BoxingScene.com's Television Picks of the Week

By Cliff Rold

Scanning the pages of the boxing calendar and...

…hey, where’s the boxing?  While fall watchers in the U.S. have had to deal with the loss of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights for a couple of years now, this is an odd run for the latter part of a year.  Cancellations and postponements via injury have left boxing without any serious even bouts until November.

In a sport driven by the marquee matches, it can easily feel like little is happening.  That is, of course, not the case.  This week will actually be pretty busy tube wise with some interesting matches and opportunities to see fresh faces grow towards their time at the head of the marquee drive.

These are the picks of the week.

Pick Sho: Tim Coleman vs. Patrick Lopez (Friday, Showtime, 11 PM EST/PST)

ShoBox has always been at its best in the space between a standard ESPN card and classis Boxing After Dark.  This Friday is no exception with a Jr. Welterweight clash between battlers struggling to get to the next level.  Both the 26-year old Coleman (17-1-1, 4 KO) and the 32-year old Lopez (20-2, 12 KO) will enter Friday with modest winning streaks.  Coleman has won three straight including a split decision his last time out over Mike Arnaoutis.  Lopez (20-2, 12 KO) has won five straight, two inside the route, with a surprising third round stop of undefeated Prenice Brewer his last time out.  In a class as deep, as crowded by talent, as Jr. Welterweight right now, neither man can afford a loss if they aspire to more than being an opponent.  They’ll fight hard to avoid that fate.

Pick Espanol: Jorge Barrios vs. Humberto Martinez (Friday, Telefutura, 11:30 PM EST)
 
Former Jr. Lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios (49-4-1, 35 KO) has fought only twice since a stoppage loss to Rocky Juarez in 2008 and isn’t getting any younger at 34.  Outside the ring, he was involved in the fatal car accident earlier this year, making this his first start of 2010.  Will the impact of the accident impact his performance against journeyman Martinez (19-4-1, 14 KO)?  Martinez has won five straight since stoppage losses to former featherweight titlists Rudy Lopez and Jorge Linares in 2005 and 2006.  Winning is always good but it hasn’t been against much and it’s not an encouraging activity level.  Regardless, Barrios is usually entertaining, a mauler who isn’t shy about getting hit to land his own leather.

Pick Panama: Concepcion vs. Kaovichit & Jones vs. Brudov (Saturday, ?)

This one won’t make the U.S. airwaves but merits mention over a standard Fight Club card on Fox this week.  It is the premiere card of the week by a country mile.  Luis Concepcion (21-1, 16 KO) has been the WBA’s interim Flyweight sanctioning fee provider since September 2009.  When does that add up to a mandatory?  Um…uh…if he loses, ‘challenger’ Denkaosan Kaovichit (50-2-1, 21 KO) is a champion again?  Didn’t he just lose the WBA strap to Daiki Kameda?  It’s nauseating silliness of the sort the WBA specializes in but this fight still rocks.  It’s two of the ten best in the world at 112 lbs. and both have something to prove.  Kaovichit would obviously love the Kameda runner match.  Concepcion wouldn’t mind extending his knockout streak to five.  On the undercard, WBA Cruiser beltholder Guillermo Jones (36-3-2, 28 KO) makes his first defense of a belt he wasn’t stripped of during a two-year layoff.  Remarkably, there is only one other WBA Cruiser titlist running around during that period.  Jones, now 38, faces off with a 33-year old Brudov (38-2, 27 KO) who has won five straight since losing a split title opportunity against the man Jones lifted his belt from, Firat Arslan, in 2007.  Brudov’s last outing was a six-round decision win in late 2009 begging the question: six round fights at this stage in a career?  Seriously?  It’s Cruiserweight so it will probably be a scrap.  If it shows up somewhere like YouTube later, odds are the reviews will indicate both bouts being worth a look.

Back in seven.

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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