I just love boxing. What a Wicked Weekend!

Was that an EPIC weekend or what? Holy cow what a 48 hours! A little taste of everything, wars, upsets, boxing clinic and great punches, Sweet Science is back baby!

Takahiro Aoh opened this Wicked Weekend with a surprisingly dominating win over Vitali Tajbert to crown the 5th Japanese world champion and the 2nd at 130lbs. The 6th came shotly after in a fantastic high level box-brawl between former outstanding BW Hozumi Hasegawa and unbeaten Mexican boxer-puncher Juan Carlos Burgos, and Hozumi put on a great exhibition overcoming some tough moments to win a wide UD and the vacant 126lbs WBC belt - and that was still only Friday!

Carl Froch opened Saturday dominating Arthur Abraham from start to finish, using reach, movement and output to win a near-shutout, and the WBC SMW belt. No one saw THIS kind of complete performance coming, and these boxing skills - particularly the ones that helped him catch Abraham coming in and resettng is feet to keep distance - will bring a lot of goodies vs. Andre Ward if Froch gets past Glen Johnson, a guy we just can't ever count out. I didn't see the Ward fight but read that it was anything but a shutout and the scores in Oakland didn't really reflect on the fight, but Andre won nontheless, more and more becoming the Bernard Hopkins of his generation.

And what can you not like about HBO's best triple-header for quite some time now? Jason Litzau won a split decision in a close fight he was given little to know chance of winning vs. former P4P-er Celestino Caballero (fighting well over his comfort zone at 130), and Andre Berto just made the potential Manny Pacquiao showdown interesting with a 90 second blowout of Freddy Hernandez. If Floyd's on vacation and Pac's vacating not to face Sergio Martinez, why not fight Berto at 147, put me down for that fight!

And boy oh boy we waited for the FOTY for nearly 12 months, but finally we got the war that defines 2010. What a great great fight between two warriors who don't have the expression 'giving up' in their book. Marquez started very well, but given his last few fights and the flush left hooks he took, it was just the matter of time before Katsidis was able to sell his money punch that landed him this very fight, and down Marquez went from that shot in round 3. But he's no elite fighter for no reason: as always, JMM adapted to the shot and the same calibre of left hook never landed again. But Katsidis never stopped coming and started to take over around half mark and inflicting a lot of damage on the old warrior. At that point it looked like Marquez is short on room and power to stop Michael coming in, despite the Mexican landed a lot of shots off the ropes. But he was bullied by the stronger, shorter punching fighter and it was hard to discourage the Greek-Australian with anything. It all changed in the 9th where a battleworn Katsidis was caught by a big right uppercut in an absolutely wicked JMM combination, and a left uppercut followed by a right hook shook him to the bone a little later. Michael was never given a chance to recover as Marquez couldn't stop landing punches, and the ref stepped in while Katsidis was still standing on his feet. No protest to the stoppage, and Michael didn't seem clear afterwars, hope he's okay. What a warrior! But damn Juan Manuel Marquez is something else, that man can fight, and just snatched he Fight of the Year award in an instant classic.

I just love boxing. WAR SWEET SCIENCE!

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Get your 75 inch flat screen TV, popcorn machine, beer barrels and mobile toilet ready, because it's gonna be NON STOP BOXING this upcoming weekend with some of the best match-ups this year!

Hasegawa Hozumi kicks off Wicked Weekend on Friday as he jumps up not one but two divisions to face unbeaten Juan Carlos Burgos for the vacant WBC 126lbs belt in a risky fight he dedicates to his recently passed mother. After two weeks of Southpaw Magic, will Hozumi make it three weeks in a row for the likeable lefties?

Next up is the brutal punchfest between Super Six KO artists Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham as both fighters are coming back with a vengeance. Hope they won't leave too many brain cells in the ring, but look for something explosive and bloody in HELLsinki, and don't blink when you open those beer cans!

Super Six leader Andre Ward ain't taking it easy just beacuse Dr. Shaw Hi prescribed him a different opponent in Sakio Bika, in a fight that should be called 'Head to Head'. Ward is looking to keep his skills sharp in this off-Super 6 fight, while Bika is looking to honor his father's memory with an unexpected upset victory.

Michael Katsidis' training camp was struck with family tragedy as well, and the Australian warrior is preparing stronger than ever with his brother in his heart to overcome lineal LW champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Katsidis wrote: "I have lost my closest friend, my inspiration in life, my one and only brother. This is something I could never imagine, but for some reason I feel his life is not a loss. My brother is me! We live our lives through each other. We dedicate our triumphs to one another and share the challenges we face in life. What does someone do when they lose the one person in their life like this? They are devastated right? Allow me to share with you Stathi’s thoughts and what he wants. If you can believe me, I feel you will all be somewhat enlightened to hear what I have say.

The fight will go on! I will do this for Stathi, my family and myself. The moment I walked in for a grueling sparing session after hearing the news of his death earlier that day, my trainer Brendon Smith shook my hand and said to me “you are about to take the bravest step of your life.” We nodded, smiled and went to work.* I worked as I have never done before. He is with me and will be all the way. I am happy about this. I have never experienced anything like I felt that day. Stathi is inside me! We will fight this fight together. I know this is what he wants. I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers for my brother, my family and myself. God bless." - Inspirational!


Boxing imitates real life, it's stuggles and defining momemts, it's ups and downs, it's harshness and beauty. There's no other sport quite like ours, and this Wicked Weekend will be truly memorable.

WAR SWEET SCIENCE!!!!!