Boxnation, Don't give up on them yet! ( Feb fights preview. )

Boxing is slow from December-Jan. Here's an article I wrote for my blog on why you shouldn't give up on Boxnation, Yet.

This content is protected

( BN Logo )

Boxnation is the new home of boxing to the UK. They are a channel dedicated to boxing programming only. And they have promised " Two world title fights a week ". Ok they haven't done that this month, But please don't cancel on them. Jan. is always a slow month, Holiday season ending, Early year cards being scheduled still. I say give them 2 months. Next month they are picking it up again. So far they have many good fights from around the world. On the 3rd-4th they have Ovill McKenzie-Tony Dodson Commonweath title fight + A solid undercard including Ronnie Heffron. McKenzie is an exciting fighter and is in a good match up that night against Tony Dodson. Ronnie Heffron is also a hopeful prospect and is definantly worth checking out no matter the opponent. Steve Cunningham-Yoan Pablo Hernandez II is a good fight, The first was excellent but controversial and in ways disappointing. In round 1, Cunningham got knocked down hard, The fight could have easily been stopped but Cunningham ( barley ) beat the count. Hernandez won a round or 2 afterwords but then Cunningham started boxing well and took control, But in the 3rd or 4th round there was a head clash and Hernandez was cut, It didn't seem to bother him at all, But right when Cunningham was starting to take over and come near edging Hernandez on the cards, The cut didn't seem to worsen but the fight was stopped and Hernandez won a Split TD. Which led to contoversy saying Hernandez quit when he saw that Cunningham was taking over. The IBF issued a mandatory rematch and here we are now. I think Hernandez can take this I'll predict Cunningham UD 12 but he does get hurt a few times, loose a couple rounds and hell even suffer a KD, But as he proved in there first fight he is durable and can recover. The co-feature is also interesting. The powerful Alexander Alexeev will fight Enad Licina for a vacant European title trinket at Crusierweight. Licina is a durable fighter with average boxing ability and power. Nothing too special. Alexeev is a crowd pleasing hard hitter with some skill of his own. I'd predict him to UD Licina is a tough and pretty good fight. But I don't see it being all that exciting. If I am not mistaken this is also an eliminator for a bigger title. Finally in the opener Eduard Gutnechkt takes on Vyacheslav Uzelekov for the EBU ( European Boxing Union ) title. Another even match up on this card between top Light Heavyweight contenders.Gutnechkt has good boxing skills but below average power for his weight. The only fight I can say I was disappointed was verses Robert Stieglitz. Where he was hopelessly outpowered. When Stieglitz is a Super Middleweight, Maybe a bigger SMW but still that was bad. Other then that he has skill. I'd say power is his main flaw. I'd also like to note he is entertaining to watch too. For those of you who saw his fight with come forward fighter Danny Mcintosh know what I mean. That was a good battle where Gutneckht stopped him in 8. He also impressed when he bet Kaloly Balsay by SD. Anyways this kid has potential. But he has reached a roadblock. The more experienced Vyacheslav Uzelkov, Who is most known for scoring a KO over a green Gabriel Campillo, Who won world titles and had/is having much success in his career. But that was in 2007, He was less experienced and now I think Campillo beats Uzelekov. Now he also has a 3rd round TKO to Dominic Simcic in late 2008. This is impressive too. What has happened since his long string of success. Well he fought some cans and Beibut Shumenov. He managed to score a KD on Shumenov in RD 1. But Shumenov dominated the rest of the fight. So yes, The win to Campillo IS a fluke since the guy who Campillo bet just widely bet him. I pick Gutnechkt UD 12 ( 119-110, 117-111, 117-111 )
So what do I think DAMN GOOD WEEKEND! The McKenzie-Dodson card I rank

This content is protected

Next week, It's the return of top lightweight contender KEVIN MITCHELL on Boxnation. Mitchell put on a damn good thriller with John Murray last July when he was behind on the scorecards he managed to stop Murray in Round 8. This in my opinion lines him up for a shot at Rios, Vazquez or another one of the major titleholders at Lightweight. He has no opponent yet but hopefully the find him someone decent. They better pair this up with Berto-Ortiz 2 ( next day ) or even Matthysse's fight in Argentina to keep fans satisfied. But still props to them for getting Kevin Mitchell on Boxnation.
Next weekend on Saturday there are many good fights. Brian Magee-Rudy Markussen live from Denmark. Ireland native Brian Magee has always managed to stay a good contender at Super Middleweight. Normally puts on a good show. Same with Rudy Markussen, Who is a KNOCKOUT ARTIST and a boxing sensation in his home of Denmark, Where this fight will take place, He scraps opponent after opponent in few rounds, But fails against the best, He was Knocked out when he was ahead by Sergei Tatesvosyan and retired for 4 years, Came back in 2010, and has looked good as new. Easy chance he upsets Magee here. In the co feature on of my favorite prospects Patrick Nielsen is fighting a TBA opponent. Please boxnation, SHOW HIM! This kid could be the next star. Anyways I am glad they are showing Magee-Markussen. Which is an underrated match up and will provide fireworks. But thats not all! They are heading to Germany that same day for Vitali Klitschko's WBC title defense against the UK's Dereck Del Boy Chisora who earned this shot by loosing a SD to Helenius that in most opinion he clearly won. So this is a good fight night by boxnation.
VERY GOOD THERE! All they need now is to pick up Williams Ishida/Cloud-Campillo/Arreola-Molina from the states and this night will be 100%, Which I believe they will This is a solid night with or without it now.
On the 24th-25th they will cover 2 big cards. Nathan Cleverly-Tommy Karpency and Marco Huck-Alexander Povetkin. Cleverly is a UK star, the only UK world champion left. He is in a bad match fight here I won't lie. Karpency is nobody. He lost to Karo Murat. He should be outclassed but still, Cleverly is a huge draw in the UK. And people will wanna see him no matter if it's Bernard Hopkins or myself in the other corner. So I am not excited for that but UK fans will be happy about it. ( I AM AMERICAN, Just a huge boxing follower and I cover boxing news for a blog so I know about these fighters/fights, Impressive eh? ) Alexander Povetkin is facing Marco Huck, Which will be great if Marco Huck carries his power up in weight, If not then no. So this weekend is ah. Ok. Good fighters but 1, maybe 2 mismatches.
Is it worth 10 British pounds ( Which is about 15 US Dollars right? ): YES!! Are you kiddin me? Not even a question, They may not get all the fights they should but they got many good fights, Easily worth the money for any fight fan in the United Kingdom.


Rome wasn't built in a week, and nor was Boxnation. They are working on issues and will become better and better over the months I assure you. Give them a chance!