend of September 11

This is that time of year when we seem to go from weak week to strong weak on an almost weekly basis.  This week, there are actually two low-level pay per views scheduled, which just can't be good for anyone, considering a lot of providers only have the slot for one sports pay per view in a given timeslot.  In even more scheduling madness, there are two Mexican cards involving multiple championship fights going on Tuesday night.  Why can't the promoters just play nice and spread out the cards?  If half of these fights had been last weekend and half of them this weekend, we would have had two decent weekends of fights, instead of complete dreck followed by an overload.

Thursday, September 10

Canal+, 3:30 p.m. Eastern, Nadjib "Iron Djib" Mohammedi vs. Thierry Karl; Karim Bennama vs. David Greter; Jean Paul Mendy vs. Nathan King.  The first two fights are part of Le Grand Tournoi, a boxing tournament they have had in France the last few years.

Friday, September 11

Sky Sports, Noon Eastern, Tyson Fury vs. John McDermott. This one's for the English heavyweight crown.  McDermott's certainly an English-level fighter, but he's a pretty decent one.  His last two fights were both close losses to Danny Williams, and he's beaten some decent British heavies like Scott Gammer and Pete Reid.  Fury, only 7-0, is taking a decent step up, but I like the aggressiveness in his scheduling for such a young fighter.  The way he's staying in the media, he should be able to make a decent living boxing, even if he does flame out a la Audley Harrison.

Gofightlive.tv, 7:30 p.m. Eastern ($4.99), Steve Upshur vs. James Helms; Jules Blackwell vs. Joselito Collado; Darren Fallen vs. Joshua Onyango and others.

Gofightlive.tv, 8:00 p.m. Eastern ($7.99), Rodney King vs. Simon Aouad.  Yes, THAT Rodney King.  This is touted as celebrity boxing, meaning it's probably not pro rules, but King is the only guy on the card I've ever heard of.

Telemundo, 11:35 p.m. Eastern, Alejandro Hernandez vs. Wilbert Uicab.  It's very clearly Telemundo when the headline fight involved guys who are 22-6 and 25-5, respectively.  Should be a good flyweight scrap though.

Saturday, September 12

Integrated PPV, 9:00 p.m. Eastern ($29.95), Ivan Calderon vs. Rodel Mayol; Roman Martinez vs. Vicente Rodriguez; Juan Mercedes vs. Jesus Martinez; Carlos Negron vs. Larry Carter.  Calderon seems to be fading, and Mayol's trainer Freddie Roach seems confident he can squeeze out a victory.  Calderon tried to brawl too much in his last couple fights, but if he goes back to boxing defensively, he shouldn't have too many problems with Mayol, who Calderon drew in his last fight.  Martinez makes the first defense of the title he won from Nicky Cook.  For those of you who don't get this pay per view over the cable box, the card is also available at Gofightlive.tv for $9.95.

Top Rank PPV, 9:00 p.m. Eastern ($39.95), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Jason LeHoullier; Fernando Montiel vs. Alex Valdez; Donnie Nietes vs. Manuel Vargas; Z Gorres vs. Cruz Carvajal.  Gorres vs. Carvajal might actually be the most exciting and competitive fight on the card.  Chavez-LeHoullier might also be closer than some people might think, but LeHoullier doesn't have the power to end Chavez.  Another pretty lackluster card for a big price tag from Top Rank.  The Televisa card on Tuesday is a significantly better card from top to bottom.  On the bright side, if you get Azteca, you can probably watch this one for free on delay.

Showtime, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Mikkel Kessler vs. Gusmyl Perdomo; Andre Ward vs. Shelby Pudwill.  Bad Left Hook will be providing coverage of these fights, which will help set up Kessler vs. Ward in the opening round of the Super Six tournament.  Perdomo is actually a crafty southpaw who is Kessler's mandatory.  He's probably not much of a threat to win, but he could put up a decent fight.  Pudwill, on the other hand, is best known for being Tocker's less talented brother, and is just bait to get knocked out early.

Tuesday, September 15

Televisa, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Edgar Sosa vs. Omar Soto; Saul Alvarez vs. Carlos Herrera; Daniel Estrada vs. Carlos Mairena; Carlos Zarate Jr. vs. TBA.  What are these crazy Mexicans thinking?  Two great cards on a Tuesday night? 

Azteca America, 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Jorge Arce vs. Simphiye Nongqayi; Humberto Soto vs. Aristides Perez.  The best card this week might be on in the middle of the night on a Tuesday.  Nongqayi beat Arce's younger brother Francisco to earn this title shot.  Both of these are title fights.  Also fighting on the untelevised portion of the card - Samuel Peter, Ulises Solis and Omar Chavez.

Elsewhere in the world of boxing....

• Some old fighters are trying to make comebacks on untelevised undercards this weekend.  On the Latin Fury undercard, Jose Luis Castillo will be facing the almighty TBA.  While he looked completely done against Sebastian Lujan about a year ago, he's rattled off three straight wins against mediocre competition.  On the Andre Ward undercard, James Toney gives it one last go against 12-5 Matthew Greer.  Joe Goosen has said he might sign Toney again if he can come into the ring in shape and fight exciting like he used to.  We're hearing the usual song about Toney being in his best shape in years, but usually that shape is round.  Also on the Ward undercard, 43-3 Freddie Norwood, who's lost two of his last three, takes on 9-0 Mike Dallas Jr.   Not on the undercard of anything, Monte Barrett comes back against Sheldon Hinton way up in Edmonton. 
  
• Nehomar Cermeno rematches Christian Mijares on Saturday.  Mijares was a rising star and Ring Magazine top 10 pound for pound fighter before getting derailed by Vic Darchinyan.  He then went on to lose a controversial decision to the inexperienced Cermeno.  The two rematch for an interim title.  I'm not sure what it is about Mijares, but there must be something about his style that makes it hard for certain judges to score rounds for him.  The scorecards on his fights almost always seem to be much closer than my personal scorecards on his fights, even when he's the home fighter.  His 0-12 card against Jose Navarro was one of the all-time bad scorecards. 
  
• Tyrone Brunson is back in action for the first time in over a year, this time facing Marcos Primera.  Brunson was best knock for scoring 19 straight first round knockouts, besting Edwin Valero's record (against even worse competition), and then earning a draw in his first step-up fight.  Despite a 20-19 record, Primera is a tough cookie who's been fighting legitimate prospects pretty much nonstop since 2002, upsetting more than a few of them. 
  
• Martin Antonio Coggi, son of legendary Argentine fighter Juan Martin Coggi, will be squaring off against 14-0 Carlos Martin Ahumada for the Argentine light welterweight title.  Much like Chavez Jr., Coggo has been accused of being somewhat of a protected fraud relying on the name of his father rather than his own talent.  This step up will help separate the wheat from the chaff.   
  
• Mike Paschall takes on Henry Mayes for the Maryland LHW title.  Not really worth a mention, other than to say that Paschall vs. Jesse Brinkley was one of the better unheralded fights of the year so far.  It's showing up in syndication, and is worth a watch if it comes on near you.  
• Matt Godfrey takes on Michael Simms in Sactown.  Godfrey vs. Hawk and Simms vs. Ross were two of the worst fights of the year, so I guess I'm sort of happy that this one isn't televised.  Otis Griffin also takes on Rubin Williams in a battle of former contenders who can't seem to buy a win lately.