Thursday, January 26, 2006

Big Fights Coming in February

During the month of January, we witnessed some great boxing match-ups as well as a few intriguing outcomes. O’Neil Bell became the undisputed cruiserweight champion when he knocked out Jean Marc Mormeck in the 10th round. In the same evening, Carlos Baldomir pulled off a stunning upset by defeating the undisputed welterweight champion, Zab Judah, by unanimous decision, earning the WBC title. Then last weekend, Manny Pacquiao defended his WBA international title, handing Eric Morales the first knockout loss of his professional career. With the month of January coming to an end, February looks to be even more exciting and action-packed.
On February 4th, in El Paso, Texas, Jose Luis Castillo (53-7-1, 47 KO’s) was scheduled to take on Diego Corrales in a rubber match for the WBC/WBO lightweight championship. It was unfortunate that Diego Corrales suffered an injury, forcing him to pull out the bout, but Rolando Reyes (26-3-2, 16 KO’s) is stepping in for Corrales and will take on Castillo. After coming off a close split decision win over Ivan Cabrera last October, Reyes would love to make a statement by defeating Jose Luis Castillo.
Then on February 18th, a triple championship card will be taking place inside the Aladdin Casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The WBO strawweight champion, Ivan Calderon (24-0, 5 KO’s), defends his title against former WBC champ Isaac Bustos (24-7-3, 13 KO’s). Also, Brian Viloria (18-0, 12 KO’s) defends his WBC junior flyweight title against Jose Antonio Aguirre (33-4-1, 20 KO’s). Finally, Antonio Margarito (32-4, 23 KO’s) defends his WBO welterweight title in the main event against Manuel Gomez (28-10-2, 19 KO’s).
Less than a week later, on February 24th, former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson (43-10-2, 29 KO’s) takes on Richard Hall (27-5, 25 KO’s) for the vacant IBA light heavyweight championship at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena in Hollywood, Florida. Also on the card, heavyweights David Tua (44-3-1, 38 KO’s) and Timor Ibragimov (20-0-1, 12 KO’s) are scheduled for separate bouts.
The next evening, at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, Shane Mosley (41-4, 35 KO’s) will finally meet Fernando Vargas (26-2, 22 KO’s) in a WBA super welterweight eliminator. On the undercard, Jhonny Gonzalez (31-4, 27 KO’s) will make the first defense of his WBO bantamweight title against Mark Johnson (44-4, 28 KO’s). Also, heavyweight prospect Calvin Brock (27-0, 21 KO’s) will take on Zuri Lawrence (20-10-4, 0 KO’s) in a ten round bout.
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Shannon Briggs (45-4-1, 39 KO’s) continues his quest back to the championship picture when he takes on Chris Koval (23-2, 18 KO’s) for the vacant USBA and NABA heavyweight titles.
In London, England, Matt Skelton (18-0, 17 KO’s) will face Danny Williams (34-4, 28 KO’s) for the British championship and the Commonwealth championship. The winner of this bout is rumored to possibly get a title-shot at the current WBA heavyweight champion Nicolay Valuev.
Finishing off the month, on February 27th in Osaka, Japan, Masamori Tokuyama (31-3-1, 8 KO’s) will defend his WBC super flyweight title against Jose Navarro (23-1, 11 KO’s). With nine successful defenses during the last six years, Tokuyama is looking to make his tenth successful defense. However, the 24 year-old American, Navarro, is hungry for a title and could be ready to make an impact.
We’re only one month into the New Year and world titles are already changing hands rapidly. Will titles continue changing hands? How many new faces will there be by the end of this year? As we go into the month of February, perhaps the upsets will continue and we will witness more new champions emerge onto the boxing scene.

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