After two consecutive weekends of big fights and before next weekend’s absurdly loaded Saturday night, we have one of the lightest weekends in the sport so far this year. There are three cards of minor note, two in the UK and one in Mexico. On a more loaded weekend I may or may not choose to preview these kinds of fights, but on an empty weekend we might as well take a look.
Khalid Yafai v Suguru Muranaka – WBA super flyweight title
This card will air on Sky 2 in the UK. Beyond the two fights I will discuss in brief, the card also features Khalid’s brother, Gamal, fighting Sean Davis in a battle of unbeaten super bantamweight prospects for a minor WBC belt, Frankie Gavin in a walkover fight, Josh Kelly’s second pro fight, and more.
As for the main event, this is an okay title fight in one of the more loaded divisions in the sport. Khalid Yafai (21-0, 14 KOs) won his belt over Luis Concepcion, who missed weight, on the Joshua/Molina undercard last December. Concepcion was on a good three fight winning streak over David Sanchez, Hernan Marquez, and Kohei Kono, so this was a good win for the former British Olympian Yafai. Suguru Muranaka (25-2-1, 8 KOs) is in my view a step down in competition. He hasn’t lost in eleven years, but he also hasn’t tried to fight above the Japanese level. He has clearly been successful there, but to take on Yafai in England with no world level experience is a big ask for the 31 year old fighter.
I expect Yafai will get through this by wide decision. I am more looking forward to his entry into a great division. Super flyweight is home to Rungvisai, Chocolatito, Carlos Cuadras, Naoya Inoue, Yafai, and now John Riel Casimero is moving up too. The very top of 115 is just as good as the very top of any other division in the sport. Hopefully we can continue to get them in the ring together.
The co-feature for this card is Sam Eggington (20-3, 12 KOs) getting a European title shot against Spain’s Ceferino Rodriguez (24-1, 12 KOs). I must admit to not being familiar with Rodriguez, but on paper at least this seems like a very winnable title for Eggington. Still only 23, Eggington does seem to be coming into his own. He will probably never have that high level athleticism he would need to succeed at world level, but against Frankie Gavin and 2017 Paulie Malignaggi he was very effective in using his size, strength, and youth advantages to eventually break them down. I don’t think Eggington is likely to win a world title without a very favorable matchup, but the European title will be his after Saturday unless Rodriguez is much better than his resume suggests.
Josh Warrington v Kiko Martinez
Also in the UK, this card will air on BT Sport. Tyrone Nurse and Nicola Adams also fight deeper on the bill.
Kiko Martinez (36-7-1, 26 KOs) looks like he is completely done as a top fighter. Truthfully, Martinez was never the crème de la crème, so to speak, but he did win and twice successfully defend a belt from 2013-2014. He lost it to Carl Frampton, who he had previously lost to as well, and since then has been smashed out rather violently by Scott Quigg and Leo Santa Cruz when he has tried to step back up. Worse, Martinez only managed an eight round draw last July against Spanish 17 loss club fighter Eusebio Osejo. I am not that high on Josh Warrington (24-0, 5 KOs), but I don’t really expect him to struggle here either. If he does, his ceiling will be clearly marked.
The co-feature here is James “Jazza” Dickens (22-2, 7 KOs) versus Thomas Patrick Ward (20-0, 2 KOs) for the British super bantamweight title. You might remember Dickens for getting an undeserved shot at Rigondeaux and then retiring after two with a broken jaw. I hope you don’t though because that means you watched that fight. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Thomas Ward is… a fighter, I guess. I have no idea who he is. This is probably because he has fought absolutely woeful competition. He also has the worst KO percentage I have ever seen on a 20-0 fighter, or at least that I can remember. So, yay for that? The very fact that I am trying to write about this at all speaks to this weekend.
Marco Antonio Periban v Alvni Yildrim
For my money, this is the most interesting fight of the weekend. Yafai is the best fighter fighting, but he isn’t matched as well as this bout. The fight will be televised on Televisa in Mexico.
Alvni Yildrim (15-0, 10 KOs), Turkish based out of Germany, has really positioned himself as one of the better prospects in the sport. I hope he pans out because his style will make for great fights. That is the great thing about Yildrim. Even if he fails, his basement is basically a great action fighter. He comes forward very aggressively working his left hand. He jabs coming in quite well, but when he is in there he really rips the left hooks upstairs and downstairs. It is very appropriately that he is fighting Periban in Mexico because overall he is the stereotype of a Mexican fighter in the flesh. He is also very easy to hit cleanly in his aggression. Either this will be his downfall, he will clean it up, or he will have some sort of legendary chin, but I cannot see a future in which Yildrim isn’t an interesting fighter. I am already a fan.
He is matched very well here against Marco Antonio Periban (25-3-1, 16 KOs) too. Periban is a good professional fighter. He fought Sakio Bika and Badou Jack in fights that could have been scored either way. He lost fair to J’Leon Love, but he almost knocked him out along the way. Only James Degale, a true top level fighter, has been able to have an easy night’s work against Periban. Since that pretty epic four fight run, Periban has stepped down in competition and gone 6-0. The Mexican fighter is certainly good enough to take advantage of Yildrim’s pretty massive defensive holes, but the question is whether or not he can last long enough to do it. I really like this fight.
Jessica Chavez (28-4-3, 4 KOs) also defends her WBC flyweight title for the sixth time against Ana Arrazola (26-11-3, 13 KOs) on the same card.
