It looks like the fight world has indeed gone mad. Right after that Jake Paul-Ben Askren spectacle which grabbed everyone’s attention, it looks like the proposed Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Logan Paul exhibition match is a go and is penciled for June 6 in Miami.
I’ve never been one to hold on too much to the old traditions. I’ve always fancied myself as more of a “out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-kind-of-guy”.
But if this is the new normal now for the fighting world, I guess I have some soul searching and reevaluating to do.
I know you might think I am over-reacting and it’s quite possible that that might be the case, but c’mon there are several perfectly good decent fights this weekend in the boxing world, but nobody hardly writes about them anymore.
MATCHUPS. There’s WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (17-0, 11KOs) fighting Craig Richards.
Bivol has knockout wins over Jean Pascal and Sullivan Barrera and is in line for a potential unification bout against his WBC counterpart, Artur Beterbiev.
Richards has been making a lot of noise leading up to the fight. He’s a bit wild and loves to swing for the fences. With a record of 16-1 and 9KOs, this fight has the potential to be a barnburner.
There’s also Chris Eubank Jr. who will be fighting Marcus Morrison. Since suffering a disappointing loss to George Groves in 2018, Eubank has gone 3-0 with two of those victories via the short route. British fighter Marcus Morrison sports an impressive record of 23-2, with 22KOs so he has the power to threaten the flashy Eubank and make this a compelling matchup.
This will be the first time for Eubank to strut wares since linking up with ring legend Roy Jones Jr. as his trainer.
Then there’s Moruti Mthalane who, as of this writing, just lost his IBF flyweight title to undefeated challenger Sonny Edwards of the UK. If the former seems to be a familiar name to Pinoy fight fans it’s because he fought two of our world champions, Nonito Donaire and John Reil Casimero, losing via stoppage to the former but returning the favor to the latter.
Edwards followed a strict game plan to thwart the heavy handed Mthalane and follow in the footsteps of his brother Charlie who was also a world champion in this weight class.
NEWS. I hardly saw any coverage of the foregoing fights coming into this weekend. It seems like fight fans have to go down an esoteric rabbit hole in the internet to dig up some reading material meant for hardcore followers only. The mainstream media couldn’t care less, really.
Maybe I am taking it a bit too seriously. On days like this, I like to attenuate my misery by telling myself to accept the things I cannot change.
But please fellow boxing fans, stop asking me about whether or not Logan Paul has a chance against Floyd.
VERBATIM. “The tactics, the thought process, the mindset that I have now is different. Being with him will add years to my career.” -- Chris Eubank Jr. (www.skysports.com)
LAST ROUND. It’s on Raymond Tero who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!