Three Boxing Things I’m Looking forward to 8-14/15
Another big slate of fights going on this weekend in boxing and while some of them seem academic on paper, it still hasn’t deterred me from this week’s three things I’m looking forward to in boxing.
Before I look into this weekend’s selections, let me go back on the three things I was looking at last week:
Terri Harper taking on Natasha Jonas, lived up to the headline billing at Madison Square Hearn’s. While many are disputing the contest being a draw, I fought it was a fair decision and hoped those two looking into picking that fight up where this one left off.
Jamal James facing Thomas Dulorme in the first PBC on Fox’s main event since the pandemic was a fun fight even though I can’t be the only one who thought that fake crowd noise that Fox pumped in reminded me of my old Super Nintendo games. James won by a wide decision to place his name near the top of the list at 147.
David Morrell, in his third professional fight, won big as well against a very game Lennox Allen. It was also significant as he won a vacant WBA interim title at 168 in the process. Callum Smith has the “Super” or ACTUAL belt at 168, but this win for Morrell gets him one step closer to that piece of the pie down the line.
Check out our latest Big FIght Weekend Podcast as we cover this week’s fights as well!
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Here are the three things that I’m looking forward to this weekend:
Cecilia Brækhus quest at history against Jessica McCaskill
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA
The main event in the downtown streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has Women’s Undisputed and Undefeated champion Cecilia Braekhus in action taking on Jessica McCaskill Saturday night on DAZN. For Braekhus, a win will give the record passing Joe Louis’s record of successful title defenses with 26. This bout won’t be an easy task as McCaskill, despite having to come up in weight to challenge, will be the toughest fight for the “First Lady” in boxing in a while. McCaskill is not only looking to snap the streak but also a win to further her career.
“I have had pretty enormous fights leading up this fight,” McCaskill said at the final press conference Thursday. “I’m confident in my fighting and skills, and that’s all I worry about. Cecilia has an amazing record, history that she has created, but some of that history is before this era and it can be seen differently compared to the fighters in this era. I’m here to challenge everything she has put on the table. Cecilia wants to hear that I will knock her out and not here to rub her back. She wants me to be the best fighter.
I believe we’ll get that out of both of them on Saturday, which I think should be the fight of the weekend despite everything else going on.
Carl Frampton to make a statement against Darren Traynor.
On the media Zoom call on Wednesday, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum gave us all an update on the potential matchup between Carl Frampton and Jamel Herring:
“If Jamel is successful {Sept. 5 against Jonathan Oquendo}, and if Carl is successful on Saturday, I have a date picked out in November where they’ll fight for the title. That’s done. Everyone is on board. One thing I can’t control is the virus, but we’re going to do that fight in November. It may very well be another ‘Bubble’ fight.
“If both guys win these interim fights, you can count on a world title fight between Herring and Frampton in November.”
All Frampton has to do is beat Traynor, who took the fight on a week’s notice as the original opponent, Vahram Vardanyan, had visa-issues. The main card starts on ESPN at 4 p.m. ET, and I’d be shocked if this contest against Traynor goes past four rounds.
Otto Wallin taking on Travis Kauffman
Showtime on Saturday night has a card in their “bubble” at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and the bout out of the three-fight card that has my interest is heavyweights Otto Wallin taking on Travis Kauffman. The biggest wildcard is Kauffman, who hasn’t been in action since losing to Luis Ortiz back in 2018 on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury 1 card and is going in with a heavy heart as his trainer Brother Nazim Richardson passed away last month.
“My life has always been full of challenges,” Kauffman said at the Media Webinar this week. “With every fight and every camp there have been challenges. With the passing of Brother Naazim Richardson, who I’ve known since I was nine and who’s trained me for the last six years, it hurt. I didn’t expect him to pass away because he’d already overcome so much. It truly hurt me, but it also motivated me. I was unable to leave training camp, because all I could think about was that Brother Naazim would not have let me leave. He was truly a great mentor to me.
We’ll see where Kauffman is at this Saturday night.
Those are my three boxing things but I’d be a jerk if I didn’t mention my friend Grey johnson from Boxrec.com making his broadcast debut this Saturday as well with Boston Boxing at 2 p.m. ET Check that out for FREE (you know I will) as they are broadcasting from Windham, New Hampshire here. A name some may know on the card in action is Mark Deluca, who, some last seen in action taking on Kell Brook, will be in a six-rounder on the show.
