In Canada: The return to the ring of Joachim Alcine, who took the 154 lb division by the mooseknuckles just about two years ago with a flogging of the then-awe-inspiring Travis Simms, only to get crushed in six by Daniel Santos a year later. He will be headlining the Montreal card in a ten rounder with TBA, eh? KO-happy middleweight prospect David Lemieux fights on the undercard. In the USA: Randall Bailey challenges Juan Urango for the IBF light welterweight title in Hollywood, Florida in the ESPN FNF season finale (?) Tavoris Cloud takes on Clinton Woods for the vacant IBF light heavyweight title ... somewhere else. That's two GREAT fights that I've seen get virtually no attention as of yet...and I for one am excited to see what the Haitian sensation brings back to the table (other than a coat made out of a polar bear) - and what all the hubbub is regarding this Lemieux bub. Interesting article from back in January... "Promoter Yvon Michel said he expects Alcine to be back in the ring in late March or early April against a top-15 contender and to fight an elimination bout in the summer that could put him in a WBA title fight by the end of the year. The 32-year-old's only condition is that he not be asked to fight on a Friday, which is prohibited by the Adventist church to which he belongs." :think So much for all that, I guess... I wonder if Cloud/Woods will be aired on Showtime. At the rate Ken Hershman's been going, even a gesture as small as this could push us fight fans over the edge and cause us to storm his home like a bunch of bobbysoxers biting and clawing and trampling one another to be first in line to give him a big fat smooch. What's all this about "season finale" for FNF? Their 2009 schedule's ending in August? :blood Lame. They picked a big enough bang to go out on (I think Urango-Bailey will be a fantastic firefight) but that's a little disappointing. Didn't they at least extend into fall last year?
Yeah, it's an interesting respite from the late summer drought. When Diaz/Malignaggi is the only regular HBO fight for two months, that's pretty rough. I'll be very curious about the result of Cloud/Woods. A strong showing from Cloud would be great for the LHW division.
Some of our Montreal-ites have stated that Alcine has found god and become less explosive as a fighter. I thought him vs Simms was a draw of futility. Excited about Bailey vs Urango. Urango can bang, Bailey has legit top 10 P4P power...exciting little grudge match.
