HBO AND SHOWTIME GO HEAD TO HEAD AND KLITSCHKO DEFENDS TITLES ON EPIX!
Los Angeles, CA-Both premium cable networks Showtime and HBO produce stellar boxing cards this weekend featuring even match ups in the main events. On HBO, Top junior middleweight (154lb) contender and highly avoided Cuban amateur star Erislandy Lara(17-1-1, 11 KOs)
Can Erislandy Lara move on to the next level?
faces former US Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KOs) live in Las Vegas Saturday night at 6:45PM PST. The winner of this fight becomes the mandatory challenger for budding Mexican superstar and WBC 154lb champion Saul “Canelo”Alvarez(41-0-1, 30 KOs). Lara’s been beating the drum for a shot at Alvarez for over a year, but must get past the solid but relatively untested Martirosyan, an Armenian native living in Glendale. A close fight on paper, but Lara is the betting favorite. Also on Saturday, broadcast on Showtime from Los Angeles, live inside the Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and NHL Stanley Cup champion Kings, two of the top fighters in the lower weights square off. WBA bantamweight (118lb) champion Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno (33-1-1, 12 KOs) of Panama, a defensive specialist, moves up in weight to challenge Mexican boxer puncher and WBC 122lb champion Abner Mares (24-0-1, 13 KOs) for his title, starting at 7PM PST. Both men have one common opponent in former flyweight champion Vic Dachinyan (38-5-1, 27 KOs). Mares won a hard fought 12 round split decision over the Aussie in December of 2010, while Moreno barely lost a round defending his WBA crown against Darchinyan in December 2011. Both are excellent fights on paper and interesting contrasts of styles. Lara is expected to come out on top over Martirosyan who’s shown gaps in defense against less than stellar opposition, while Moreno should be able to outbox the slightly favored Mares. Moreno, considered a top ten pound for pound fighter by many boxing insiders is the underdog because Mares is more well known is the US, mainly with the Mexican American contingency.
KLITSCHKO LOOKS UP TO FOE FOR FIRST TIME IN WACH
Saturday live from Germany, WBA and IBF world heavyweight champion, 6 foot 6 inch Wladimir Klitschko (58-3, 50 KOs) battles against limited but towering 6 foot 8 inch undefeated Mariusz Wach (27-0, 15 KOs) of Poland, live on Epix. Wach has yet to beat anyone highly regarded, and it took him six rounds to beat weak chinned Tye Fields (49-5, 44 KOs) a fighter who’d been stopped twice before in the first round. Wach presents a possible interesting stylistic match up physically, but is relatively inexperienced against top level opposition. Klitschko who dedicates this fight to longtime legendary trainer Emanuel Steward who passed away October 25th, will have added motivation to end this fight quickly. Wach, while tall, should be even easier to hit for the faster stronger and technically better champion from Ukraine.
UNDERCARD BOUTS FEATURE SOLID COMPETITION AS WELL
HBO’s undercard features unbeaten featherweight(126lb) contender Mickey Garcia(29-0, 25 KOs) of Oxnard versus Jonathan Barros (38-3, 18 KOs) of Argentina. He can make a statement if he stops Barros who’s never been halted inside the distance.
Showtime’s undercard is highlighted by red hot IBF bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (21-0-1, 12 KOs) fighting out of Southern California by way of Mexico. He faces a relative unknown in Victor Zeleta (20-2-1, 10 KOs) of Mexico. This is expected to be a showcase for Santa Cruz in front of fans near his hometown.
-Kevin Perry