 |
|
|
This Saturday's ESPN pay-per-view card was dealt an unfortunate blow Sunday when it was learned that WBA lightweight champion Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz would be forced to cancel his defence against Ebo Elder due to a cut suffered in training. But for those of you who have already ordered the event, please do not cancel, there is still plenty of good championship caliber boxing on the card.
For 30 bucks ESPN is offering three fights that could be main events on an HBO or Showtime card. At a 20 dollar discount and twice the action, ESPN has made it nearly impossible to disappoint even casual fight fans.
The action begins at 9:00 EST and will kick off with the heavyweight crossroads fight between undefeated contender Calvin Brock, 24-0 (20) and the man who came dangerously close to becoming the IBF world champion, Jameel McCline, 31-4-3 (19). These two are at different points in there careers but a victory for either would spell the same result, to be in line for a world title shot at one of the four belt holders. McCline is the more experienced fighter who has fought the bigger names, while Brock seems to have the edge in power and confidence. It will be interesting to see if McCline can finally rise to the occasion in a big fight and score that big name on his resume that has eluded him most of his fistic career. I don't see it going that way however, as the confidence Brock showed in his punching arsenal against Cliff Etienne will carry over and seal McCline's doom in the ninth round.
Following them will be the return to the welterweight division of the one and only 'Sugar' Shane Mosley as he squares off with the IBF's number 2 contender David Estrada. I for one am not as high on Mosley's return to 147 as most fans and writers are. The man is 33 years old and has only one victory in his last six fights, and that was a very controversial decision victory over Oscar De La Hoya. In Estrada you have a young welterweight with some pretty good boxing skills and a lone loss coming at the hands of a guy who many feel will be a champion someday, Ishe Smith. I think Estrada walks away with the most buzz on Saturday night after he outworks and outpoints Mosley in a fight that is sure to please boxing fans who are fond of action.
Your main event of the evening is for the WBO welterweight championship of the world as champion Antonio Margarito takes on undefeated Kermit Cintron in a bout that is itself worth the price of admission. The last time we saw Margarito on TV he was about a round away from punching Sebastian Andres Lujan's ear clean off of his head. Cintron is no slouch either having knocked out almost every man he has faced. All things considered, Margarito is the superior technical boxer with Cintron having a definitive edge in power punching. Look for a very close distance fight resulting in a quite controversial split decision victory for Kermit Cintron who will catch Margarito late and drop him once in the later rounds.
Don't sweat the cancellation there boxing junkies, (I apologize to Martin Wade if I have engaged in copyright infringement) there are still three fights that will be well worth the reduced price you will pay for one whole night of great boxing. Thank you ESPN, and thank you Main Events for a night boxing desperately needs.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
|
By Aaron Imholte (April 20, 2005) 
