Weekend Preview Part 2: Yuriorkis Gamboa Defends Title, So Does Everyone Else

This is my second installment of the weekend preview. You can find part one here http://bleacherreport.com/articles/368321-showtime-free-this-weekend-everyone-can-enjoy-abraham-dirrell. This one consists of the fights that are not available on American TV.

There are some great fights here and almost everyone has a title attached to it. Hopefully some of this will be available after the fact on youtube.com. So lets get to this action-packed weekend.

Thursday, March 25

Demetrius Hopkins (28-1-1 11 KO) vs. Jesse Feliciano II (15-8-3 9 KO) (140 lbs)

This fight is the first for Hopkins since he lost a title bid against Kendall Holt way back in 2008. Hopkins was supposed to face Freddie Norwood but now he will fight Feliciano.

This is a rematch of their 2005 fight, which Hopkins won via KO four. Feliciano hasn't won since 2007 and has lost three straight. He is your typical gatekeeper as he has lost against top opponents.

His wins over Delvin Rodrigues and Vince Phillips are impressive. If Hopkins doesn't show up he will lose this fight. That seems like a very possible outcome to me since Hopkins will probably be rusty.

Friday, March 26

Matthew Hatton (38-4-2 15 KO) vs. Gianluca Branco (43-2-1 22 KO) (EBU 140 lb Title)

Hatton has been on a decent run lately but he is still an average fighter. Branco is 39 years old but should still have enough to beat Hatton.

Branco has twice fought for a world title but lost in both bids. He is normally a light welterweight fighter and the weight could be the difference.

If Branco has anything left he should win. Hatton could win this one going away if Branco is shot. Branco has already held the EBU light welterweight title.

Nkosinathi Joyi (20-0 15 KO) vs. Raul Garcia (27-0-1 16 KO) (105 lb IBF title)

This is the first of two 105 pound title fights of the weekend and it is a good one. These are two of the best 105 pound fighters in the world.

Garcia holds the title but he will be going to Joyi’s home turf in South Africa for this defense. That could make all the difference.

Joyi had looked totally dominant lately while Garcia has struggled with some of the same guys. This is the biggest fight in the 105 pound division in a long long time.

Saturday, March 27

Koki Kameda (22-0 14 KO) vs. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (74-3-1 39 KO) (112 lb WBC title)

This is a intriguing fight on many levels as Kameda is younger, faster, stronger, and is fighting on home turf in Japan. Also he has way less miles on him for a flyweight.

Wonjongkam has been around for a very long time and has an inflated record but has also beaten the best out there. He held the WBC flyweight title from 2001 to 2007. He made defenses against Daisuke Naito (2x) and Hussein Hussein.

He finally lost the title to Naito in their third fight and later drew with him. He is old for a flyweight at 32 but he has experience on his side.

Wonjongkam is still a good fighter and holds the pointless WBC interim title. He could still put the minor upset in this fight but his chances look slim.

 

Oleydong Sithsamerchai (33-0 12 KO) vs. Yasutaka Kuroki (23-3-1 15 KO) (105 lb WBC title)

This is the second 105 pound title to go on the line this weekend but it only features one top fighter in Sithsamerchai.

Sithsamerchai is making his fifth defense of his WBC title and shouldn’t have a hard time with Kuroki.

Kuroki hasn’t lost a fight since 2004 but he hasn’t beat anyone of note during that streak. It would appear Kuroki has a good punch but he hasn’t faced a top-level chin yet.

Yuriorkis Gamboa (17-0 15 KO) vs. Jonathan Barros (28-0-1 16 KO) (126 lb WBA title)

Again another fight that looks good on paper but if you take a hard look it really isn’t. Gamboa is obviously one of the top two 126 pound fighers in the world and Barros is not.

He has a nice record but it is heavily padded. I could not find one good name on his record. This fight will be over fast, very fast.

Gamboa looks to stay busy and setup a fight with Juan Manuel Lopez sometime in the near future. This is also his first fight in Germany, where he had his first six, since 2007.

 

Aneslmo Moreno (28-1-1 10 KO) vs. Nehomar Cermeno (19-0 11 KO) (118 lb WBA title)

This is a very good fight featuring two of the best 118 pound fighters in the world and has basically gotten no coverage.

Moreno has beaten Wladimir Sidorenko twice and in Germany none the less. He also beat Mahyar Monshipour in France.

He goes on the road yet again to fight Cermeno in his home country of Venezuela. Cermeno won back to back fights over Cristian Mijares, the first disputed but the second was conclusive.

He then knocked out Alejandro Valdez in the 11^th round to win the WBA interim title. This looks like a toss up on paper but Moreno has fought the better fighters and has proven he can win on the road.

Jorge Linares (27-1 18 KO) vs. Francisco Lorenzo (34-7 15 KO) (130 lbs)

Linares looks to get back on track after the shocking knock out loss to Juan Carlos Salgado. If Lorenzo’s name looks familiar it is because he is the guy who faked his way to a DQ win over Humberto Soto.

Linares should take care of business quickly and brutality in this one.

Steve Molitor (31-1 12 KO) v. Takalani Ndlovu (30-5 18 KO) II (122 lb IBF title)

This is a rematch of a fight Molitor won by ninth round TKO in 2007. This fight may be more competitive. Molitor hasn’t looked very good since losing to Celestino Caballero in 2008.

Molitor should win because he is better than Ndlovu. Molitor may look worse but Ndlovu doesn’t look any better so nothing much should change.

Molitor is looking to win his second title. This title is the one he lost to Caballero.