TWO FIGHTERS AND TWO FIGHTS TO WATCH OUT FOR - CANELO VS CHARLO

This coming Saturday, Canelo Alvarez defends his undisputed super-middleweight championship for the third time, but prior to the main event, there’s an undercard to get the juices of boxing fans flowing. 

We’ve picked two fights and two fighters to watch out for, including a debutant tipped for future stardom by Floyd Mayweather.

FIGHTERS TO WATCH:

CURMEL MOTON

A 17-year-old who Floyd Mayweather put forward to fight Leigh Wood for the WBA World Featherweight title ON HIS PROFESSIONAL DEBUT, Moton is most definitely a young man who is entering the professional ranks with plenty of expectations. 

With 18 titles to his name as an amateur, it’s easy to see why Mayweather has been quick to take the young prospect under his wing. 

The fact he has already sparred the likes of Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, Tank Davis, Keyshawn Davis and Floyd Schofield, who between them remain undefeated in the paid ranks, tells its own story.

Already held in high regard by many, he faces the 4-0 Ezequiel Flores who has already proven his quality with three stoppage victories to his name. Make no mistake, he’ll be game and looking to steal Moton’s thunder with a big performance.

ELIJAH GARCIA 

Far more experienced than Moton is the 15-0 Elijah Garcia.

A tricky southpaw, we picked him out as one to watch in our undercard preview for Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia back in April and, despite not securing the stoppage win over Kevin Salgado Zambrano, he went the full 10 rounds for the first time in his career to gain valuable experience. 

Trained by his father, George Garcia, he is already ranked in every governing body’s top 15 at middleweight so the route to world domination has plenty of different paths for him to follow. 

A win over Jose Armando Resendiz, the hard-hitting Mexican who stopped former unified 154lbs champion Jarrett Hurd in March, will certainly be the biggest statement of his career to date and it will take him within a fight or two of a world title shot.

FIGHTS TO WATCH:

YORDENIS UGAS VS MARIO BARRIOS 

For the WBC Interim Welterweight Title, these are two fighters who have both been plying their trade at the top level of the sport for a number of years. 

Winner of gold at the 2005 Amateur World Championships, and a bronze medallist at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Cuban Ugas turned over with plenty to prove but he had to wait until 2021 for the biggest victory of his career when he outpointed the legendary Manny Pacquiao for the WBA Super World Welterweight Title. 

He was dethroned by Errol Spence Jr in his next fight but after nearly 18 months out of the ring, this is the perfect opportunity for him to throw his name back in the hat for a potential shot at undisputed against Terence Crawford. 

Barrios, meanwhile, has gone under the radar compared to his opponent. Unbeaten in his first 24 fights, he became champion of the world back in 2019 when he defeated Botirzhon Akhmedov for the Vacant WBA World Super-Lightweight Title. Consecutive losses to Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman have set him back slightly, but a stoppage victory over Jovanie Santiago put him back in the rankings with the WBC and set up this enticing encounter with Ugas.

In terms of styles, it’s a classic case of brawler versus boxer. The easy-on-the-eye Cuban style of Ugas up against the fearsome pressure of Barrios. Despite standing at six foot, Barrios loves to brawl on the inside meaning Ugas will have to get behind the jab and use his feet to pick Barrios off. Either way, a convincing performance from either fighter will put them back amongst the top contenders at 147lbs.

JESUS RAMOS VS ERICKSON LUBIN

The chief support to Canelo vs Charlo sees the undefeated Jesus Ramos take on Erickson Lubin in a battle of the southpaws.

Both ranked in the top 10 of every governing body, these are two young and hungry fighters who can punch, with 34 stoppage wins coming from their combined 47 victories as professionals. 

There is plenty of hype around Ramos due to 16 stoppage wins from his 20 professional fights to date, including a points win over the now WBC ‘Interim’ world champ Brian Mendoza back in 2021. 

Massive for the weight, he likes to set the pace of the fight with his compact defence which then allows him to plant his feet on the inside and unload heavy shots to both head and body. 

A fellow southpaw, Lubin prefers to throw his shots from range and is much lighter on his feet which provides him with opportunities to counter both on the inside and outside. 

The likelihood is that this fight will come down to who can set the pace. Can Ramos’s front foot pressure grind down Lubin? Or will Lubin use his boxing IQ to make Ramos commit? 

Expect to see a knockout, but if it does go the full 12 rounds, we could have a fight of the year contender on our hands.