Weekend Preview: Date Night Edition
Our aim here is to serve all audiences from hardcore fight fanatics to the unlucky significant others with partners that would rather stay in and watch grainy Mexican boxing telecasts than step out in public like a normal couple. So this preview is dedicated to my girlfriend and the many long-suffering other halves out there forced to take a back seat almost every Friday and Saturday night.
There are almost no fights of note on American TV this weekend. If they tell you otherwise, they are full of shit. Get off your ass, take a shower, put on a clean shirt and go outside for a change. Go out to dinner. Take in a movie. Do something besides sit on your ass watching two men beat the shit out of each other with your precious free time.
Since most of you won’t listen, here’s what you have to look forward to: Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales vs. Ossie Duran and Javier Molina vs. Artemio Reyes on ShoBox, Eloy Perez vs Ira Terry on Telefutura, Vanes Martirosyan vs. Richard Gutierrez on Fox Deportes, a rematch of a great fight on Azteca America and a pretty good card in Puerto Rico that doesn’t appear to be televised in the U.S. Details and a few other odds and ends after the jump:
Friday’s Showtime show at Bally’s in Atlantic City was originally scheduled as a triple-header but the heavyweight contest between bosom buddies Tony Thompson and Eddie Chambers was scratched after Chambers hurt his back sparring last week. The winner was supposed to be in line for a shot at heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko; no word on what happens now.
That leaves Gonzales, a touted middleweight prospect out of Sacramento, who will make his national TV debut against veteran gatekeeper Duran. Gonzales has replaced trainer Jeff Mayweather with Andre Ward mentor Virgil Hunter but hasn’t fought in nine months. The pressure is one to make a big impression in his first fight with new promoter Goosen Tutor.
2008 Olympian Javier Molina faces a stiff test of his own against 25-year-old aspiring CPA Artemio Reyes, whose only loss came to Mike Dallas Jr. in his second fight. Reyes is a sympathetic figure; in addition to school, boxing and running his family’s Mexican restaurant he must help take care of his comatose father, who was hit by a car in 2008 and has been unresponsive since.
Super featherweight contender Eloy Perez will look to entertain the hometown crowd in Salinas, Calif. on Friday during a stay-busy fight against Ira Terry. Terry has lost his last four bouts, all by stoppage. Telefutura will televise and yours truly will be covering for TQBR as part of my soon-to-be regular Solo Boxeo Tecate coverage over there. Free case of beer or T-shirt (your pick) to anyone that thinks up an awesome name for the weekly segment.
The hardcore fans will be either hunched in front of their laptops or harassing their Spanish friends for context on Saturday night as Hernan Marquez and Luis Concepcion square off in a rematch of their April Fight of the Year candidate in Hermosillo, Mexico. “Tysonito” Marquez won the WBA flyweight belt with a thrilling 11th-rd KO in the first fight but the Panamanian will be eager for revenge and looking to box more in the return engagement. Either way, we get Azteca America so expect full coverage in this space.
Junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan will continue his baffling career trajectory by fighting borderline tomato can Richard Gutierrez in Thackerville, Okla. on Saturday night. Fox Deportes will carry the fight and we will cover it, if for no other reason than loyalty to our good friends from Oklahoma.
Also: Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. returns for the first time since getting dropped by Jorge Arce in May on a card headlined by Ivan Calderon in Guyanabo, Puerto Rico; England’s “Prizefighter” tournament returns with featherweights, we like Choi; a Friday night card at Harrah’s in Chester, Penn. will feature two eight-round heavyweight contests: Gerald Nobles vs. Joseph Rabotte and Franklin Lawrence vs. Raymond Ocheing. Joey Eye Boxing is the promoter.
I tuned into the World Series tonight just in time to catch Matt Holliday whiffing on a catch in left field and am currently watching in dismay as these two teams throw the ball all over the yard a la Cam Newton. I get that playoff baseball is somewhat arbitrary but I can’t help being disappointed that whichever team wins the World Series is going to be so obviously incomplete. As miserable as the usual contenders are, it’s hard to remember a pair of such uninspiring teams playing for the championship. Aside from Pujols and Josh Hamilton there are no real stars on either team in the prime of their careers.
Nelson Cruz has fluke written all over him and Mike Napoli will likely echo David Eckstein as an average player that got hot and found his moment of glory in October. Kinsler and Michael Young are solid if uninspiring. Beltre has all the talent in the world but uses it sparingly. Elvis Andrus is the wildcard; he’s young, talented and exciting. This series could potentially be the start of his stardom. But overall these Rangers are not likely to be remembered outside of Texas even if they take home the title.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, have some good players in Furcal, Holliday and Lance Berkman. They’re just old. And the mediocrity of both starting pitching staffs is well-documented. So we’re basically tuning in to watch two great bullpens take on a few pretty good hitters and Pujols respectively. No wonder the Cardinals are falling apart. Spit and chewing gum will only hold things together for so long. Hopefully the leak they’ve sprung will sink this series tonight and save us from future boredom.