Greetings and salutations fight fans, welcome to another scintillating edition of Fight Talk. This week we are going to focus on the predictions of two of the biggest fights of the year. The first potential barn burner is the highly anticipated November rematch between junior welterweight king, Kostya Tszyu, and his number one ranked challenger, Sharmba Mitchell.
These two first did battle in February of 2001, with Tszyu being awarded a seventh round technical knockout when Mitchell could not answer the bell for the ensuing round. Mitchell claims that a knee injury, coupled with Tszyu’s roughhouse tactics, were the only reasons that Tszyu emerged victorious that night. Since that fight, Mitchell has been obsessed with securing a rematch with the Australian-based Russian.
He has gone undefeated (8-0) keeping very busy over the last year. Since May of 2003, he has fought four times, including victories against rugged Africans, Ben Tackie and Lovemore N’Dou. Tszyu on the other hand, has only fought four times since their first encounter, including a title unification knockout victory over flashy southpaw, Zab (Super) Judah. That said; let’s get to the meat of the matter. Mitchell has clearly been the more active fighter, looking very sharp against tough, albeit limited opposition. Tszyu has been inactive ever since fighting Jesse James Leija in January of 2003, but claims to have been in the gym ever since defeating the Texan. Every fighter and fight fan alike, knows that there is nothing like being in an actual fight, not even many rounds of intense sparring. The bottom line is that Mitchell will win an unpopular split decision. He will be too elusive for the ring rusty Tszyu, although he will get cracked with a huge left hand somewhere between rounds six and ten. This shot will put him on his bicycle, en route to a jab and run victory.
The other showdown will take place on December fourth, between current Ring magazine lightweight champion, Jose Luis Castillo and former World Boxing Association Super Featherweight champion, Joel Casamayor. Castillo is the epitome of a Mexican brawler, an all action puncher who never stops moving forward. His 45 knockouts in 50 victories give testament to his tremendous power. He loves to get his opponents pressed against the ropes and then punish their bodies (just ask Floyd Mayweather). On the other end of the spectrum, Casamayor is one of the slickest boxers in the game today. He is a quick counter puncher with a mean streak, and has developed a reputation as one of the game’s dirtiest pugilists. The difference in this fight is going to be the size. They will be fighting at lightweight (135 pounds) which is Castillo’s natural weight. Although Casamayor is one of the toughest practitioners of our beloved sport, Castillo’s sheer strength will wear him down towards the later rounds. Casamayor will have his moments, but will ultimately succumb to Castillo’s power in a late round stoppage, in a fight that many will call, fight of the year. See you next week.
Upcoming Fights:
November 5, 9:00pm
Junior Lightweights (130)
Steven Luevano
vs
Hector Marquez
November 5, 1130pm
Bantamweights (118)
Mauricio Martinez
vs
Gerardo Espinoza
Comments are closed.