Move around, folks.
We have launched a showdown in the boxing world.
No, no, professional wrestling legend Rikishi doesn’t make a beeline for the heaviest of the ball – yet, anyway.
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But we have two world cup heads of 130 and 100 pounds, both duels balanced on a knife’s edge.
Emanuel Navarrete, O’Shaquie Foster, Dalton Smith and Alberto Puello were all gunned for gold in the Atlantic on Saturday, with our five things to watch in boxing this weekend.
1. The three belt unification sees Navarrete and Foster collide in Texas
Saturday night’s super heavyweight unification fight between WBO/IBF champion Emanuele Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs) and WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster (25-3, 12 KOs) is, on paper, pretty close to perfect in terms of matchups.
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Do all agree that this is the battle of the year contender before the first cymbal bell, and all leave with their lives?
Of course there is a little fun in it. The real plot in the police force is that two different styles collide — or perhaps complement each other — in San Antonio. The question is which champion will be able to impose his will, solve the riddle of the other and finally prevail.
The fire of Navarrete against the ice of Foster – it is said that it is difficult to argue against.
Offer prizes! The crown of the true king of the 130-pound division, the throne of one (WBA) belt, to become the first four-belt undisputed men’s champion in this weight class – and the title of the debate in the pound-for-pound order.
Emanuel Navarrete could add another belt to his collection this Saturday.
(Cris Esqueda via Getty Images)
2. Smith’s hostile defender returning against Puello
Ten pounds north, and we are similarly in the circuit in Sheffield, England, for the WBC super lightweight belt.
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Dalton Smith (19-0, 14 KOs) and Alberto Puello (25-1, 11 KOs) complete the 140-pound triangle with himself and Subriel Matias, having experienced opposite results against the dangerous Puerto Rican.
Puello lost a majority decision fight to Matias last summer, while Smith defeated the 34-year-old within five electric rounds in January, collecting the WBC title inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
It is not easy for many champions to receive triumphs in this game.
Smith’s return to Sheffield Arena, but against a very The dog lives in Puello, as the southern route tried to regain the title that it lost the year before.
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Expect another Arctic Ring Monkey-inspired walk from Smith, who is determined not to turn Saturday night into his “Favorite Worst Nightmare.”
Can Dalton Smith keep his momentum rolling after hitting Subriel Matias?
(Ed Mulholland via Getty Images)
3. Visually climbing the stairs towards Maxi Hughes
Growing buzz around Matchroom’s Giorgio Visioli (11-0, 6 KOs).
The 23-year-old Briton has moved well with his conversion for 2023, and now he has made another step in the lightweight division against the experienced, seasoned Maxi Hughes (29-9-2, 6 KOs).
Hughes is 3-4 with Visioli for the ranks, but the veteran will play the smartest role Saturday, giving the youth a taste of what it’s like to compete at the 135-pound level.
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The empty WBC trinket is on the line here on the Smith-Boy undercard, and Hughes won’t be getting a position on the Visioli plate.
“There’s still plenty of life in me, old dog,” Hughes said at the event’s final press conference.
He even goes so far as to pick up the “Matchroom Exterminator” himself, who takes particular delight in the promising careers of some of the most famous prospects in the Eddie Hearn stable.
For Hughes, it seems, there’s nothing quite like putting a stake in an alien future – just ask Gary Cully and Kid Galahad.
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4. Sunday fun-day for Browne and load, more sharp in action
If you’re still hungry for more time next Saturday, why not try a Sunday leisure center in Harrow, London?
There under the Top Tier Boxing promotion live on DAZN, Ireland’s Shauna Browne (8-1, 5 KOs) closes the weekend by taking on Jade Burden (5-0, 2 KOs) for the WBA Gold and IBF international lightweight titles.
Browne arrived as the favorite knowing that another one of her wins would put her back in the world title talks in what is a fairly shallow pool in the women’s lightweight division. It has been 18 months since she was handed a first-round knockout by the dangerous boxer Elif Nur Turhan.
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And if that wasn’t enough, Archie Sharp (27-2, 9 KOs) is back at it, looking to go 3-0 with back-to-back painful, crushing defeats at the hands of Ryan Garner and the aforementioned Maxi Hughes.
5. Garcia Mayweather vs. What later?
Do you want to watch Ryan Garcia fight Mayweather Jr.
Of course you don’t.
Wait, do you? A little, or a lot? And are you sure?
i take it Boxing is a game of contradictions and confrontations. Some prefer to sit on the moral stakes, having suggested the faux pas of a crime in such a fight; much more Garcia’s deliberate defense against the WBC top five ranked contender, who never out – enter the eastern region of Europe – right?
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I know, I know; sometimes rough with smooth, lunar health. Garcia retired at age 49 defending his WBC welterweight title against undefeated I wish break the box office. But I have news for you: it will not happen.
So, let’s take a look at the author’s other stories of arranging matchups for clicks, attention and self-esteem.
Roberto Duran vs Gervonta Davis, who? Lennox Lewis vs. Moses Itauma? Lewis Watson vs. – OK, enough is enough.