Boxing - great upcoming fights

[Luv2Phuket]

If you're a boxing fan, the upcoming spring/summer schedule should feature LOTS of good bouts:

April 30 - 2 separate cards that are intriguing:
 - Shakur Stevenson vs Oscar Valdez - 2 young, undefeated champions (I think Stevenson is a special talent)
 - Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano in one of the biggest female fights that I can recall

May 7 - Canelo vs Dmitry Bivol - although not a household name, Bivol could be his toughest opponent in quite some time

May 14 - Charlo vs Castano 2 - thought Castano got robbed in first bout

May 28 - Gervonta Davis vs Rolly Romero - Davis should blow this loudmouth kid out

June 4 - Kambosos, Jr. vs Devin Haney - 135 lb. unification bout in Australia

June 7 - Inuoe vs Donaire 2 in Tokyo - great first fight between one of the best P4P (Inuoe) and a legend (Donaire)

Usyk/Joshua 2 is penciled in for late July (latest rumor was July 23).

Enjoy!

 

[Tosserred]

What are good places to watch boxing and MMA in Pattaya?
Not just that it's on the screen, but places that the crowd is actually into the fights!

[HimBadMan]

@Luv2Phuket  great write up. should be a great year for the sport. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by HimBadMan

[Luv2Phuket]

48 minutes ago, Tosserred said:

What are good places to watch boxing and MMA in Pattaya?
Not just that it's on the screen, but places that the crowd is actually into the fights!

Great question - I would love to know that, as well.

With COVID shaking up the scene, I wouldn't know where to begin.

[Luv2Phuket]

34 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

@Luv2Phuket  great write up. should be a great year for the sport. 

Assuming Canelo beats Bivol, the third GGG fight is on tap around September, I think.

I don't expect it to be nearly as close/good as the first 2. I thought GGG won first (which was VERY close - I was there and said it would be a split decision); I thought Canelo won the second. Since then, Canelo has kept busy fighting undefeated champions and dominating them, while GGG had a shaky outing before looking good vs Murata. And GGG is now over 40.

Add in the fact that Canelo truly dislikes GGG over steroid allegations, and I think Canelo punishes him on the way to an easy victory.

AJ vs Usyk 2 is a bit intriguing to me. First fight not that close, but curious to see if AJ finds a way to use his distinct size advantage in rematch.

 

[HimBadMan]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Assuming Canelo beats Bivol, the third GGG fight is on tap around September, I think.

I don't expect it to be nearly as close/good as the first 2. I thought GGG won first (which was VERY close - I was there and said it would be a split decision); I thought Canelo won the second. Since then, Canelo has kept busy fighting undefeated champions and dominating them, while GGG had a shaky outing before looking good vs Murata. And GGG is now over 40.

Add in the fact that Canelo truly dislikes GGG over steroid allegations, and I think Canelo punishes him on the way to an easy victory.

AJ vs Usyk 2 is a bit intriguing to me. First fight not that close, but curious to see if AJ finds a way to use his distinct size advantage in rematch.

 

We may have talked about this in the past.  But, I'm a huge fight fan myself, went to every major fight in Vegas.  (my 1st Major one for me was Mayweather v De la hoya) and only missed one of his fights after that (pacman) couldn't get my hands on tickets.  I also followed Pacs career and fights since that was my Era of boxing.   PS. Won huge money on him when he fought Oscar.

I was also a huge canelo fan and went to pretty much all his vegas fights except the night I chose to see Chavez Jr vs Martinez at UNLV vs the Canelo fight at MGM. (No regrets since that 12th round was most exciting I've ever been too).

best atmosphere was the Mayweather vs Hatton fight.    wow what a weekend..

Haven't been going lately since I shifted my spending habits (my financial indy journey)   but still remain a huge fan.

I've been waiting for years to see Spence vs. Crawford.  It better happen this year.

Also agree with u GGG was robbed 1st fight. but lost 2nd fight.  Canelo should whoop him in this next fight.

I know you were part of that boxing world for a while that's why it was disappointing we couldn't catch up on that flight to BKK.    Both love boxing and thai girls.  hahahaha

Edited April 23, 2022 by HimBadMan

[Luv2Phuket]

2 hours ago, HimBadMan said:

We may have talked about this in the past.  But, I'm a huge fight fan myself, went to every major fight in Vegas.  (my 1st Major one for me was Mayweather v De la hoya) and only missed one of his fights after that (pacman) couldn't get my hands on tickets.  I also followed Pacs career and fights since that was my Era of boxing.   PS. Won huge money on him when he fought Oscar.

I was also a huge canelo fan and went to pretty much all his vegas fights except the night I chose to see Chavez Jr vs Martinez at UNLV vs the Canelo fight at MGM. (No regrets since that 12th round was most exciting I've ever been too).
 

When JCC Jr. dropped Martinez, it was the second loudest I have ever hear any arena - the crowd blew the roof of of Thomas & Mack!

It's a tough call between them, but I think the loudest was Staples Center when Kobe threw the alley oop to Shaq in Game 7 of 2000 Western Conference Finals vs Portland. Capped a huge comeback, so the crowd was going nuts.

Hope we can catch up over a few drinks in Pattaya some time!

[bgtp]

It really is a great run of fights coming up. Fulton-Roman on June 4 is another good one on paper. I’ve seen talk of Bam Rodriguez-Srisaket Sor Rungvisai trying to get made. I felt bad for the Thai fighter’s scheduled title fight earlier this year falling though. He put in a camp, traveled all the way to the USA, only to get sick the week of the fight and have to pull out. I always check boxrec when I’m in Thailand to see if there are any fights going on nearby. Generally a good time and often they’re free.

Edited April 24, 2022 by bgtp

[Luv2Phuket]

4 hours ago, bgtp said:

It really is a great run of fights coming up. Fulton-Roman on June 4 is another good one on paper. I’ve seen talk of Bam Rodriguez-Srisaket Sor Rungvisai trying to get made. I felt bad for the Thai fighter’s scheduled title fight earlier this year falling though. He put in a camp, traveled all the way to the USA, only to get sick the week of the fight and have to pull out. I always check boxrec when I’m in Thailand to see if there are any fights going on nearby. Generally a good time and often they’re free.

Yes, Fulton-Roman is another one. I think Fulton wins. Roman is a tough out for anyone, but Fulton just appears to be far more talented. Roman is guy who hard work and tireless effort have taken him farther than just pure talent.

I read talk of Bam vs SSR. They also just got the purse bid done for Estrada vs Joshua Franco, Bam's half brother.

I dealt with Franco on his way up -- great kid. Got to meet Bam, too, at a few of his fights. Another fantastic, very talented kid. I'm very happy for both of their success.

Somewhere along the way, I became Facebook friends with Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. What a great guy -- his posts are always supportive and uplifting, and I have friends who have worked with him for years. Just a fantastic person. His career is winding down, but I hope he's got a few big paydays left. I was at both fights when SSR beat Chocolatito, then destroyed him in the rematch. Thought Chocolatito was done at that point, but he has come back strong from those losses.

Got a photo with SSR at a convention years ago. That's one that I break out at least once or twice a trip to show to Thai girls! "Him famous Thai boxer!" 555

Funniest things was in Cebu years ago. My friend and I were with 2 Filipino hookers. My friend (senior exec) worked VERY closely with Manny. Subject comes up, and he breaks out a photo of him and Manny from a recent fight. The Filipino hooker said "oooooohhhhh....you famous! I shyyyy!" and started to cover back up! 555

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Yes, Fulton-Roman is another one. I think Fulton wins. Roman is a tough out for anyone, but Fulton just appears to be far more talented. Roman is guy who hard work and tireless effort have taken him farther than just pure talent.

I read talk of Bam vs SSR. They also just got the purse bid done for Estrada vs Joshua Franco, Bam's half brother.

I dealt with Franco on his way up -- great kid. Got to meet Bam, too, at a few of his fights. Another fantastic, very talented kid. I'm very happy for both of their success.

Somewhere along the way, I became Facebook friends with Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. What a great guy -- his posts are always supportive and uplifting, and I have friends who have worked with him for years. Just a fantastic person. His career is winding down, but I hope he's got a few big paydays left. I was at both fights when SSR beat Chocolatito, then destroyed him in the rematch. Thought Chocolatito was done at that point, but he has come back strong from those losses.

Got a photo with SSR at a convention years ago. That's one that I break out at least once or twice a trip to show to Thai girls! "Him famous Thai boxer!" 555

Funniest things was in Cebu years ago. My friend and I were with 2 Filipino hookers. My friend (senior exec) worked VERY closely with Manny. Subject comes up, and he breaks out a photo of him and Manny from a recent fight. The Filipino hooker said "oooooohhhhh....you famous! I shyyyy!" and started to cover back up! 555

Chocolatito is probably my favorite currently active boxer. Been following him since he was a champion at 105. I felt he should have got the decision in his last fight with Estrada, but that's boxing. He still looked sharp againt Martinez last month. I follow him on twitter and you're right, he does seem like a real nice, positive person.

I saw SSR at his gym in Nonthaburi a few years back. Bit of a story to that. I read in some Thai media about a scheduled workout at his gym before an upcomng fight and the article had the location, date and time. I was in BKK at the time and saw that it was close to an MRT station. Since I'm always up for checking out new parts of the Bangkok area, I figured I'd go. Well, my Thai reading skills aren't that great and it turns out that what I thought was a public workout was actually a media workout/event. Funny thing was, no one asked me for any ID or credentials. They just assumed I was some foreign media. I gave them my name and email and they gave me a media kit and bag of goodies with a t-shirt, etc.  I then went inside, had some food and drink as it was nicely catered, and saw a press conference and workout.

[Luv2Phuket]

BTW, thought I would check the odds on Stevenson vs Valdez, to see if I had a recommendation....

Holy shit! Shakur is going off at -595 on my online book - almost a 6 to 1 favorite. Yikes!  Valdez is drawing +445.

As I said above, I think Shakur is a special talent....but I wouldn't lay 6:1 vs another undefeated World champion. That said, the +445 is not drawing me to Valdez either.

Should be broadcast mid-mornign in Thailand, with estimated ring walks aorund 10 a.m. on Sunday in Pattaya. It is on ESPN (and Sky Sports, I think), so it should be accessible in sports bar-type establishments in Pattaya.

If you watch, keep an eye on a kid on the undercard - Keyshawn Davis. Gonna be a star.

[Luv2Phuket]

On 24/04/2022 at 05:04, bgtp said:

It really is a great run of fights coming up. Fulton-Roman on June 4 is another good one on paper. I’ve seen talk of Bam Rodriguez-Srisaket Sor Rungvisai trying to get made. I felt bad for the Thai fighter’s scheduled title fight earlier this year falling though. He put in a camp, traveled all the way to the USA, only to get sick the week of the fight and have to pull out. I always check boxrec when I’m in Thailand to see if there are any fights going on nearby. Generally a good time and often they’re free.

Just saw it announced today - Bam vs Sor Rungvisai on June 25 in San Antonio, TX (broadcast on DAZN).

[SilverSlugger]

Definitely some good fights coming up. I agree Bivol won’t be run over but hasn’t Canelo fought at that weight before? He’s fun to watch so it’ll be a good fight. I’m also interested to know of any venues to watch boxing in Pattaya. I’ll be there late May and would love to catch Davis Romero out somewhere. 

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Just saw it announced today - Bam vs Sor Rungvisai on June 25 in San Antonio, TX (broadcast on DAZN).

I just saw that, too. Decent undercard with Martinez-Arroyo and Akhmadaliev-Rios. I’m toying with the idea of going, but a little scared of someone having to pull out late. It’s always a risk when traveling to attend a fight. Just seems to happen a bit more often than usual these days.

[Luv2Phuket]

BIG step up for Bam. Cuadras was/is shot, and they wanted to get him one more payday.

Fighting SSR is a big move for a young guy, but what really bugs me is that he is fighting at "home." I've seen many young fighters struggle in a big "homecoming" fight - lots of distractions.

COVID has really made things difficult over the past year or so. Lotta injuries popping up, too.

For example, Jared Anderson (talented Heavyweight prospect) was supposed to be featured on that Fury/Whyte undercard, but he hurt his hand. Damn shame, because it REALLY needed someone to liven it up! 555

[bgtp]

24 minutes ago, SilverSlugger said:

Definitely some good fights coming up. I agree Bivol won’t be run over but hasn’t Canelo fought at that weight before? He’s fun to watch so it’ll be a good fight. I’m also interested to know of any venues to watch boxing in Pattaya. I’ll be there late May and would love to catch Davis Romero out somewhere. 

I’ve enjoyed watching in I-Rovers in the past. They’ve even been nice enough to put not-so-big fights on a TV for me to watch when I asked.

[bgtp]

7 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

BIG step up for Bam. Cuadras was/is shot, and they wanted to get him one more payday.

Fighting SSR is a big move for a young guy, but what really bugs me is that he is fighting at "home." I've seen many young fighters struggle in a big "homecoming" fight - lots of distractions.

COVID has really made things difficult over the past year or so. Lotta injuries popping up, too.

For example, Jared Anderson (talented Heavyweight prospect) was supposed to be featured on that Fury/Whyte undercard, but he hurt his hand. Damn shame, because it REALLY needed someone to liven it up! 555

I’m wondering how SSR will look. Hope he’s fully recovered from whatever caused him to be hospitalized when he had to pull out of the Cuadras fight a few months ago. He’s actually the oldest of the ‘four little kings’ at superfly and his last big fight was three years ago. He’s had three stay-busy fights in Thailand over COVID,  and even the last one of those was over a year ago.

 

[Luv2Phuket]

Been a long while since I did it, but I recall watching fights at Sportsman Pub. 

For some reason, I wanna say it was a Shane Mosley fight, so that tells you how long ago it was! 5555

I used a Firestick and VPN to watch in my room via some streaming services (ESPN+ and DAZN) on more recent trips.

If you have a "sports" streaming service, be sure to get a VPN, as most broadcasts are geo-blocked (just like how Thai Netflix is very different -- although in some ways better -- than USA Netflix).

[Luv2Phuket]

1 minute ago, bgtp said:

I’m wondering how SSR will look. Hope he’s fully recovered from whatever caused him to be hospitalized when he had to pull out of the Cuadras fight a few months ago. He’s actually the oldest of the ‘four little kings’ at superfly and his last big fight was three years ago. He’s had three stay-busy fights in Thailand over COVID,  and even the last one of those was over a year ago.

 

With Estrada fighting Franco and Bam fighting SSR, there could some limitations on match-ups moving forward.

For example, let's say Franco and Bam both win. That sets either of them up to fight Chocolatito, but they're NOT going to fight each other. Whoever doesn't get Chocolatito is left looking for a "name" opponent.

Possible unification with Ioka (Bam has the best promoter in Japan), although I think they are getting Donnie Nietes in place to fight him.

IBF champ Martinez (soundly beat Ancajas) is pretty unknown, but represents another unification possibility.

[HimBadMan]

Since I'll be in town for the Canelo Fight, I for sure need a good spot to watch it.   should be around 10am/11am Sunday morning (pattaya time).

last year while I was "living" there Robin Hood opened their "theater room" for the big NBA playoff games..   it was comfortable.     If they show the fight, I'll most likely do that.

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

With Estrada fighting Franco and Bam fighting SSR, there could some limitations on match-ups moving forward.

For example, let's say Franco and Bam both win. That sets either of them up to fight Chocolatito, but they're NOT going to fight each other. Whoever doesn't get Chocolatito is left looking for a "name" opponent.

Possible unification with Ioka (Bam has the best promoter in Japan), although I think they are getting Donnie Nietes in place to fight him.

IBF champ Martinez (soundly beat Ancajas) is pretty unknown, but represents another unification possibility.

Superflyweight has been such a treat these last eight years or so. I was hoping they'd make Chocolatito-Ioka since Chocolatito has ties to Japan as well, but as you say it looks like Ioka is fighting Nietes next. The clock is definitely ticking on all these guys.

A few minutes ago, I saw that BoxRec has SSR listed for an 8-round fight in Bangkok this Saturday against Suriyan Sathon aka Kompayak Porpramook. I found that strange and looked around some Thai boxing websites to see what's up. Turns out that whatever they had originally planned is now a four round exhibition. One thing I noticed when I read or listen to the Thais is that Srisaket's fighter name has actually been Srisaket Nakhon Luang Promotion for a few years now. I figure his western promoters decided that Thai fighter's names are confusing enough already and it's best to leave well enough alone.

[SilverSlugger]

3 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Been a long while since I did it, but I recall watching fights at Sportsman Pub. 

For some reason, I wanna say it was a Shane Mosley fight, so that tells you how long ago it was! 5555

I used a Firestick and VPN to watch in my room via some streaming services (ESPN+ and DAZN) on more recent trips.

If you have a "sports" streaming service, be sure to get a VPN, as most broadcasts are geo-blocked (just like how Thai Netflix is very different -- although in some ways better -- than USA Netflix).

Okay thanks. Yeah VPN does come in handy with watching sports abroad. I haven’t used Firestick before…I’ll check it out.

[usexpat46]

I first got interested in boxing when I was in high school when I saw the Greatest  (Cassisus Clay aks Ali) fight Sonny Liston.  After Ali retired is hasn't been the same.  

[SilverSlugger]

I’m still a big boxing fan but see your point on the state of the sport now. But since Ali, I think the 80s middleweights were incredible and 90s heavyweights into the 2000s. It’s definitely tapered off (in my opinion) in big names - same weight division. I know there’s multiple arguments why that is…..money, promoters and competing attractions (like UFC and I’m admittedly a huge MMA fan). But I still like to see good boxing and it’s out there for the viewing. 

[bgtp]

Can add Beterbiev-Smith unification on June 18 to the list.  Beterbiev will be a big favorite, but it’s still a great match-up. The Ioka-Nietes fight got a date, July 13. I’m having trouble remembering when there were so many good fights in such a short period. Looking forward to Canelo-Bivol this week.