Boxing

Uysk and Fury rematch all set for Saturday 21st December apparently , summat to look forward to

Ford v Ball Ball Wins
Sheeraz v Williams Sheeraz Wins
Bivol v Zinad Bivol Wins
Dubois v Hgrovic Dubois Wins
Zhang v Wilder Zhang Wins

Gotta be honest didnt mind getting that one wrong at all , like i said im a big Ball fan and wouldnt mind see him winning .. good scrap and the right man won i think though it was close , made up for him and it takes the sting out of the Vargas decision last time

Saturday 15th June -

Gervonta Davis v Frank Martin
Interesting bout between two unbeaten fighters and has all the hallmarks to be a potential banger .. Davis (29 Fights - 29 Wins (27 KOs)) was last seen stopping Ryan Garcia in the seventh round back in April of 2023 , that was a solid taking apart of Garcia tbh , whilst Martin (18 Fights - 18 Wins (12 KOs) handed the decent Artem Harutyunyan his first loss when beating him by unanimous decision. Both the same age , but Davis has had more fights and imho against better opposition. Martin is a decent boxer and will enjoy a height and reach advantage , and hes quick , light on his feet and strong , he tends to fight on the inside , thats where his strengths seem to lie , and i can see him enjoying early success until Davis starts to figure him out and then he'll start to break him down. Davis has a good ring IQ and although Martin is a solid fighter i can see only one outcome here , and thats a Davis win , it could go to the cards but id be more tempted to go with a stoppage in the later rounds.

Gervonta Davis To Win .. By Stoppage (After Round 6)

Subriel Matias v Liam Paro
Looking forward to this one i have to say as both will come to fight and theres a high probability of a stoppage in this one given the way the pair fight , Puerto Rican Matias (21 Fights - 20 Wins (20 KOs) - 1 Loss) defends his IBF Junior Welterweight Title against Aussie Paro (24 Fights - 24 Wins (15 KOs)) and like i've already said it has all the hallmarks of a banging fight. Paro has held the WBO Global Junior Welterweight Title since its inaugration back in 2019 , and last time out despatched Montana Love in the sixth round by way of KO. Matias made his first defence of his title last time when he stopped the previously unbeaten Shohjahon Ergashev when he retired in the sixth round. He won the title by beating Jeremias Ponce , the only time hes been beaten was back in 2020 when he lost by unanimous decision to Russian Petros Ananyan , that was a bit of a shock result to be honest but he took it on the chin and three fights later he rectified that by stopping Ananyan in the ninth round. Paro will probably be the underdog here but hes definatley a live wire imho , hes a decent enough boxer and carries decent power in his shots and will certainly test Matias , although his chin seems sturdy enough as he's been with some big hitters in his career to date. The power that Matias carries is immense or seems to be to me anyway , hes took the '0' from some decent fighters .. Jeremias Ponce , Ergashev , Malik Hawkins and the unfortunate Maxim Dadashev , who Matias stopped in the 11th round and later died from a severe brain injury. Both have good boxing fundamentals , both can hit , but i would like to see Matias work on his defence more , he does get hit , and hit hard sometimes and thats always a worry i have to say. I think Paro will start well and it'll be an exciting fight , but in the end i think Matias comes out on top.

Subriel Matias To Win

David Benevidez v Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Looking forward to watching Benevidez' first fight as a light heavyweight , hes always been big for his previous weight i thought so should be able to take this step up in his stride i hope. Benevidez (28 Fights - 28 Wins (24 KOs)) comes into the fight unbeaten , retiring Demetrius Andrade in the sixth round last time , back in November 2023 , and i (along with a lot of others) was hoping he'd be fighting Canelo but that never transpired so hes made the leap to light heavy , and he faces Ukranian Gvozdyk (21 Fights - 20 Wins (16 KOs) - 1 Loss) he stopped Isaac Rodriquez in his last fight by second round TKO , his only loss came when he was stopped by the fearsome Artur Beterbiev in the tenth round , so if thats the only loss on your record , you're not doing too badly. Hes a good solid boxer and should put up a decent test for Benevidez for his first fight in the weight category , but i do feel he wont be facing the Gvozdyk of old , i think pre Beterbiev Gvozdyk would of given him something to think about but since that fight , for me , he hasnt looked the same fighter even though he won all three fights last year with the Bolotniks win being the best of them probably. Benevidez is younger (ten years) and hungrier and a volume puncher whose aggressive , and slightly reminscent of Beterbievs style in that hes in your face , relentless and Gvozdyk had no answer to Beterbievs style. I see Gvozdyk holding his own for a while and maybe catching Benevidez as his defence isnt the best i have to say but in the end i think the relentless style will wear Gvozdyk down and Benevidez will take the win , i think a mid to late stoppage is possible but a decision win wouldnt surprise me as Gvozdyk wont go down without a fight.

David Benevidez To Win

Ben Whittaker v Ezra Arenyeka
Quite looking forward to this as it could be an interesting bout tbh , Whittaker (7 Fights - 7 Wins (5 KOs)) takes on Nigerian Ezra Arenyeka (12 Fights - 12 Wins (10 KOs)) for the vacant WBA Gold World Light heavy Weight strap , and it has the potential to be a decent fight imho. Whittaker beat Leon Willings last time by unanimous decision and before that stopped Khalid Graidia in the fifth round , hes a very talented young fighter and has the potential to go far but hes gonna have to stop with the shenanigans and showboating , entertaining though it is for most of the public its eventually gonna cost him when he gets tagged by someone whilst p*ssing about , and that person could be Arenyeka , to be honest i dont know alot about him , except looking at his record he can bang , he hasnt met anyone of note as of yet looking at his record , but then neither has Whittaker if im being honest (as its early days for both lets be fair) although his resume is slightly better , having watched a couple of Arenyekas' fights id say that skill wise Whittaker looks to be levels above Arenyeka imho , he has a height and reach advantage , and he'll be using that to get on top during the fight i'm sure and i can see him outboxing Arenyeka here , as i said he looks to have some power but how good were his opponents ? has to be asked , probably not on Whittakers level i'd say but best that Whittaker avoids getting tagged if he can. I think Whittaker walks away with the vacant title in this one. Chance he could pull of a stoppage , but i havent seen enough of Arenyeka to know what his chins like tbh so i'll just stick with the Whittaker win,

Ben Whittaker To Win

Chris Billam Smith v Richard Riakporhe
Looking forward to these pair re running their 2019 encounter , where Riakporhe (17 Fights - 17 Wins (13 KOs)) beat Billam Smith (20 Fights - 19 Wins (13 KOs) - 1 Loss) by split decision and handed BS his first loss. Billam Smith is defending his WBO Cruiserweight Title that he took from Lawrence Okolie when he beat him back in May of 2023 , he then defended the title last time against Pole Mateusz Masternak , who he beat when Masternak retired in the eighth round. Riakporhe hasnt been seen since stopping Dylan Bregeon in the second round back in November of last year , that was his fifth stoppage in a row and i think that he'll be looking to continue that run here. I like both boxers , and both are more than capable of walking away the victor here , Billam Smith looked pretty poor last time imho , he took quite a few unneccesary shots and he cant afford to do that against someone like Riakporhe , he does have the ability to turn a fight around and is usually consistent through the rounds which helps but he really has to dodge some of the power shots especially against someone who can hit as hard as Riakporhe. Tough one to call tbh , but i think this one goes the same way as the first fight with Riakporhe getting his hand raised .

Richard Riakporhe To Win

After his win last night Hamzah Sheeraz has said he'd be interested in a fight with Chris Eubank Jr , not sure thats one that will get made but would certainly be interesting to watch.

And Nick Ball has said he wants to run it back with Rey Vargas , after winning the WBA Featherweight belt last night after beating Ray Ford he'd like to get back in the ring with Vargas for the WBC belt he missed out on when the judges called it a draw last time.

And after Dubois beat Hgrovic it could be that he will face Joshua next , be an entertaining scrap that one i think .. or the other logical choice would be Zhang , for me another entertaining bout. Given the form Parker is in at the mo i wouldnt mind seeing him fight AJ a second time tbh.

Davis v Martin - Davis Wins By Stoppage in Round 8
Matias v Paro - Paro Wins
Benevidez v Gvozdyk - Benevidez Wins
Billiam Smith v Riakporhe - Billam Smith Wins
Whittaker v Arenyeka - Ben Whittaker Wins

Saturday 29th June -

Juan Francisco Estrada v Jesse Rodriguez
Another fight worth watching , getting spoiled lately ! Estrada (47 Fights - 44 Wins (28 KOs) - 3 Losses) meets the unbeaten and very talented 'Bam' Rodriguez (19 Fights - 19 Wins (12 KOs)). Estrada beat 'Choclatito' Roman Gonzalez last time retaining The Ring Super Flyweight Title and winning the vacant WBC Super Flyweight Belt , that was a decent trilogy of fights between the pair with it ending 2-1 to Estrada after that last time MD win. Whereas Rodriguez stopped British fighter Sunny Edwards who retired in the ninth round , keeping his WBO Flyweight title , and winning Edwards' IBF version. Estrada is a household name and deservedly so but i think he is gonna have his hands full trying to hand Rodriguez his first loss , theres a ten year age gap between the two which i think will be telling , and at 24 Rodriguez looks all set to be one of the headliners for sometime to come imho as already his resume is looking good and with Estradas scalp added to it , it will only look better and for me will be a P4P fighter in the not to distant.

Jesse Rodriguez To Win

Teofimo Lopez v Steve Claggett
Teofimo Lopez (21 Fights - 20 Wins (13 KOs) - 1 Loss) puts his belts on the line when he meets Canadian challenger Steve Claggett (47 Fights - 38 Wins (26 KOs) - 7 Losses - 1 Draw) , Lopez arrives looking for his fifth straight victory .. Pedro Campa , Sandor Martin , Josh Taylor and Jermaine Ortiz ... after his shock loss to George Kambosos Jr back in 2021 , and in all honesty i think he should retain his titles here. Claggett is game and tough and hasnt lost since his split decision loss to Mathieu Germain back in may of 2021 , thats a 9 fight winning streak , but this is a step up for the Canadian and i think Lopez is levels above Claggett in all honesty. Although sometimes Lopez does lose focus on the job in hand so i wouldnt completely write Claggetts' chances off but i just cant see it personally. I see Lopez putting on a dominant display and retaining his belts.

Teofimo Lopez To Win

Havent really looked at this one TD , neither are really renowned for their KO power tbh with Isley 5 KOs and Martinez 3 , both are skilful , its a hard one to call i reckon slight edge to Isley but Martinez well capable too , best of luck with yer bet mate

Friday 21st June - Lyndon Arthur v Liam Cameron

Interesting domestic dust up this one , Liam Cameron (29 Fights - 23 Wins (10 KOs) - 5 Losses - 1 No Contest) is on the comeback trail and its good to see him back in all honesty although i think that maybe Lyndon Arthur (25 Fights - 23 Wins (16 KOs) - 2 Losses) may prove to be a step too far for him. Cameron fought Nicky Jenman for the Commonwealth Middleweight Title back in April of 2018 , stopping him in the second round , but that was later declared a no contest after he tested positive for a banned substance (cocaine in his urine) and he was subsequently found guilty and banned for four years (hes always denied this and could have got a 16 month ban if he'd pled guilty , which he wouldnt do) , he started drinking and also suffered the loss of his daughter in a road accident which led him to struggling with depression etc .. so he hasnt had it easy at all , and decided to make a comeback in her memory . He had a fight in 2023 , Robbie Connor , who he beat on points and this year hes had two fights , Harry Matthews and Hussein Itaba , both of whom he stopped in the first round. Arthur is gonna be a whole different proposition , he is levels above Camerons' recent opposition , and i think he may well struggle here after the opening few rounds. Hes heavy handed , tough and tenacious but i dont think thats gonna be enough to see him through , Arthur has only lost two in his career , first time against Anthony Yarde and then in his last fight he lost by unanimous decision to Dmitry Bivol , although he was outclassed/outboxed in that fight he did hold his own and had his moments in the fight , and a repeat of that would easily see him through this i would of thought. Cameron will probably start quickly and try to get Arthur out of there , but Arthur doesnt mind fighting off the backfoot , indeed hes well known for it , and he'll use his jab to good effect , and he'll wait until the times right to introduce his right hand. He can be caught though , and the question is can he take Camerons' best shot ? and my answer would be probably , but i wouldnt bet my house on it lol .. as i said at the start i think this is an interesting match up and i think it'll be fairly even in the first few rounds , back and forth , with Cameron probably the stronger but as the fight goes on i think Arthur will begin to come out on top , with Cameron possibly tiring , and i see Arthur winning this one , either by points or by a mid to late round stoppage (although given the back story i wouldnt be upset if Cameron cam out the winner i have to say) and its on Channel 5 tonight so no excuses not to watch it !

Lyndon Arthur To Win