BoxingScene.com's Television Picks of the Week
by Cliff Rold
No, really, there are televised fights this week.
It might feel like that isn’t true, especially in the afterglow of the end of the NFL strike that never really started. I mean, seriously, for all the kvetching that went into it, the loss of some pre-season was the sum total of concern.
Uugh. Football is too manly for such melodrama.
Oh, yeah, boxing…
These are the picks of the week.
Pick It: #10 Lamont Peterson vs. Victor Cayo (Friday, ESPN2, 9 PM EST/6 PM PST)
In what has been a strong year for Friday Night Fights, we have the latest potentially strong offering. A Jr. Welterweight, Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KO) has shown big heart. He survived an early beating from Timothy Bradley to make a bold stand in a decision title fight loss. He came off the floor to earn a draw with now-reigning WBC Welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz. What Peterson lacks, for the moment, is a dramatic win. Cayo (26-1, 18 KO) isn’t going to be an easy path to getting one. Cayo’s lone loss came at the heavy hands of Marcos Maidana. Peterson does a lot of things well but his hands don’t bring the hurt Maidana’s do. This pair will bring speed and leather in a sleeper scrap.
Pick If: #7 Mike Alvarado vs. Gabriel Martinez (Saturday, Fox Sports, 10 PM EST/PST)
Saturday, the spotlight will remain at Jr. Welterweight. Alvarado (30-0, 22 KO) doesn’t appear matched as tough as Peterson but he may be the more important fighter to watch. He’s an action star waiting for his spotlight and maybe, just maybe, could be one of the division leaders with opportunity. Already 30 years of age, it’s time for Alvarado to make his room. Martinez (27-2-1, 14 KO) is a beatable but respectable opponent, an important step to title contention at a time when the two best, Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley, are probably headed to Welterweight. That leaves Alvarado to pick up belts and wait for the arrival of, say, Brandon Rios (?).
Oh.
Yeah.
Pick Solo: #7 Beibut Shumenov vs. Danny Santiago (Friday, Telefutura, 11:30 PM EST/PST)
When Danny Santiago (31-4-1, 19 KO) challenged Zsolt Erdei for the WBO and lineal World Light Heavyweight title, and got stopped in eight, it was pointed to as an indication of just how soft Erdei’s reign had become. Santaigo bounced back with a four round stoppage loss to Antonio Tarver. Now, with two straight wins over a pair of fighters with a whopping ten wins apiece according to Boxrec.com, Santiago somehow has a second belt opportunity thanks to WBA Light Heavyweight titlist Beibut Shumenov (11-1, 7 KO). In Shumenov’s defense, he had a unification match with Juergen Braehmer fall apart earlier this year. But, still, Santiago? Was there no other barrel to scrape the bottom of?
Yeah, this week is pretty shallow. It was this or tracking down YouTube of Jorge Lacierva-Billy Dib and the time wasted on Dib-Steven Luevano is still remembered with enough animus to preclude that recommendation.
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
