Two titles will be up for grabs, John Ruiz puts his WBA heavyweight title on the line against the comeback kid, Andrew Golota. Chris Byrd and Jameel McCline put their friendship aside and do battle for the IBF heavyweight title. Hasim Rahman and Kali Meehan do battle for a potential future title shot. Evander Holyfield is in a do or die battle will take on the always slick, Larry Donald. Holyfield in what could be his last chance to get a win which could bring him a crack at the gold. A future meeting with WBO champ Lamon Brewster could be right around the corner should Evander pull this one out. Contenders Oliver McCall and DaVarryl Williamson meet in a battle where one man will rise and the loser will drop off the heavyweight rankings.
Without further delay, the staff members and contributors of BoxingScene lay down their predictions for today's big pay per view.
Tom Donelson
It is predictions time for the Don King extravaganza this coming Saturday. 4 big Heavyweights fight with two for the Heavyweight championships or portion thereof. (Okay, Boxing is the only sport that can have numerous champions in the same weight division but then it allows for Don King to gives us these big events with everyone fighting for some championship.)
Here are my picks and why:
John Ruiz-Andrew Golota has the making of WWF special. Ruiz is the Rodney Dangerfield of boxing. The guy is painful to watch but all he does is win. For the past five years, he has fought nothing but contenders, beating Holyfield, Qquendo, Kirk Johnson and Hasim Rahman. And still he gets no respect. John Ruiz has the unique ability to force other fighters fight to his level. Smooth boxers turn into amateurish brawlers.
For most of his history, Andrew Golota has frozen in his big moments. Never one to keep his cool under pressure, the Polish slugger never seemed to fulfill his potential. The only exception to this was his last fight against Chris Byrd, in which he showed discipline and came away with a draw. This is Golota last big chance and a lost will put his career in critical care.
Ruiz mugs you and wrestles with you. He throws and holds. He is a blue-collar fighter whose heart makes up for a lack of style or skills. He will not knock you out with one punch nor will he out box you. He will out work you. This fight will not be decided by skills or smooth boxing techniques but guts. Ruiz wins this fight simply because he has fought the better competition and wins brawls.
Chris Byrd- Jameel McCline is the most intriguing fight of the evening. These are two of the nicer guys in the sports. Byrd is the ultimate Boy Scout in a sport that spits out boy scouts. He is one of the smartest boxers in the game and uses every once of his quickness and guile to overcome a lack of size or power.
Byrd is now 33 and showing sign that he is losing a little of his quickness. Jameel McCline is getting a second shot at the big time with the last shot ending with a knockout at the hand of Wlad Klitschko. The key to this fight is simple. McCline needs to fight big. This is a 6’7” fighter who on many of occasion refused to fight big. In his fight with Boswell, he was allowing the shorter Boswell to out box him for eight rounds. Then in the ninth, he came out with a vengeance with his career on the line. He knocked Boswell down in the ninth and finished the job in the tenth. If that McCline shows up, he can win. This is my upset special with McCline upsetting a slightly slower Byrd.
Hasim Rahman- Kali Meehan is another intriguing match ups. If the Rahman that defeated Lennox Lewis shows up, then it is an easy night for Rahman. If the Rahman that lost to Lewis in their rematch and this could be Meehan night for the big upset.
Meehan is a decent fighter but not a great or elite fighter. He had a tough fight against Brewster for his WBO title and showed some skills. Rahman has been a contender for a long time and is the more skill fighter. Rahman has the most to lose and if he does not beat Meehan then his career is effectively over as a contender. Rahman will win this one and stay in the hunt for another title.
Evander Holyfield-Larry Donald will be like watching a car wreck in slow motion. If the Holyfield that fought Riddick Bowe was to show up, then Donald doesn’t finish the fight. If the Holyfield that beat Rahman shows up, he still wins. Holyfield is one of the Heavyweight great fighters but Holyfield is no longer great or even good. He is just old.
This is Donald fight to lose. Donald should win this fight simply because Holyfield has long past his prime and is nothing but a trial horse. This fight should never been made but we will witness the further decline of once great champion
Damien Picariello
Byrd SD McCline
Ruiz TKO 10 Golota
Holyfield UD Donald
Rahman TKO 6 Meehan
Ike Enwereuzor
Holyfield-Donald,
I think Holyfield will knockout Donald in 7.
Byrd-McCline
Byrd wins a decision
Rahman-Meehan
Rahman wins by decision, or Meehan wins by KO 10
Ruiz-Golota
Ruiz wins by KO in 9
Dave Wilcox
Byrd-McCline- Jameel is very overrated and Byrd will box circles around him. Easy unanimous decision for Byrd
Ruiz-Golata- Ruiz will squeak out yet another close decision. Split decision victory for "Everybody's All American" Ruiz
Rahman-Meehan- hard to pick because I don't really know how good or bad Kali is. I will assume Rahman is in decent shape and will pull out a split decision victory.
Holyfield-Donald- finally the end of Evander. Split decision victory for Donald
Pedro Fernandez
PPV) Chris Byrd (37-2-1) vs. Jameel McCline (31-3-1)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Heavyweight vs. #9) (IBF Heavyweight belt) Odds/Prediction: Byrd 2-1. With no amateur background, Jameel has improved with his “On The Job” training. I say he should be able to clip Byrd’s wings and walk him down for win!
(PPV) John Ruiz (40-5-1) vs. Andrew Golota (38-4-1)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Heavyweight vs. #6)
(WBA Heavyweight belt) Odds/Prediction: Ruiz 9-5. Another fight too unpredictable to bet on. TOO many intangibles. BUT I’d send Andrew roses if he rid us of Johnny Louise!
(PPV) Hasim Rahman (39-5-1) vs. Kali Meehan (29-2) (The Ring Magazine #4 Heavyweight vs. Unranked) Odds/Prediction: Rahman 8-5. Meehan has stones, drive, and a BIG chin. I like Meehan, but wouldn’t bet ‘em!
(
PPV) Evander Holyfield (38-7-2) vs. Larry Donald (41-3-2) Odds/Prediction: Donald 8-5. (Who cares?)
(PPV) Monte Barrett (30-3) vs. Owen Beck (24-0) (The Ring Magazine #5 Heavyweight vs. Unranked) Odds/Prediction: Monte 14-5. NY native in great spot!
Jim Amato
Golota over Ruiz
Byrd over McCline
Donald over Holyfield
Rahman over Meehan
Rusty Rubin
John Ruiz faces a tough foe in Andrew Golota, in a match-up that can be foul-filled, as neither fighter is known for his ability to keep the fight clean. Golota is the better fighter, by far, but Ruiz knows how to hide the fouls from the ref, and that’s why this is a tough fight to call. Should Golota retaliate, it won’t be hidden from the ref, you can pretty much count on that.
Pick here is Golota by close decision. The only way I see Ruiz winning is if the “Foul Pole” gets disqualified, which as you know, has happened on a few other occasions.
In another match-up, Kali Meehan faces Hasim Rahman, and this too becomes a hard fight to pick, because Rahman is a hard fighter to figure. We know Meehan will be in Hasim’s face all night.
Rahman by decision here.
Larry Donald fights the come-backing Evander Holyfield in a match that I think will put more people to sleep than Golota – Ruiz, and few fighters can put the fans to sleep like Ruiz can.
Holyfield and Donald both should hang them up, but because this is a Don King card, take Holyfield to win by late stoppage.
Jameel McCline takes on Chris Byrd, who can frustrate anyone with his southpaw, hit and run style. I felt Golota got robbed when he fought Byrd a few months back. Still Byrd is just too slick for McCline and will take an easy decision.***
Rick Reeno
Kali Meehan vs. Hasim Rahman - Meehan had WBO champion Lamon Brewtser in all sorts of trouble and was robbed of a huge upset by the judges in his last fight. I don't think Meehan is good enough to deal with the Boxing skills of Rahman. Rahman knows that a title shot is around the corner should he win, he won't let this fight slip through his fingers and should knock Meehan out before ten.
John Ruiz vs. Andrew Golota - As much as I would love Andrew Golota to win, every fighter that goes into the ring with Ruiz gets pulled into a John Ruiz like fight and they end up losing in boring fashion. Golota's only chance to win is to jump on Ruiz from the start and look for the knock out. Golota is not quick enough to pull off a Roy Jones like Boxing exhibition on Ruiz. I think Golota will end up no different then the last few opponents of Johnny. Ruiz will hug him to death on way to a 12 round decision
Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Donald - A very even fight, Donald is slick at times, but not as slick as Toney and does not possess a chin as good as Toney. I will go out on a limb here and pick Holyfield by a knock out. People talk about Evander's age in this fight, but Donald is pretty old himself. Holyfield should pull through.
Chris Byrd vs. Jameel McCline - Byrd has never really did well against very big powerful fighters. He was beaten badly by Wladimir Klitschko, was losing the fight big to Vitali Klitschko (until Vitali retired in the corner), was knocked out cold by the monster Ike Ibeabuchi and should have lost to Andrew Golota. I'm picking McCline to upset Byrd with a huge KO win to snatch the IBF heavyweight crown. Byrd could easily be looked at as 0-2 in his last two title fights and McCline at this point is better in my eyes then Oquendo and Golota.
Keith Terceira
