A decent stack of title fights this weekend as 4 are on tap. This is the first of two weekends where there are at least four title fights, barring any other postponements or cancellations.
On June 19 in Montreal, Canada, two Canadian immigrants will be fighting for the WBC Light Heavyweight title. Romania-born Adrian Diaconu [26(15)-0(0)-0] will defend his title against Haiti-born Jean Pascal [22(15)-1(0)-0]. I am glad Versus stepped up and will show it live in the US at 9 pm ET. Pascal’s slugfest against Carl Froch late last year was a fight of the year finalist and thanks to Fox Sports, it was shown a few weeks later. This I hope will be another barnburner. Pascal of course lost that fight but it showed grit and tenacity that will come handy against Diaconu. This is Diaconu’s first defense of the title. He was the former interim titleholder but was elevated to the full title after Chad Dawson vacated middle of last year.
On June 20 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko [52(46)-3(3)-0] will defend his IBF Heavyweight and WBO Heavyweight titles against Ruslan Chagaev [25(17)-0(0)-1] of Uzbekistan. The vacant Ring Heavyweight title is also at stake in this fight with Klitschko ranked #1 and Chagaev #3 by Ring magazine. As every boxing fan knows, David Haye was supposed to be in the opposite corner of Klitschko but a reported back injury prevented the Brit from making the fight. Klitschko having to fulfill his mandatory around October did not buy into a request to move the date to July. Klitschko cannot afford to reschedule anymore. A week ago, Chagaev was suppose to settle the score against Nikolay Valuev for the WBA title in Finland but was cancelled due to controversial medical reasons. This definitely is not going to be as exciting as the Haye fight. In fact, I expect to doze off somewhere mid-fight, unless, a miracle happens and Chagaev becomes an action fighter. Nah… don’t think so. Nevertheless, being a hardcore boxing fan that I am I will still try to stay up for it. I hope. ESPN Classic will cover starting 5 pm ET.
Also on June 20 in Santa Fe, Argentina, Hugo Hernan Garay [32(17)-3(0)-0] of Argentina will defend his WBA Light Heavyweight title against Gabriel Campillo [17(6)-2(1)-0] of Spain. This looks like a stay busy defense for Garay. I don’t expect any upset happening here. Garay’s last two fights are against tough Europeans Juergen Braehmer and Yuri Barashian. Campillo does not have any notable opponents to speak of.
Also on June 20 in Mexico City, Mexico, the always busy Edgar Sosa [35(19)-5(1)-0] of Mexico will defend his WBC Light Flyweight title against Panama’s Carlos Melo [19(2)-8(0)-0]. This will be Sosa’s 9th defense of his title and will probably be the easiest. Melo lost 4 of his last 7 bouts and doesn’t have any power to take Sosa down.
My Predictions:
My upset pick of the week is Pascal over Diaconu by decision.
Klitschko will retain his titles and grab another by decision.
Easy win for Garay by decision.
Sosa by early stoppage.
On June 19 in Montreal, Canada, two Canadian immigrants will be fighting for the WBC Light Heavyweight title. Romania-born Adrian Diaconu [26(15)-0(0)-0] will defend his title against Haiti-born Jean Pascal [22(15)-1(0)-0]. I am glad Versus stepped up and will show it live in the US at 9 pm ET. Pascal’s slugfest against Carl Froch late last year was a fight of the year finalist and thanks to Fox Sports, it was shown a few weeks later. This I hope will be another barnburner. Pascal of course lost that fight but it showed grit and tenacity that will come handy against Diaconu. This is Diaconu’s first defense of the title. He was the former interim titleholder but was elevated to the full title after Chad Dawson vacated middle of last year.
On June 20 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko [52(46)-3(3)-0] will defend his IBF Heavyweight and WBO Heavyweight titles against Ruslan Chagaev [25(17)-0(0)-1] of Uzbekistan. The vacant Ring Heavyweight title is also at stake in this fight with Klitschko ranked #1 and Chagaev #3 by Ring magazine. As every boxing fan knows, David Haye was supposed to be in the opposite corner of Klitschko but a reported back injury prevented the Brit from making the fight. Klitschko having to fulfill his mandatory around October did not buy into a request to move the date to July. Klitschko cannot afford to reschedule anymore. A week ago, Chagaev was suppose to settle the score against Nikolay Valuev for the WBA title in Finland but was cancelled due to controversial medical reasons. This definitely is not going to be as exciting as the Haye fight. In fact, I expect to doze off somewhere mid-fight, unless, a miracle happens and Chagaev becomes an action fighter. Nah… don’t think so. Nevertheless, being a hardcore boxing fan that I am I will still try to stay up for it. I hope. ESPN Classic will cover starting 5 pm ET.
Also on June 20 in Santa Fe, Argentina, Hugo Hernan Garay [32(17)-3(0)-0] of Argentina will defend his WBA Light Heavyweight title against Gabriel Campillo [17(6)-2(1)-0] of Spain. This looks like a stay busy defense for Garay. I don’t expect any upset happening here. Garay’s last two fights are against tough Europeans Juergen Braehmer and Yuri Barashian. Campillo does not have any notable opponents to speak of.
Also on June 20 in Mexico City, Mexico, the always busy Edgar Sosa [35(19)-5(1)-0] of Mexico will defend his WBC Light Flyweight title against Panama’s Carlos Melo [19(2)-8(0)-0]. This will be Sosa’s 9th defense of his title and will probably be the easiest. Melo lost 4 of his last 7 bouts and doesn’t have any power to take Sosa down.
My Predictions:
My upset pick of the week is Pascal over Diaconu by decision.
Klitschko will retain his titles and grab another by decision.
Easy win for Garay by decision.
Sosa by early stoppage.
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