Taylor-Martin & Burnett-Donaire are this week’s quarterfinals.
Saturday, November 3rd
Ryan Burnett (19-0, 9 KOs) v Nonito Donaire (38-5, 24 KOs), WBA bantamweight title & Josh Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) v Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs), junior welterweights – Glasgow, Scotland – DAZN, 2 PM Eastern
Week five of six World Boxing Super Series quarterfinal doubleheaders brings us to Glasgow, Scotland. It looks like he’ll be in the co-main event, but Scottish super prospect Josh Taylor figures to draw the crowd against potential American spoiler Ryan Martin. I agree with most that Martin probably won’t be much an of issue for a talent like Taylor. In the marketed main event, arguable top bantamweight Ryan Burnett gets an interesting opponent in Nonito Donaire. When the “Filipino Flash” was a bantamweight earlier in his career, he was downright unstoppable as one of the true pound for pound elites in the sport. He hasn’t made the limit in seven years, however. What will a bantamweight Donaire look like at 35? Is it even an actual possibility? Viktor Postol, Paul Butler, and Zach Parker are all on the deeper unercard.
Sullivan Barrera (21-2, 14 KOs) v Sean Monaghan (29-1, 17 KOs), light heavyweights – Brooklyn, New York – Facebook Watch, 9 PM Eastern
Cuban light heavyweight contender looks to get back in the win column this weekend at the expense of New York area local draw Seanie Monaghan. If the Long Island native’s performance against Marcus Browne was any indication of his level, the win shouldn’t all that hard for Barrera to come by. There’s not a lot else here either, unfortunately. Fringe contender Denis Douglin will be in action along with a trio of good but not necessarily blue chip prospects. Still, it’s a free card with a credible fighter in the main event so it is hard to really complain about the quality of the fights.
Miguel Berchelt (34-1, 30 KOs) v Miguel Roman (60-12, 47 KOs), WBC junior lightweight title & Miguel Marriaga (26-3, 22 KOs) v Jose Estrella (20-14-1, 14 KOs), junior lightweights – El Paso, Texas – ESPN+, 9:30 PM Eastern
A lot of people are super high on the action potential of this title fight main event and it’s easy to see why. “Micky” Roman is an action warrior through and through while Berchelt is also usually in good fights. I kind of suspect that Berchelt is too talented to really get dragged into the war people are hoping for, but there should be plenty of punches either way. I’m just sort of worried that Roman will be the one absorbing almost all of them. Featherweight contender Miguel Marriaga gets a pretty soft touch in the co-main event on ESPN+. The prelims feed begins at 6 PM as well and will feature two major prospects in world amateur champion Janibek Alimkhanuly and Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao.
