The Charlos are also in action stateside.
Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KOs) v Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KOs), IBF featherweight title & Mark Heffron (21-0, 17 KOs) v Liam Williams (18-2-1, 13 KOs), middleweights & Martin Murray (37-4-1, 17 KOs) v Hassan N’Dam (36-3, 21 KOs), middleweights & Nathan Gorman (14-0, 11 KOs) v Razvan Cojanu (16-4, 9 KOs), heavyweights & Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs) v Zoltan Sera (32-17-1, 22 KOs), middleweights & Michael Conlan (9-0, 6 KOs) v Jason Cunningham (24-5, 6 KOs), featherweights – Manchester, England – BT Sport (UK) & ESPN+ (US), 1 PM Eastern
Frank Warren and company at Queensbury Promotions are not only ending 2018 with a great world title fight in the main event, but also with a super deep card to back it up. Local hero Josh Warrington will be looking to defend his unlikely featherweight title as an underdog at home against two weight champion and unquestionably elite contender Carl Frampton in the main event. Frampton should have plenty of supporters coming down from Belfast too. I am expecting an amazing atmosphere for an exciting fight in Manchester. Not only that, but rising British propsect Mark Heffron takes a real big step up against high regional level, borderline low world level Liam Williams in the co-main event. Martin Murray and Hassan N’Dam also meet in a matchup between two guys floating in and around the top 15 at 160 lbs for so long that it is pretty surprising they haven’t fought before. Serious prospects in heavyweight Nathan Gorman and Olympic star Michael Conlan take fights that are small step ups as well. On top of all that, former middleweight titleholder and still unbeaten Billy Joe Saunders looks to start rebuilding his image after his drug test failures and subsequent title stripping too with a soft return here. I didn’t even list the pro debut of Tommy Fury, Tyson’s little brother, or the return of Irish Olympian and recent failed flyweight title challenger Paddy Barnes deeper on the undercard. This thing is just stacked from a hardcore fan’s perspective. I fully endorse this show start to finish.
Dillian Whyte (24-1, 17 KOs) v Dereck Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs), heavyweights & Cristofer Rosales (28-3, 19 KOs) v Charlie Edwards (13-1, 6 KOs), WBC flyweight title & Ryan Walsh (22-2-2, 11 KOs) v Reece Bellotti (13-1, 11 KOs), featherweights & Joshua Buatsi (8-0, 6 KOs) v Renold Quinlan (12-3, 8 KOs), light heavyweights – London, England – Sky Sports (UK), DAZN (US), 3 PM Eastern
Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora put on one of the best heavyweight fights in recent memory to close 2016. They are doing it again two years later on Saturday to headline this Matchroom card. I suspect Whyte will have an easier time this go around, but I also didn’t think Chisora would KO Carlos Takam last time out. What do I know? The co-main event is a flyweight world title fight and Walsh-Bellotti is a well matched bout near the top of the British regional scene. It doesn’t likely have world level implications though. The fight most interesting to me on the undercard is blue chip light heavyweight prospect Joshua Buatsi taking a sneaky little step up here against better than people will realize Australian Renold Quinlan. Quinlan is the guy that retired former contender Daniel Geale a couple years ago. He has fallen short against worse prospects than Buatsi so I do expect the Brit to still roll here, but what I will say is that if Joshua either isn’t on his A game or as good as we think he is then the Aussie is plenty good enough to cause him problems. I’ll be watching this one with real interest. It is the best opportunity to evaluate a potential future star yet.
Jermall Charlo (27-0, 21 KOs) v Matt Korobov (28-1, 14 KOs), middleweights & Jermell Charlo (31-0, 15 KOs) v Tony Harrison (27-2, 21 KOs), WBC junior middleweight title & Dominic Breazeale (19-1, 17 KOs) v Carlos Negron (20-1, 16 KOs), heavyweights – Brooklyn, New York – FOX, 8 PM Eastern
The US nightcap here is a bit of a dud. It isn’t terrible, but all three fights do have pretty obvious favorites. That will be the theme of PBC’s shows through the first half of the year though. We might as well get used to it, I guess. Jermall Charlo shouldn’t have any problems against Matty Korobov. The Russian was once considered a blue chip prospect, but it never really panned out. He is 36 now and hasn’t made 160 lbs since his 2014 KO loss to Andy Lee. To make matters worse, he took this step up on very short notice after having been preparing for a super middleweight fight on the show thanks to Willie Monroe’s removal. I am skeptical he even makes weight, let alone puts on a competitive performance. Jermell is in better against the talented and fun to watch Tony Harrison, but the Kronk fighter has failed at this level or below twice already. I can’t completely rule out a competitive fight in the co-main event even if I do find the possibility unlikely. Breazeale-Negron at least has a sense of that heavyweight randomness to it in the opener if I am trying to look at the glass as half full. Realistically, however, Dominic is a heavy favorite for a reason. His Puerto Rican foe has never fought on this sort of high regional level before. Negron has also lost at a pretty low level, albeit that was in 2011, and he was a 195 lb cruiserweight two fights ago as well. It is very likely we we see three one sided beatings here, but there is a silver lining. The 8 PM Eastern start time means no one will have to stay up late to do it.
