BoxingScene.com's Television Picks of the Week, 3-26-15
by Cliff Rold
Three nights of boxing await this week with the focus on arguably the three best divisions in boxing. Welterweight is almost always great. Think hard about a time when it really had a lull. Would one consider the brief run from Cory Spinks to Carlos Balodmir a lull?
It wasn’t much of one.
Flyweight has been in a virtual golden era for close to five years. Roman Gonzalez’s HBO debut brings that age to a bigger platform.
Featherweight, after some down time, has been thrilling the last year or two and the depth is increasingly exceptional.
They’re all on tap.
These are the picks of the week.
Pick It: #4 Kell Brook vs. Jo Jo Dan (Showtime, Saturday, 6:15 PM EST/PST)
Welterweight is up first with a special early start time, live from the UK. Making his first defense of the IBF belt after a masterful performance title win against Shawn Porter, Brook (33-0, 22 KO) gets home court in Sheffield. Expect a hero’s welcome from the fans. Expect a decent challenge from Dan (34-2, 18 KO). Dan, a Romanian fighting out of Canada, has won five in a row and waited a career for a shot at a strap. His only two losses have come to rugged Selcuk Aydin. Brook presents a technical test while Dan is likely to press Brook well. This could be a decent scrap.
Pick Show Later: #1 Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Gary Russell Jr. (Showtime, Saturday, 10 PM EST/7 PM PST)
For fans on the west coast, it will play as one great show. They are on tape delay for Brook-Dan. Everybody is live for this one. Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KO) has won five in a row since a loss to Daniel Ponce De Leon. Since upsetting Abner Mares for his second WBC belt at 126 lbs., he’s made two fairly easy defenses. Russell (25-1, 14 KO) has managed to get two titles shots in three fights with wins over…ummm…Christopher Martin? Management. It matters. Russell isn’t in with Vasyl Lomachenko this weekend and Gonzalez is always vulnerable. Russell has the talent. Gonzalez has had the tests. This is a pick ‘em fight.
Pick Little Titan: #1 Juan Francisco Estrada vs. (BeIn Espanol, Saturday, 11 PM EST/PST)
It took three tries, but they finally have a foe for Estrada’s fourth title defense at 112 lbs. Estrada (31-2, 22 KO) will defend his WBO and WBA titles against Rommel Asenjo (26-3, 20 KO). This was after fights with Tyson Marquez and Froilan Saludar fell out. Asenjo has won six straight since a third-round loss in a challenge of Raul Garcia for a 105 lb. title in 2011. Put another way, this looks like the second straight payday appearance for an Estrada who needs to get back to better business. Will Gonzalez’s move to HBO produce the rematch hardcore fans crave?
For BoxingScene’s latest full divisional ratings, log on to: https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/view.php?pg=boxing-ratings
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
