By Cliff Rold

Summer hits its dog days, with little of note to get excited for beyond the following:

The Dark Knight will be out in theatres on July 18th and all geek flags can fly free that day; and There are only some three weeks to go until Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito, the only pay-per-view on the calendar so far in the second half of 2008 worth a nickel from your wallet.  The Boxing geek flag can fly free for that one.

Until then, these are the picks of the week.

Pick It: Wladimir Klitschko-Tony Thompson (HBO)

The presumed best heavyweight in the world is only days away from stepping in the ring for the second time this year.  Can you feel it?  The electricity in the air?  The anticipation?

Me neither.  Who knows though?  With the chin and track record of Wladimir Klitschko (50-3, 44 KO, IBF titlist), he’s always in danger of a you-gotta-be-joking loss.  There’s some entertainment value in that I suppose.  The man who he’ll be facing, American Tony Thompson (31-1, 19 KO) is one of those cautious, heavily avoided types who waited years for his shot.  There may or may not be entertainment from Thompson; there is certainly professional pride and honor.  If today’s Heavyweights are your cup of tea, it’ll start Saturday afternoon on HBO at 4:30 PM EST/1:30 PST.

Even if today’s Heavyweights aren’t your cup, watching Boxing on Saturday afternoon, instead of so late it burns a whole Saturday night, is always welcome.  It’s the way it should be.

Find It: Joachim Alcine-Daniel Santos (Friday on ?)

I don’t have a clue where this one, taking place in Quebec, Canada, will be available for U.S> fans but the internet friendly folks often find a way.  Alcine (30-0, 19 KO) is making his second defense of the WBO title at 154 lbs. against former WBO titlist Daniel Santos (31-3-1, 22 KO).  It’s one of those bouts that could be dull as hell or break down into a war; it all depends on how the style contest breaks down.  Either way, it’s about as pick ‘em as it gets, and has a little hint of crossroads for a Santos who, at 32, has fought only twice since losing to Sergiy Dzinziruk in 2005.  Most fans will get the verdict before the viewing; the news reports should explain how necessary a viewing is.

Classic Pick: Bobo Olson-Randy Turpin (ESPN Classic, Thursday 1 AM EST; Wednesday 10 PM PST)

Olson and Turpin were their own men outside the ring.  In Boxing’s rich history, they often belong to the story of another.  It’s not their fault; they shared an era with the great Sugar Ray Robinson.  Olson was a hell of a fighter, but also Robinson’s most famous whipping boy, losing in all of their four fights and three times by stop.  Turpin was different; he was Robinson’s style nightmare, defeating the great one for the Middleweight crown in July 1951 and almost doing it again two months later before an explosion of tenth round offense (and some extremely lax refereeing by Ruby Goldstein) ended those chances.

When Robinson stepped away from the game for his first retirement in 1953, Olson and Turpin were matched to be the man to fill his shoes.  This really time delayed replay is getting a late start between the end of Wednesday and the alarm for work; set the TIVO.
 
Back in seven.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com