Title Fights Scheduled (Mar. 12-14)

5 title fights in 3 days from Asia, Europe and North America.

Up first, on Mar. 12 in Tokyo, Japan, Mexico's Oscar Larios [63(39)-6(4)-1] will defend his WBC Featherweight title against Takahiro Aoh [16(8)-1(0)-1] of Japan. This is a rematch from 5 months ago where Larios, according to reports, won a controversial split decision. It's quite rare to find a Japanese boxer lose a close fight by decision in their home turf so I'm not really sure if it was indeed controversial. If you won close in Japan, then I believe that means you really won. Catch my drift? Anyway, this is a difficult fight to call. Larios is a proven warrior who's been in tough wars against Jorge Linares, Israel Vazquez and of course Manny Pacquiao. It's hard to bet against him if the fight is on neutral grounds but back in Japan? It'll be a tall order for the veteran specially with the Japanese fans and media thinking that they should've won the first time. Aoh is the new favorite of Japanese boxing. Unlike the Hasegawas and the Naitos, Aoh is flamboyant and has swagger not typical of Japanese boxers.

Also on Mar. 12 in Kobe, Japan, Japan's Hozumi Hasegawa [25(9)-2(0)-0] will defend his WBC Bantamweight title against mandatory challenger, Vusi Malinga [18(11)-2(0)-1] of South Africa. Malinga I thought is a crude fighter whose main weapon is his left uppercut. They both knocked out Veeraphol Sahaprom but the difference is Hasegawa knocked the Thai veteran out while at his prime. Malinga fought Sahaprom at the tailend of his career. I verified this doubleheader from Japan because it's quite unusual to have 2 title fights in different venues on the same day in the same country (that is not the US). Tokyo and Kobe is roughly 250 miles apart. Their local TV coverage will show the fights one after the other.

On Mar. 13 in Montreal, Canada, Canada's adopted son Lucian Bute [23(18)-0(0)-0] of Romania will defend his IBF Super Middleweight title against Colombia's Fulgencio Zuniga [22(19)-3(1)-1]. Bute narrowly retained his title last October against Librado Andrade. Andrade's all out assault in the final round knocked a spent Bute down in the closing seconds. Bute beat the count and won the fight by decision. Initial review showed hometown referee Marlon Wright delaying the count by yelling at Andrade to stay in the neutral corner where he already was. Replays proved that Bute was up before 10 inspite of Wright's deliberate count. Zuniga will be a formidable opponent whose loses were against titleholders - Denis Inkin, Daniel Santos and Kelly Pavlik. This I believe will be a good test for Bute but not as difficult as Andrade. Showtime will cover starting 11 pm ET.

On Mar. 14 in Kiel, Germany, arguably the best middleweight outside the US, Armenia-born German Arthur Abraham [28(23)-0(0)-0] will defend his IBF Middleweight title against unbeaten yet untested Lajuan Simon [21(12)-0(0)-2] of the US. This will be the Philly-native's first fight outside the east coast. Simon fought mostly in Philadelphia and New Jersey and most recently at the Medieval Times close by in Lyndhurst. Abraham has Kelly Pavlik in sight and Simon is not the type of fighter that will ruin his plans.

Also on Mar. 14 in Manchester, England, in the undercard of the Amir Khan-Marco Antonio Barrera fight, UK's Nicky Cook [29(16)-1(1)-0] will defend his WBO Junior Lightweight title against Roman Martinez [21(12)-0(0)-1] of Puerto Rico. Cook won the title from fellow Brit Alex Arthur last September which doesn't really say much. I smell an upset on this one. Martinez is in the mold of a typical Puerto Rican banger and will be initiating the action. Martinez will most likely go after Cook's slim frame. This will be a good fight to close the weekend and it will be on Integrated Sports PPV.

My Predictions:
I am rooting for Larios but Aoh will have the crowd and the "intangibles" behind him. Aoh by controversial decision.
Hasegawa will be too savy for Malinga who I find open whenever he throws his wide uppercuts. Hasegawa by KO in the middle rounds.
Bute does not want the Andrade scenario all over again. He'll finish Zuniga between rounds 5 and 10.
Abraham will be too much for a practically green Simon who will be in a world title fight for the first time in his life. Abraham by early KO.
Cook, I believe is just a lucky titleholder. I see Martinez dethroning him by late KO.