Championship Fights Preview
CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS PREVIEW
Welcome to the first edition of Championship Fights Preview at 127! (The name is still a work in progress...) Moving forward www.LongLiveBoxing.com will do its best to provide a cheat sheet going into Championship fights. This will only preview legit-titles. Never one to bash a boxing warriors accomplishments, instead the criticism lays with greedy boxing organizations. For the sake of context, look at the current state of W.B.A. Super Middleweight Champions.
Picture taken straight from the W.B.A’s website. Four titles in one division: Super, World, Interim and Gold Champions. Wait, what?! Ah yes! The organization collects Sanctioning fees for each belt. (It’s a very touchy subject in boxing that would take pages to fully break down, so I digress.) Only full-fledged-legit Championship Belts will be previewed.
*For a better understanding of boxers universal standing, “The Ring” Magazines unbiased ranking will be used. As well as a “confidence meter” of said prediction.
Saturday June 15 from Leeds, England
IBF Featherweight Title
IBF Champion: Josh “Leeds Warrior” Warrington (28-0 15KO’s)
Ring Magazine Ranking: #2
The 28-year-old Warrington stands 5’7’’ and fights from an Orthodox Stance. He’ll be making the second defense of his title.
Challenger: Kid Galahad (26-0 15KO’s)
Ring Magazine Ranking: #8
Twenty-nine-year-old Galahad will be making his first title fight appearance. He stands 5’6’’ and fights from an Orthodox stance.
THE PICK: Few fighters blossomed more this past year than Josh Warrington. He went from good prospect to dangerous champion in the span of two fights. His title winning match against Lee Selby, one in which he dominated, plus his win over a still primed Carl Frampton. Both very impressive wins. His promoter rewards him with a hometown fight. Warrington is 11-0 with 3 KO’s in his native Leeds. Look for that record to improve to 12-0. Warrington by unanimous decision.
Confidence Meter: 85 %
“JOSH WARRINGTON WITH WIFE”
Saturday June 15th from Riga, Latvia
Vacant WBC Cruiserweight Title & WBO Title
WBO Champion: Krysztof Glowacki (31-1 19 KO’s)
Ring Magazine Ranking: #4
Thirty-two-year-old Champion Glowacki stands 6’ tall with a 75” reach. He fights from a Southpaw stance.
Challenger: Mairis Briedis (25-1 18KO’s)
Ring Magazine Ranking: #1
Thirty-four-year-old Briedis stands 6’1” with a 75” reach fighting from an orthodox position.
THE PICK: This weekends’ premier fight! Winner walks away with two of the major boxing trinkets. A treat for the hardcore being underrated by the masses. Both fighters would be favored against different opposition. (Current pound for pound great, Usyk being the only man to beat the pair.) Therein lies the beauty of the W.B.S.S tournament style fights! Briedis has home-court advantage giving him the slight edge on a very even fight. Briedis by split decision.
CONFIDENCE METER: 55%
SATURDAY JUNE 15TH KIEV, UKRAINE
WBA FLYWEIGHT TITLE
Champion: Artem Dalakian (18-0 13KO’s)
Ring Magazine Ranking: #3
The thirty-one-year-old Champion stands 5’4” tall fighting from the orthodox stance. He will be making the third defense of his WBA Title.
Challenger: Sarawut Thawornkham (20-1 15KO’s)
Ring Magazine Ranking: Unranked in the Top 10
The twenty-seven-year-old challenger fights from a southpaw stance.
THE PICK: Champion Dalakian has proven his mettle in the flyweight division. With his lopsided win over Hawaiian Brian Viloria his most notable win. The trend continues as the home fighter is given the edge once more. This one being a complete showcase for the Ukranian Champ. Dalakian in 5.
CONFIDENCE METER: 95%
Article written by:
Manuel “Hopper” Dominguez
@ManuelDStayTru