BoxingScene.com's Television Picks of The Week

by Cliff Rold

Tournaments are fun.

Boxing could use a little fun. 

This last six or so weeks has been one of the worst stretches the sport has seen in some time.  It’s not the lack of boxing on TV. 

It’s that volume hasn’t come with particularly high quality.

This week, that doesn’t change.  But, we get a tournament.

Tournaments are fun.

Golovkin is next Saturday.  That’s fun too.     

For now, these are the picks of the week.

Pick It: Boxcino 2015 – Quarterfinals Part I (Friday, ESPN2, 9 PM EST/6 PM PST)

It’s back, with some of the same cast but mostly new faces.  Dropping down from last year’s Middleweight field to the Jr. Middleweight division, Brandon Adams (15-1, 10 KO) will try to follow his second place finish with a win this time around.  He’ll face Alex Perez (18-1, 10 KO) in what looks like the best of the opening round fare.  Rounding out the round of eight: Cleotis Pendarvis (17-4-2, 6 KO) vs. Ricardo Pinell (10-1-1, 6 KO); Stanyslav Skorokhod (8-0, 6 KO) vs. Michael Moore (13-0, 6 KO); and, Vito Gasparyan (14-3-5, 8 KO) vs. Simeon Hardy (13-0, 10 KO).  Last year, Boxcino at Middleweight gave us a new potential contender in Willie Monroe Jr.  What will we see at 154?  We’ll know more about what to like in this field after Friday.  The following week, we get a round of eight at Heavyweight.  Both Jr. Middleweight and Heavyweight are interesting spots in boxing right now.  New faces are always welcome.  So is Boxcino.       

Pick Espanol: #10 David Sanchez vs. Juan Alberto Rosas (Saturday, BeIn Espanol, 11 PM EST)

It’s almost a rite of passage, facing Rosas (40-8, 28 KO) at 115 lbs.  Rosas has fought a who’s who in recent years. He’s lost more than he’s won against top names, but wins over Zolani Tete (currenlty the IBF 115 lb. titlist) and a then-undefeated Simphiwe Nongqayi prove he’s no easy out. Sanchez (26-2-2, 20 KO) has been on a roll, undefeated since 2010. The exciting slugger has the interim title of the WBA, seemingly putting him in line for a crack at regular titlist Kohei Kono down the road. The veteran Rosas is one of the toughest foes on that run and a good gauge of just how high Sanchez might rise. This is the sort of match BeIn is good for.

Pick Heavy: Derric Rossy vs. Akhror Muralimov (Saturday, CBS Sports Network, 10:30 PM EST/7:30 PM PST) 

Boxcino isn’t the only place to check out new faces at Heavyweight.  Next Saturday, CBS Sports Network gets in on the action.  Not everyone has this channel, but if you do you’ll get a look at the undefeated Muralimov (16-0, 13 KO).  That might not be a good thing.  Not quite 6’ tall, Muralimov was almost 260 lbs. his last time out.  Rossy (29-9, 14 KO) is a step up for him and, maybe, an early exposure.  This is a DVR special for boxing junkies only.    
 
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Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com