**** Kirk's ESB Championships 2011 ****

Picture 2 Nigel Benn-Chris Eubank.

 

Picture 3 Michael Grant-Dominick Guinn

 

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=29437&more=1

IB, other lads that follow Jones and/or Lujan....I've just heard about this. Ambivalence is the word. :err

 

That's actually a really cool idea. I like it. I don't think I'll participate in it because I like to take my time with my picks. And also, this could be something for the Journeyman and below could participate in. That is a cool idea though I like that very much.

 

Where's my money:

 

Roman Karmazin vs. Osumanu Adama- Roman Karmazin by UD
Sharif Bogere vs Fransisco Contreras- Sharif Bogere by UD*
Rodrigo Guerrero vs. Raul Martinez- Rodrigo Guerrero by SD
AJ Banal vs. Mario Briones- A.J. Banal by KO
Donnie Nietes vs. Ramon Garcia Hirales- Donnie Nietes by UD
Dmitry Sukhotski vs. Nadjib Mohammedi- Dmitry Sukhotski by UD
Saul Roman vs. Sebastien Madani- Saul Roman by KO
Kell Brook vs. Rafal Jackiewicz- Kell Brook by UD

Last week was a big bang, this week, eh, not so much. Solid enough week though. It’s a solid week, no real big big names, but a couple of up and coming prospects, and a couple of fights that can produce some fireworks. Also, since it isn’t a massive week, I’m going to do a little twist just to have some fun. Throughout the write up there’s going to be some key words, don’t know if anybody will see ‘em, but we’ll see what happens.

All right, first fight on Friday night the best nickname in the sport is back Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin is coming back and taking on Osumanu Adama. This really is a make or break fight for Karmazin, Adama is a solid fighter, a solid journeyman type fighter. A type of fighter where you want a prospect to win, or a fighter that looks to be on the slide (like Karmazin) and you see exactly where you stand. If Karmazin wins, well, he still has enough left to make some noise. If not, well, may’be it’s time to hang them up. Adama though, has major motivation to win this fight and definitely won’t be rolling over. If he wins this it is an eliminator for a world title belt at 160, and if he wins, then he gets a contract from Golden Boy Promotions. It would be a terrific story. Karmazin has all the experience, good resume, and has been world champion. And that’s all fine and well, but he may not exactly be up for this fight. He’s already been there and done that and Adama may come up and bite Karamzin right on the behind. In a year full of upsets, we may see another one on Friday. I’m not picking Adama, I’m taking, on paper, the better fighter in Karamzin to win by decision. I’ll go with a close Unanimous Decision.

On ShoBox, Sharif Bogere is back. The undefeated, flashy, prospect he is taking on another quality fighter, a bit of a step back from his last fight versus Raymundo Beltran, but still a quality fight. Francisco Contreras is an undefeated fighter as well, but he is 5 years older and hasn't gotten any hype around him and he hasn't fought any real notable names. Still though, that can be said about Bogere as well. He hadn't fought anybody really of note until his last fight against Beltran where it was a very close fight and one he was lucky to have gotten the win. So, resume wise they are very even on paper. Now, let's take a look at their skill sets. Bogere is quite fast, and very entertaining. especially, his ring walk, he comes out in a rusty cage (not exactly rusty, but like I said from the start I'm doing something a bit different wink wink) in a lion's out fit. Very funny, and much the reason why he is an undefeated, hyped, prospect. Anyway, back to the stuff he does inside the ring, he is fast, solid, pop, and might have stamina problems. Beltran pushed Bogere and really took him to deep waters for the first time and Bogere got tired late in the fight.

A.J. Banal is a young, explosive, southpaw out of the Philippines. His only blemish in his young career so far is when he took on Rafael Concepcion for an interim world title belt. He was only 20 at the time and just too green, and was stopped in the 10th round, a fight in which, was really close though. A very good fight. His opponent, Mario Briones, is a superunknown. Very good record, but no notable names. Not even, any journeyman or anything like that. Of his 20 wins only 2 fighters had a winning record. Everybody else were either making their debut, had a losing record, or a 500 record. That is what you call a very padded record. He is traveling for the first time and he is taking on a buzz saw in A.J. Banal. I believe Banal's speed and power is just going tear up Briones and stop him early to mid rounds.

Kell Brook is the next United Kingdom fighter that is about ready to take that next step into world level. He is a talented fighter that looks to have all the goods. Speed, power, etc. This is his second fight in a row, not only taking on a really good opponent, but a very durable opponent. He took on Lovemore N'Dou a fighter who had never been stopped and Brook came very close. N'Dou was out of it a couple of times and was very tired near the end. Brook just couldn't quite do it. Even though N'Dou is 40 years old that would have been a big accomplishment. His opponent this time is Rafal Jackiewicz, another very notable opponent and a fighter who has never been stopped. Since 2004 he has only lost twice (one of his losses were very controversial, but he got a couple of gifts as well. In his first fight against Jan Zaveck and against Delvin Rodriguez) I don't like saying anybody has no chance, I don't ever say that, but this is a pretty close to a no chance. Brook is a talented fighter and at home while Jackiewicz is a limited basic fighter. This is a good fight just to see if Brook can pass the test, and the big question is whether or not he can stop Jackiewicz. I think Brook does pass the test only losing about 2 or 3 rounds, but I don't think he stops Jackiewicz. I've got Brook via wide UD.

Dmitry Sukhotski and Nadjib Mohammedi might be tough to pronounce and say, but don't be fooled by their names, they are pretty good fighters. Nadjib Mohammedi's most significant fight was going over to the United Kingdom and really giving Nathan Cleverly a good fight. He pushed Cleverly, a very close, and a fight in which Cleverly was fortunate enough to get the win. Dmitry Sukhotski, same thing, he traveled to Germany to fight Juergen Braehmer and he really pushed Brahmer as well. Sukhotsky had his moments in that fight and didn't make life easy for Brahmer. Sukhotsky is as strong as an ox. A very durable fighter that likes to come forward and throw big shots. Limited boxing ability though, he's flat footed, and doesn't throw a jab. Going back to Mohammedi he does a lot of boxing and fights off the back foot. Lots of jabs from Mohammedi and pretty quick. He does pull back straight back at times though, and he has been hurt and has been stopped. That is a bit of a flaw in Mohammedi's game, but both of these fighter are good in their own way. It is a toss up fight, the difference for me is that this fight is in Russia and that favors Sukhotski. So, I do think Mohammedi will have a lot of success, but Sukhotsky will have his moments as well, so I'll take Sukhotsky by...let's go with by decision.

Saul Roman-Sebastian Madani is an interesting fight. Not because it's a 50/50 fight or that it has the potential to be a barn burner, the interesting part is that it is taking place in Spain. Neither fighter is from Spain. Roman is a Mexican and Madani is a Frenchman. So, both of them will be making a power trip out to Spain. Saul Roman is a fighter, recently, that has fallen on black days. In his last 5 fights he has lost in 3 of those 5 and his other losses have come against some of the big names in the sport such as Yuri Foreman, Sergio Martinez, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Jesus Soto Karass early in his career. Sebastian Madani, meanwhile, has fought his entire career at home, and has fought in his home town defending his 154 Frenchman title. Now, he is taking a big step in going up against Saul Roman and not only that, but it is for a title...a small title, but a title nonetheless. Roman has been stopped 6 out of his 9 losses, but I don't think he'll have to worry about being stopped in this fight. Madani is a boxer, and he has only 9 KO's in his 31 victories. This will be a lot like fighting Yuri Foreman, but Madani isn't as good as a boxer as Foreman. He doesn't move as much and he is slower than Foreman, so I do think Roman will be able to get lots of chances to get inside and I don't think Madani will like it. I like Roman to stop Madani in this fight.

This is a rematch between Raul Martinez and Rodrigo Guerrero. It was almost a year ago that these two waged in a great war. Guerrero sucked Martinez in a war and he barely escaped with a SD victory. Since then Raul Martinez hasn't fought and Guerrero has only fought once. He ballooned up to 126 pounds and won in 5 rounds in a tuneup fight. Guerrero is a young fighter, but he is already an old 23 year old fighter. He hasn't taken massive punishment in his 19 fights. He upset Juan Alberto Rojas in a war, and upset Luis Maldonado as well which actually catapulted him a shot versus Vic Darchinyan. And in that fight he didn't get the win, but still managed to get punished big time. He didn't go down or get stopped and survived all 12 brutal rounds. And then in his most recent war was against Raul Martinez, and came up just a bit short in that one. Rodrigo Guerrero is an iron chinned warrior, a very respectable fighter. Raul Martinez is the more talented fighter of the two and just has the one blemish in which he was blown out by Nonito Donaire. A solid resume beating the likes of Rodrigo Guerrero, Gabriel Elizondo, and Isidro Garcia. A thin, but decent resume so far. This should be another terrific fight and if Martinez doesn't use his skills and gets sucked into a war, he may lose this fight. Guerrero has shown an iron chin and durability for 12 rounds and he just keeps coming and coming. Guerrero was outshined the last time, but for the rematch I like Rodrigo Guerrero in an upset. I think he comes in, gets inside, and gets the better of Raul Martinez and this time he gets the decision via SD.