Title Fights Scheduled (Apr. 18-19)

On Apr. 18 in Mafikeng, South Africa, IBF Junior Lightweight titleholder South Africa's Cassius Baloyi [36(19)-3(0)-1] will defend his belt against compatriot Malcolm Klassen [23(14)-4(0)-2]. This will complete the round-robin among, presently, the 3 best ranked South Africans and the last 3 titleholders in the IBF 130-lb. division - Baloyi, Klassen and Mzonke Fana. Klassen once held the same title until he was dethroned by Fana on April 2007. Then Baloyi took Fana's title exactly 12 months later. This time, it's Baloyi defending against Klassen after 2 years to the month since this round-robin started. This does not make any headlines to the rest of the world but is obviously huge in South Africa. This is a tough fight to call but Baloyi's huge height and reach advantage is difficult to ignore.

On Apr. 19 (Apr 18 ET) in Quezon City, Philippines in the historic Araneta Coliseum, IBF Flyweight titleholder Nonito Donaire [20(13)-1(0)-0] of the Philippines will defend his title against the dangerous and undefeated Raul Martinez [24(14)-0(0)-0] of the US. Donaire wasn't impressive in his last win against Moruti Mthalane compared to his previous fights while Martinez knocked his opponent out in the first in his last fight. Martinez's list of opponents though does not really impress anyone, to say the least. Donaire, with the homecrowd behind him will be too much for Martinez and will make it a point to make up for the unremarkable performance against Mthalane. Besides, he needs to keep winning to earn a title shot in the higher weight classes against possibly a rematch with his KO of the year victim Vic Darchinyan.

On the same card, Mexico's Ulises Solis [28(20)-1(0)-2] will defend his IBF Junior Flyweight title against Brian Viloria [24(14)-2(0)-0] of the US. This will be Solis' 9th defense of an impressive title run. Viloria will be banking on the homecrowd because of his filipino lineage. It will be tough to figure which Viloria will show up in this fight. He's back in his groove in the last few fights but they were against insignificant opponents. The last 2 fights that mattered which was a couple of years ago were both losses against Omar Nino Romero (not counting the no contest) and current WBC 108-lb. champ Edgar Sosa. Viloria, in my opinion, showed no heart in those fights where he had every opportunity to win yet was so dismal considering how meaningful those fights were. Solis meanwhile is at the peak of his game with remarkable wins one after another including 3 straight against formidable filipino challengers - Rodel Mayol, Bert Batawang and Nonito's older sibling Glenn Donaire. This card will be covered by Top Rank PPV Saturday night in the US at 9 pm (ET) for what I believe an affordable $24.99. Not bad for hardcore fans.

My Prediction:
Baloyi by late stoppage or decision.
Donaire will successfully defend his title by mid-fight stoppage.
Solis will continue on with his impressive run and stop Viloria late.