By Cliff Rold

On paper it didn’t look like a meaningful fight.  In the ring, it didn’t look like one either.  The Manny Pacquiao express moves on, Shane Mosley should retire, and Jorge Arce rocked it.  Any questions?

This week we return to just plain old boxing.  No more arguing with the know nothings at the office who saw Pacquiao on 60 Minutes, no more shaking one’s head at mainstream media types talking about how dead the sport is.  Instead, it’s semi-finals and appetizers.

It should be fun.   

These are the picks of the week.

Pick It: #1 Andre Ward vs. #8 Arthur Abraham (Saturday, Showtime, 10:00 PM EST/PST)

This show will include the replay of Pacquiao-Mosley.  Don’t hold that against it.  It also features a fighter coming off two losses, the second worse than the first.  Don’t hold that against it either.  Abraham (32-2, 26 KO) has been exposed for his limits, but he still possesses the equalizer.  He can still crack like hell.  And, while WBA Super Middleweight titlist Andre Ward (23-0, 13 KO), is the rightful favorite entering the semi-finals of the Super Six tournament, this tournament has been far from predictable.  When it started, four of the original six were undefeated.  Abraham was one of them.  Ward is the only “0” remaining.  Continue to match fighters with quality foes and they will find challenges, even defeat.  That’s the lesson of the Super Six and one of the refreshing elements of it.  It didn’t punish good fighters for a bad night or even two.  Even with two straight losses, Abraham remains a quality foe and Ward, who likes to fight inside, will be in range of the left hook.  This could end up as most suppose, a wide Ward win.  It might not, and it’s not a long shot to see the upset.  That makes this the pick of the week.      

Pick Deuce: Kendall Holt vs. Julio Diaz (Friday, ESPN2, 9 PM EST/PST)
 
This might end up the real pick of the week and it’s a fight hard to categorize.  A Jr. Welterweight tilt between a former titlist there, Holt (26-4, 14 KO), and a former Lightweight titlist, Diaz (38-6, 27 KO), this doesn’t fall in the crossroads category.  The loser doesn’t ‘go home.’  Both guys are likely to continue, still tough opponents for young guys, still able to put on a show with other men like themselves.  They are veterans.  A fight is all this is.  A veteran clash between two guys who still have something and can still put on a show.  That’s more than enough. 

Pick Sho: Shairf Bogere vs. Raymundo Beltran (Friday, Showtime, 11:00 PM EST/PST)

On ShoBox, it’s a story of a man on the rise.  Lightweight Bogere (19-0, 12 KO) is recognizable for his lion headdress as part of the pre-fight ceremony.  The Ugandan isn’t quite a lion in the ring just yet, but he’s no kitten either.  Beltran (24-4, 16 KO) should be good for at least some hard learning rounds.

For BoxingScene’s latest full divisional ratings, log on to: https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/view.php?pg=boxing-ratings

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