Heavyweight Boxing: Previews and Predictions of the Weekend's Heavyweight Action

This weekend provides four heavyweight bouts of some interest for those fans left who enjoy the division.

Two top 10 contenders are on the card (albeit in mismatches) at Hamburg's Grand Elysee.

Meanwhile there's American talent on show in Verona, New York.

Here are the previews and predictions of this weekend's heavyweight fights.

Denis Boytsov vs. Darnell Wilson

Denis Boytsov (29-0, 14 KO’s) continues to fight boxers well below his level when he takes on 37-year-old journeyman Darnell Wilson (24-13-3, 20 KO’s) at the Grand Elysee, in Hamburg, Germany this Saturday.

Boytsov, who is ranked seventh by The Ring magazine, has racked up 29 wins in his career and looks to have the potential to mix it with pretty much anyone but the Klitschko's.

However, Boytsov and his promoters have decided that they'd rather see him beat nobodies than risk him lose in a fight that presents even the slightest challenge.

It is a disappointing waste of talent as Boytsov has the weapons to create some fun scraps with other top 10 contenders, which is exactly what the division needs.

His victim this Saturday is Cleveland's Darnell Wilson, a natural cruiserweight who has bounced between cruiser and heavyweight since 2006.

In eight fights at heavyweight, Wilson has gone 3-5. The only notable win coming against Cuba's Juan Carlos Gomez. In his last 10 fights at any weight he has only won two.

The one weapon that Wilson possesses is power, but a fighter of Boytsov's skill shouldn't be worried by it.

The fact that Boytsov is fighting Wilson is disrespectful to boxing fans and anyone who buys a ticket.

At 5' 10", Wilson provides nothing for Boytsov other than that he may be able to last quite a few rounds with the Russian. Really this is just extra padding on an already soft record.

Protheroe's Prediction: Boytsov to outbox Wilson for five rounds before knocking him out in the sixth.

Ruslan Chagaev vs. Kertson Manswell

Ruslan Chagaev (27-2-1, 17 KO’s) returns to action following his points loss against Alexander Povetkin last August in an entertaining fight.

His opponent, Kerton Manswell (22-3, 17 KO’s) has a five inch height advantage but shouldn't be too much trouble for Chagaev.

35-year-old Manswell has fought three meaningful opponents and has lost all three fights pretty heavily.

Firstly to Bermane Stiverne in the second round. Then in the Prizefighter tournament he was knocked down by Mike Perez in the first on the way to losing by unanimous decision.

Most recently he lost by eight points on all three scorecards to Cedric Boswell.

This is on the same card as Boystov, who could learn one or two lessons from Chagaev, who has taken on the kind of fights that Boytsov should be looking for.

He has taken on and beaten Russian giant Nikolai Valuev and John Ruiz. His two losses have come against Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin.

He is not an elite heavyweight but is not afraid to take on the best and remains relevant in the division.

At 33, Chagaev's career could be drawing to a close, but hopefully he will get one more big fight and a chance at a title before he hangs up the gloves.

Protheroe's Prediction: Chagaev hasn't knocked anyone out since Michael Sprott in 2006. Look for him to change that on Saturday with a fourth round stoppage.

Brian Minto vs. Tony Grano (gofightlive.tv)

Following losses to Chris Arreola and Marco Huck, Brian Minto (35-4-0, 22 KO’s) looks to mount a revival by taking on Connecticut's Tony Grano (18-2-1, 14 KO’s) at Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York.

Both men are fighting for the right to take on NABF Champion Johnathon Banks.

This is Minto's first fight back at heavyweight after a brief dalliance at cruiser which saw him lose in a WBO title fight to Marco Huck and beat unheralded Pierre Karam.

It has been over a year since Minto has been in the ring and it may take him some time to shake off the rust.

When going in against higher level opponents, Minto has struggled, losing to Arreola and and former WBO Title Challenger Luan Krasniqi.

He does hold a victory over one-time IBF Title Challenger Axel Schulz and does have the power to knock Grano out.

Tony Grano is back in the ring for the first time following his sixth round stoppage of journeyman Dominique Alexander last April.

His biggest win came in 2009, when he beat the previously unbeaten Travis Kauffman in a great fight (see video). Since then he did lose in disappointing fashion to Nicolai Firtha.

Grano is the taller man and perhaps the cleverer fighter. He too has knockout power and Minto will need to watch out for the big right from Grano.

Protheroe's Prediction: This should be a fun fight to watch, and it probably won't go the distance. I like Grano to win by knockout in the 8th or 9th round.

Eric Fields vs. Derrick Brown (gofightlive.tv)

In the co-feature to the Minto vs. Grano fight, Eric Fields (19-1-0, 15 KO’s) moves up to heavyweight to take on Derrick Brown (13-6-3, 11 KO’s)

Fringe cruiserweight contender Fields comes into the fight with only one loss, against top 10 and former WBO challenger Ola Afolabi.

Meanwhile his wins have not included any names of note. Nonetheless he will go in favourite against Brown.

'D-Train' Brown's last fight was over a year ago, when he went down three times against rising star Seth Mitchell en route to a first round KO.

His other notable opponent, former IBF cruiserweight challenger Johnathon Banks, beat him by a wide margin in 2007.

This is really a tester fight for Fields to see how he handles the transition to heavyweight. Brown shouldn't pose too many problems for him, but has been picked to stay around for a while before losing.

Protheroe's Prediction: Fields to win by stoppage in the third round.