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Enzo hopes it won’t be Vlad tidings for Jones Enzo Maccarinelli is as game as they come and with upsets the order of the day in boxing at the moment he is looking to pull off a great victory in Moscow tonight over the redoubtable Roy Jones jnr who is well past his prime and should be retired, but is now an honorary Russian citizen and apparently president Vladimir Putin’s new best friend.
As I predicted it was a tougher job than many expected for James DeGale against Lucian Bute. The judges in Quebec may even have been a tad generous in their markings. Sky’s Jim Watt scored it a draw and I thought it was very close – at best a round or two in it.
No sooner has he wrapped Wladimir Klitschko’s WBO, IBF, IBO and WBA Super belts around his waist then Tyson Fury is now poised to do a Riddick Bowe and toss one of them into the bin. The smarting Klitschko has announced he will exercise his option for a contractual right to a re-match and Fury says he is happy to accommodate him. But along come the IBF to order him to first make a mandatory defence against a different Ukrainian, their number one contender Vyacheslav Glazkov, who is the Florida-based charge of the ‘grand dame’ of US boxing, the ever-feisty Kathy Duva.
Tyson Fury is not as daft as some people think. Come what may, when he wakes up in Dusseldorf on Sunday morning he’ll be well over £2 million richer. And he could be the new heavyweight champion of the world. But I wouldn’t bet on it. Well I might – but it would have to be very small bet. Any substantial wager must be on Wladimir Klitschko pounding out another remorseless victory over the lippy giant Gypsy King who now admits if he doesn’t win the title he be left with egg on his face. And a smattering of the red stuff, too, I shouldn’t wonder.
Tonight, another Brit will be involved in a world title fight when James DeGale makes a first defence of his IBF super-middleweight title against Lucian Bute in Quebec. I happen to think this is a tougher job for DeGale than it may seem. I know Bute has had a poor performances at the top level against Jean Pascal and of course, Carl Froch who blitzed him out in five rounds, but this is in Canada fighting in front of his home fans and I thought there were moments when DeGale won the title against Andre Dirrell that he looked vulnerable.
Cotto v Canelo doesn’t need a title to be one of the all-time great fights Stand by your sets for a sure-fire epic this weekend that may well go down in the annals of boxing as one of the great fights in recent years. When Miguel Cotto and Saul ’Canelo’ Alvarez clash at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas it will be night of Latino pride and passion, a fiery scrap for the connoisseur as well as the casual fan and one no BoxNation subscriber will want to miss.
Once the dust has settled on Saturday night between Miguel Cotto and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez – of course that is the early hours of Sunday morning here – you can be certain the talk will be who is going to fight who next? There are several possible permutations, with Golovkin ready, willing and eminently able to take on the winner – if either Cotto or Alvarez fancy it. It is a fight that makes a lot of sense but, equally, I know that, despite denials, the Lee camp has been in touch with both Cotto’s and Golovkin’s teams on the assumption that Andy Lee will retain his WBO title against Billy Joe Saunders on December 19.
Jamie Cox and Callum Smith is a terrific domestic dust-up – so let’s get it on! Domestic dust-ups are the lifeblood of British boxing, and have been since fighting men first pulled on the gloves – then called ‘mufflers’ - in 18th century. Even before then, when combatants bare-knuckled down to it in roped-off meadows and the estates of the landed gentry. Unfortunately these days pairing home-grown rivals is not as easy as it once was but when they happen there is no greater atmosphere in the arena or lick-lipping anticipation among the fans.
I hold my hands up. I did say some time ago that after a few setbacks that Enzo Maccarinelli might be best advised not to fight again, and I have held the same opinion about Roy Jones jnr. But the opportunity has arisen for them to meet in Moscow on December 12 and I certainly don’t blame Enzo for taking it because he really has picked himself up and got himself into great shape with Gary Lockett, now one of the best young coaches in the business. He’s has also collected a handful of decent wins – all inside the distance. But I have to say that if he doesn’t beat the 46-year-old Jones, then it really is time for the likeable Welshman to say thank you and good night, boyo.
Jamie Cox has had some problems in his life, but he is a real talent, one of Britain’s brightest hopes who can add to the swelling ranks of world champions in the not-too-distant future. Thankfully, things are settling down for him now and he really is going about it the right way to make himself a viable contender for top honours. This year he’s journeyed around the world gaining experience by working with some very decent fighters and in gyms, notably in the United States, where they have no time for tyros.