Complete Viewer's Guide to Boxing's Biggest Fights in February

While the impending will-they-or-won't-they drama of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao continues to dominate the headlines, boxing is quietly positioning itself to make a major splash in 2015. The sport, it turns out, is bigger than two men. If that's not self-evident yet, promoters and television networks across the dial hope to make it crystal clear by the end of the year.

Manager extraordinaire Al Haymon is jumping into the promotional game with both feet and no life vest, announcing a regular slate of shows this year on both NBC and Spike TV. Add his efforts to the gluttony of riches on Showtime and HBO and the bite-sized appetizers of varying quality on ESPN2 and Fox Sports 1, you have the recipe for a pretty decadent meal.

Food metaphors not your thing? How's this—there will soon be so much boxing on television, we believe you need a handy guide to separate what matters from the inconsequential, the next big thing from the garden-variety ordinary palooka. 

Every month Bleacher Report will help curate your boxing experience. What follows is a rundown of every boxing card televised in English on American television.

Who's worth watching, and who can you skip? Who's likely to win—and why? You'll find that here, monthly, in this new running series.

Have some thoughts of your own on the matter? Hit us up in the comments.

Sergio Mora vs. Abraham Han (ESPN2)

Harry How/Getty Images

Mora versus Shane Mosley

Key Info

Date: February 6

Network: ESPN2

Promoter: DiBella Entertainment

Undercard bouts: Erickson Lubin vs. Rodolfo Quintanilla, Domonique Dolton vs. Juan Carlos Rojas

Interest Level

Low-Medium

Analysis

A month or so ago, this was an IBF world title fight. Then Jermain Taylor completely self-destructed, bringing the specter of traumatic brain injury from the background to the fore. Boxing suddenly doesn't seem so important—and yet the show must go on.

While we wait to see if Taylor can pull his life together, we’re left with Sergio Mora (27-3-2, 9 KO) becoming the A-side in a bout for the vacant USBA title.

You may remember Mora from NBC's The Contender. At 34, he's putting the finishing touches on a career to be proud of. His opponent, Abraham Han (23-1, 14 KO), just scored a career-best win in a fight you didn’t see on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin vs. Marco Rubio last year.

A blockbuster this is not. But what else is new in boxing?

Erickson Lubin appears as chief undercard support. The 19-year-old was a hot young amateur prospect who unexpectedly turned pro in 2013, giving up Olympic dreams to fight for the now defunct Iron Mike Productions. USA Boxing was not amused, and some brief drama came of it. 

Main Event Prediction

Mora is at his best when he has obvious physical advantages over his opponent. Han matches his height and reach, so it could be a long night for the older fighter.

Mora is a seasoned veteran but often finds himself getting into a defensive shell and being worked over by ostensibly lesser men. Han comes in on late notice but riding high. That could be enough to win a decision over The Latin Snake. I smell a letdown here. 

Han by split decision.

Boxcino Junior Middleweight Opening Round (ESPN2)

via ESPN

Key Info

Date: February 13

Network: ESPN2

Promoter: Banner Promotions/CES Boxing

Bouts:

• Cleotis Pendarvis vs. Ricardo Pinell
• Stanyslav Skorokhod vs. Michael Moore
• Brandon Adams vs. Alex Perez
• Vito Gasparyan vs. Simeon Hardy

Interest Level 

Medium

Analysis 

The Boxcino tournaments were a huge success for ESPN2 last year, creating some memorable matchups and fun-to-watch action. Bringing them back was the ultimate no-brainer. While that isn't always enough to make things happen in boxing, it worked out here.

ESPN2 is bringing the eight-man tournaments back, opening up with four junior middleweight bouts. There are four undefeated prospects in the mix here—and they look like they might not be terrible!

Simeon Hardy managed to beat one-time middleweight title challenger Howard Eastman twice. Stanyslav Skorokhod is from the Ukraine and trains at Wild Card Gym. Brandon Adams came up short in the middleweight Boxcino tourney last year. And there are some other guys too! This one is going to be, if not a classic, worth your time on a slow Friday night.

Main Event Prediction

Like last season on Friday Night Fights, you hope for some wild action here. For many of the fighters, this will be their one shot to make an impression on U.S. fans. The opportunity is big. There’s gonna be some correspondingly big fireworks as well. 

Pendarvis, Skorokhod, Adams and Hardy advance.

Boxcino Heavyweight Opening Round (ESPN2)

via Banner Promotions

Key Info

Date: February 20

Network: ESPN2

Promoter: Banner Promotions

Bouts:

• Donovan Dennis vs. Steve Vukosa
• Razvan Cojanu vs. Ed Fountain
• Andrey Fedosov vs. Nat Heaven
• Mario Heredia vs. Lenroy Thomas

Interest Level 

Low

Analysis 

This heavyweight tournament is leeching off the good name Boxcino has built. But let’s be real—there are no future world champions in this bunch.

The fact that these fights are six-rounders might be the best hope and only hope for watchability. The fighters should run out of time before they really gas hard. Hopefully, they manage to knock each other silly first!

If you need backgrounds, well, only one really stands out. Steve Vukosa defeated future pornstar Aaron Brink 14 years ago before retiring due to knee injuries and taking up the noble vocation of bus driving. He recently returned to the ring and beat U.S. Olympian Jason Estrada.

Main Event Prediction

Put your jingoism aside for an evening. The guys to watch on this program aren’t any of the Americans.

Mario Heredia is a fresh-faced and in shape 22-year-old from Mexico with something approaching an amateur pedigree and a win over Donovan Dennis in the World Series of Boxing. That may seem like faint praise—but it will probably be enough to carry him forward.

Razvan Cojanu is Romanian and gigantic, which, hey, are credible attributes in the 2015 heavyweight division. He lost his first fight back in 2011, but at 27, he's now coming into his own.

Those two are my favorites to take the whole thing—but none of the competitors here are anything approaching unstoppable.  

Dennis, Cojanu, Fedosov and Heredia advance.

Sammy Vasquez vs. Emmanuel Lartey (Showtime)

Key Info

Date: February 20

Network: Showtime

Promoter: Goossen-Tutor Promotions

Undercard bouts: Umberto Savigne vs. Craig Baker, Claudio Marrero vs. TBA

Interest Level

Medium

Analysis 

Shobox returns with Sammy Vasquez (17-0, 13 KO) as the headliner and complete mysteries filling in behind. Emmanuel Lartey (16-2-1, 7 KO) isn't a name, but he’s actually a pretty good fighter and a reasonable test for the "Who Can Mexican."

That’s such a great nickname.

Umberto Savigne and Claudio Marrero also appear in what will likely be showcase fights for both men on their slow track to being cashed out against better fighters in the next couple of years.

Main Event Prediction 

Vasquez has the height, age and hometown advantage in his favor. This is his fight to lose. Lartey is 33, but that's in Ghanaian years. What that translates to in America is unclear—but it is something to consider in handicapping the fight.

Lartey is no easy touch, though. He gave ex-gold medalist Felix Diaz all he could handle a few months ago. While he doesn't have enough ability to derail Velasquez, he can be a spoiler of sorts.  

Fans will be disappointed when Vasquez doesn't manage to pull off a stoppage here. But Lartey is enough of a fighter to make Vasquez work for 10 full rounds. 

Vasquez by unanimous decision.

Gennady Golovkin vs. Martin Murray (HBO)

Key Info

Date: February 21

Network: HBO

Promoter: K2 Promotions/Golden Gloves Promotions

Undercard bouts: None

Interest Level

High

Analysis 

Is it a mismatch? Sure it is. But in a month starved for top boxing action, you take what you can get.

Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KO) is violence in human form, and that’s good enough for me, regardless of opposition. An added bonus? It's an afternoon fight, thanks to this being held in Monaco.

Just being in the luxurious Monaco, playground of the rich, makes the whole sport feel more upscale. This is carnage at its classiest!

Main Event Prediction

Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12 KO) has twice climbed to the top of the middleweight ladder. He earned a draw against Lunesta-in-human-form Felix Sturm in 2011 and lost a close decision to then-middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in 2013.

Apart from those fights, there's simply not much to say about Murray. To even think of seeing the final bell, much less finally managing to earn a victory in a middleweight world title bout, Murray will have to pick his game up dramatically. A much more likely scenario is a battering performance from Golovkin that leaves Murray broken and in the fetal position. 

Golovkin by knockout in Round 5.

Cletus Seldin vs. Johnny Garcia (ESPN2)

Key Info

Date: February 27

Network: ESPN2

Promoter: Star Boxing (Joe DeGuardia)

Undercard bouts: Delvin Rodriguez vs. Eliezer Gonzalez

Interest Level

Low

Analysis 

Al Haymon’s entry to the sport and signing of anyone with a pulse mean that cards like this sometimes show up on TV. The fight isn't bad in terms of matchup; it just feels, you know, irrelevant.

Cletus Seldin (15-0, 12 KO) is a guy whose promoter hopes draws an audience from New York City’s sizable Jewish population, and Johnny Garcia (19-2-1, 11 KO) is a capable hand from exotic Holland...Michigan. Garcia beat then-undefeated Cuban prospect Yordenis Ugas three years ago. He's a live dog here.

Lovable punching bag Delvin Rodriguez also appears on the show, facing some guy Julian "J-Rock" Williams blanked in an eight-rounder. As far as resume line items go, that one has to be among the worst of all time. 

Main Event Prediction

Seldin has been carefully matched and moved up the ranks slowly since turning pro four years ago. Garcia is by far the more battle-tested of the two men. But Garcia’s promoter is not Joe DeGuardia, and Seldin’s is. That's not an accusation of any kind. Just a realistic note that it's safe to assume Seldin is going to win as long as he stays vertical—no matter what happens in the ring.

Teddy Atlas screams a lot, and Seldin wins a split decision.  

Randy Caballero vs. Alberto Guevara (Fox Sports 1)

Key Info

Date: February 27

Network: Fox Sports 1

Promoter: Golden Boy Promotions

Undercard bouts: Yunier Dorticos vs. Murat Gassiev, Diego De La Hoya vs. Manuel Roman

Interest Level

Medium-High

Analysis 

Hey, look, some form of a world title is up for grabs! Sure, there are a lot of world titles in boxing—but in a month this slow, that counts for something.

Randy Caballero (22-0, 13 KO) and Alberto Guevara (19-2, 7 KO) are fighting for the IBF world bantamweight title, and, if not great, it's at least not a not terrible fight!

The 24-year-old Caballero is actually a really good fighter, and Guevara should at least be able to go the distance and provide some form of resistance. As a boxing fan, beaten into submission as we all are, I'll call that a win.

Elsewhere on the card, two entertaining cruiserweights will probably beat each other up. Less promising? Oscar De La Hoya’s super-protected kid Diego against Manuel Roman, aka the guy Leo Santa Cruz ethered on the Mayweather/Maidana II undercard a few months ago.

Main Event Prediction 

Caballero not only won his belt on the road in Monaco but won his eliminator far from home too in Japan. This is a homecoming of sorts for him, and he should be able to outbox the cruder Guevara.

Expect Guevara to give it a run for a couple of rounds and then settle into a comfortable position of being punched in the face kinda hard but not hard enough to hurt him that bad. He'll look to survive and not get hurt. 

Caballero by unanimous decision.

Felix Verdejo vs. Marco Antonio Lopez (UniMas)

Key Info

Date: February 28

Network: UniMas

Promoter: Top Rank

Undercard bouts: Julian Rodriguez vs. Raul Tovar

Interest Level

High

Analysis

OK—we are one month into this, and I'm already breaking the rules. But any grizzled boxing fan knows that Spanish language TV sometimes has the best fights available. February is no exception.

While this doesn't exactly qualify as the "best fight," it does include one of the best talents. Felix Verdejo (16-0, 12 KO) is a 21-year-old Puerto Rican boxer-puncher with excellent hand speed and solid power. He’s a decorated former amateur and a 2012 Olympian, and he has tremendous size for a lightweight at 5'9".

In short, Verdejo looks and feels like a future megastar who could one day inherit the title of "best Puerto Rican boxer" from Miguel Cotto and maintain the island's proud boxing tradition.

Opposing him on this broadcast is Marco Antonio Lopez (24-5, 15 KO). You may remember him from, well, probably nothing. It's that kind of fight.

Main Event Prediction

It's hard to predict in which round a knockout will occur. It is always wise to be conservative. Then, when a young star like Verdejo just obliterates the opposition, it’s an impressive feat, not simply what was expected.

Lopez doesn’t have a chance in heck of winning this fight. That's intentional at this point. Promoters just want him to please the fans who are going to pack a 10,000-seat arena to see ubermensch Verdejo style on some fool.

We claim to want competitive fights. It seems like the right thing to say. But, sometimes, it feels good to see some future highlight victim being led to the lions. This is one of those nights. 

Verdejo by knockout in Round 6.