The World Boxing Super Series continues, Terence Crawford returns, and more.
Saturday, October 13th
Zolani Tete (27-3, 21 KOs) v Mikhail Aloyan (4-0), WBO bantamweight title & Andrew Tabiti (16-0, 13 KOs) v Ruslan Fayfer (23-0, 15 KOs), cruiserweights – Ekaterinburg, Russia – World Boxing Super Series – DAZN, 11 AM Eastern
Week two of six weekends straight with first round World Boxing Super Series tournament doubleheaders comes from Russia. Neither of their participants in former amateur star Mikhail Aloyan or lesser known cruiserweight Ruslan Fayfer can reasonably be favored against top talents in Zolani Tete or Andrew Tabiti, but home field advantage counts for something. Hopefully the scorecards come up fair, if needed. I’m not sure they will be in either case though. Aloyan can box but he hasn’t set the world on fire despite his two Olympic medals and two World Amateur Championship wins. Zolani Tete may be a bit overrated thanks to some favorable matchmaking, but he can crack. If Aloyan gets hit by him as often as he did in his last fight, good night. I also think Andrew Tabiti is a top cruiserweight talent while Fayfer is competent but more of a regional talent. I don’t think either Russian has very many avenues to victory. Also, generally the WBSS broadcasts also include the entire undercard and this one is loaded with solid Russian high regional level guys like Roman Andreev, Nikolai Potapov, and Andrey Fedosov as well as top prospect Magomed Kurbanov. Join the stream at 11 if they interest you, if not you’ll likely have a few hours before the tournament fights.
Lewis Ritson (17-0, 11 KOs) v Francesco Patera (19-3, 11 KOs), lightweights – Newcastle, England – DAZN – 2 PM Eastern
Lewis Ritson headlines his first card here and deservedly so. His rise from complete unknown to an exciting and dominant presence on a strong regional scene like the UK’s is something to really stand up and note. Even better, he’s a real fun, aggressive fighter to watch. There is a savageness to his game coupled with a real vulnerability that makes it hard to take your eyes off his fights. Here Ritson goes for the European belt before presumably stepping up to world level if all goes well. Francesco Patera is a respectable pro, but this is one of those cases where the Euro level is not actually any better than the British level. Ritson should roll, but then again he’s always there to be hit too. A British title fight between Glenn Foot and Robbie Davies looks like the co-main event on paper here, but it has no bearing on world level. If you join at 2 PM to catch the undercard, do it to get a look at Olympic prospects Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Fowler. Buatsi in particular looks like a potential future star.
Angel Acosta (18-1, 18 KOs) v Abraham Rodriguez (23-1, 11 KOs), WBO light flyweight title & Bakhram Murtazaliev (13-0, 11 KOs) v Norberto Gonzalez (23-11, 13 KOs), junior middleweights – Las Vegas, Nevada – Facebook Watch, 9 PM Eastern
Golden Boy and Main Events get together to put on this Facebook card headlined by a title fight at 108 lbs. I can’t imagine this one is going to get very many eye balls. It’ll be up against Top Rank and ESPN by the time the main event rolls around, no one other than freaks like me follows the light flyweights, and Acosta has little name value even by the low standards of the sport’s lowest weights. Plus, Abraham Rodriguez isn’t a super inspiring title challenger either. If you do decide to tune in, Acosta is a pretty fun power puncher even if he is a bit limited. Russian prospect Bakhram Murtazaliev should look pretty great in the co-main event too. This is a weak show, but it isn’t entirely without value.
Terence Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) v Jose Benavidez Jr (27-0, 18 KOs), WBO welterweight title & Carlos Adames (14-0, 11 KOs) v Joshua Conley (14-2-1, 9 KOs), junior middleweights & Shakur Stevenson (8-0, 4 KOs) v Viorel Simion (21-2, 9 KOs), featherweights – Omaha, Nebraska – ESPN, 10:30 PM Eastern
It is a little concerning how a Bud Crawford fight can possibly sneak up on the boxing world like this. He’s a consensus top two pound for pound fighter in the sport’s glamour division fighting for arguably the sport’s biggest promoter with arguably the best TV deal. There is absolutely no buzz for this fight. Why aren’t Top Rank and ESPN promoting it? Part of the reason is likely because the world has forgotten about Jose Benavidez. He was once legitimately considered the best prospect in the sport and he even won a secondary title, but that fight against Mauricio Herrera was a negative, not a positive. Herrera seemed to comfortably outbox him, but Benavidez was given a highly questionable decision win. Despite the belt, his career stalled out that night in 2014. He’s only fought five times in the last four years and none of those contests were against top competition. This one certainly is though. Also in action are major Top Rank prospects Carlos Adames and Shakur Stevenson. Shakur was supposed to take a nice little step up here against Duarn Vue, but that fell apart and Simion is the last minute scramble. Prelims begin at 7 PM Eastern on ESPN+. You’ll find the ghost of Mike Alvarado there if you’re into that.
