Money, Money, Money: Odds on Foreman-Cotto and The Weekend Action

As a keen boxing fan, I take a healthy interest in what the books are thinking, as it normally is a good indication to see how the fight will turn out in the casual fans’ mind. Maybe once in a while I’ll back up my predictions with putting some money down, but for enjoyment and the profit, not to fuel any sort of addiction.

For those unfamiliar with how it works, it’s not that difficult. For example, a fighter is -300, it means every $3 you win a $1. If a fighter is +300, it means you bet $1 to win $3. And the line varies on how big a favourite/underdog a fighter is.

Junior Middleweight: Yuri Foreman vs. Miguel Cotto (HBO) [12 Rounds]

Yuri Foreman +200, Miguel Cotto -250

Close fight on paper, closer than expected fight in the books. For those who think that Miguel Cotto is shot and favour the Rabbi, you could make a healthy profit out of this fight with the tempting price. Cotto is also at a juicy price, and I expected that his star reputation would make him an obvious favourite.

Cruiserweight: Steve Cunningham vs. Troy Ross (Polsat) [12 Rounds]

Steve Cunningham -500, Troy Ross +333

This will be the first time one of our House Fighters will be in a title shot, and it’s a big ask for Troy Ross to pull it off as he’s a clear underdog going into the fight. Cunningham is regarded as the best in the division, and you could strongly argue that he’s head and shoulders above everybody else in the top 10.

Middleweight: Sebastian Sylvester vs. Roman Karmazin (Polsat) [12 Rounds]

Sebastian Sylvester -250, Roman Karmazin +188

In his prime, Karmazin would probably beat up Sylvester over the distance. But the battles are beginning to catch up with him, as was displayed in his come-from-behind knockout win over Dionisio Miranda in January. Sylvester is on a four-fight winning streak since he lost to Felix Sturm, and I favour him to extend his run to five.

Junior Middleweight: Vanes Martirosyan vs. Joe Greene (HBO) [10 Rounds]

Vanes Martirosyan -200, Joe Greene +150

This might be the most intriguing fight this weekend, despite three other strong contenders. Both fighters are undefeated and are expected to put on an explosive fight. Martirosyan is a slight favourite due to his background.

What do you think will happen? Get involved in The BTBC's new fantasy boxing betting game!

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BTBC House Fighter Update

It's time for a House Fighter update, as the best prospects in the game are getting busy turning into contenders and title challengers. Nate James (Heavyweight), Troy Ross (Cruiserweight) and Lamont Peterson (Junior Welterweight) have yet to fight under the House Fighter banner. Here's a track record of every fight involving a House Fighter so far.

Results

January 29 - Erislandy Lara TKO-10 Grady Brewer (Junior Middleweight)
February 13 - James DeGale TKO-2 Matthew Barr (Super Middleweight)
February 13 - Nathan Cleverly TKO-5 Antonio Brancalion (Light Heavyweight)
February 27 - Mike Jones UD-10 Henry Bruseles (Welterweight)
March 12 - Kell Brook TKO-5 Krzysztof Bienias (Welterweight)
March 27 - Daniel Jacobs RTD-1 Jose Miguel Rodriguez Berrio (Middleweight)

BTBC House Fighter Record: (6-0, 5 KO)

Schedule

April 2 - Erislandy Lara vs. Danny Perez (Junior Middleweight)
April 10 - Lamont Peterson vs. Damian Fuller (Junior Welterweight)
April 17 - Mike Jones vs. Hector Munoz (Welterweight)
May 1 - Daniel Jacobs vs. TBA (Middleweight)

Erislandy Lara fights Danny Perez on Showtime tonight, hoping to win for the second time under the BTBC banner. Keep checking the forum for more House Figher polls as we keep climbing down the weight classes.

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Maidana Crushes Cayo In Six

Las Vegas, Nevada - Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27 KO) knocked out Victor Manuel Cayo (24-1, 16 KO) with a sweet body shot in the sixth-round to end a very entertaining contest controlled largely by the Argentinean knockout machine.

Cayo started well, staying disciplined on the outside and winning the opening round, despite Harold Lederman giving it to Maidana. The second started off pretty much the same, until Maidana began to find his helpless target, who crumbled under a rocket right in the second.

Maidana could smell blood and stalked Cayo to every corner of the ring as he tried to end the fight there and then. Cayo however, landed the cleaner punches in the round, but Maidana's greater activity topped every bit of good work Cayo did in the third.

Cayo gave up fighting on the back-foot and joined Maidana in the center of the ring for a brawl that had an air of Arreola-Minto about it, but half the weight. Maidana, acting as the thinner Arreola, was catching Cayo, who played Minto pretty well, flush with nearly every single power punch thrown, but Cayo was game as he managed to weather the onslaught to survive the fourth and began to get back into the fight in the fifth.

Maidana calmed down at the beginning of the sixth, which sent Cayo negatively into retreat, which ultimately proved to be his downfall. Maidana only needed to land one crisp body shot, and that was it. Cayo's resilience had been broken by something relatively new to Maidana's various choice of weapons, as he's become a much improved body puncher. The scores at the time of the stoppage were 49-45, 49-45 and 47-47, which shows that Cayo was competitive in one judge's eye.

Maidana is primed for a title tilt against Amir Khan, but I highly doubt that Team Khan will want anything to do with Maidana after this performance, which I rank up there with Ortiz. Maidana is definitely a top 10 junior welterweight, maybe even top 5, so the future is bright for the Argentinean, who could face Devon Alexander if Khan backs out.

For Victor Cayo, he can return home with his head held high. He gave a credible performance, slugging it out for six rounds against a fierce puncher in Maidana, who's up there with Ediwn Valero and Arthur Abraham as the pound-4-pound biggest puncher in the sport. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cayo challenging for a title again, but I don't think it will be anytime soon.

BTBC House Fighter Daniel Jacobs (19-0, 16 KO) kept up his impressive run for our House Fighters as he destroyed overmatched and an overweight Jose Miguel Berrio (20-5, 12 KO) who quit on his stool after only one round of action. It was a stay busy fight for Jacobs, who'll be looking to make big strides in 2010.

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House Fighter Update: Another Step-Up For Jones

by Dafs117

After three stoppage wins for our House Fighters, The Boxing Tribune previews one of the hottest prospects in the sport, Mike Jones, in his first real test against the experienced Henry Bruseles.

* * * * *

As a -1200 betting favorite, Mike Jones (19-0, 16 KO) is expected to add another victory to his 19-fight old record. Afterall, MJ's last opponent, Raul Pinzon, had given former 140 pound player Ricardo Torres all he could handle for nine rounds in his previous fight.

In one of the best fights of the year, Pinzon was on the verge of one of the major upsets of 2009, leading on all three scorecards by at least three points. However, he couldn't survive the late barrage from Torres, who stopped him with less than a minute to go.

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House Fighter Cleverly Canes Brancalion

BTBC Light Heavyweight House Fighter Nathan Cleverly (19-0, 9 KOs) annihilated a defenceless Antonio Brancalion at the Wembley Arena, winning the vacant European light heavyweight title in the process with a fifth round stoppage.

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Nathan Cleverly vs. Antonio Brancalion: House Fighter vs. Club Fighter

Erislandy Lara got the House Fighter Project off to the best possible start with a tenth-round stoppage victory over the experienced Grady Brewer on January 29. Now it’s Nathan Cleverly and James DeGale’s turn to advance another step in their fledging careers.

Nathan Cleverly (18-0, 8 KO) challenges Antonio Brancalion (32-7-2, 8 KO), an over-the-hill but experienced Italian veteran. Brancalion has been in the rings with name opponents in the past such as Mario Veit and Stipe Drews, losing both by unanimous decision. The fight will be for the vacant European light heavyweight title.

In his last outing, Brancalion stumbled across jail-bound Juergen Braehmer for the same belt that will be on the line on Saturday. The Italian was down three times during the ninety-seven second-long contest. Braehmer went on to capture the vacant WBO light heavyweight title by defeating Dmitry Sukhotsky via unanimous decision, before later being sentenced for assault.

The Italian is game, even if his last fight suggested differently. He’s tall at 6 ft 1, but Cleverly still holds a 3 inch advantage in height. Brancalion is a boxer, but not as good as Cleverly. Brancalion has a tiny bit of power in his punches, but not half as much as Cleverly. And that’s the story across the field; he’s not as good as Cleverly.

Cleverly, 22, is currently ranked by every alphabet organization, #2 with the WBO, #3 IBF, #5 WBC and #12 by the WBA. He’s expected to challenge for the IBF title later in the year, maybe against Tavoris Cloud, maybe not. Rumours are that Cloud will defend his belt against Glen Johnson, before relinquishing his strap so he can face Chad Dawson instead. However, Cloud needs to get through Johnson first; Cleverly needs to get through Brancalion too.

The fight was scheduled to be held in Italy, but Brancalion demanded that the date was pushed back suggesting problems of making weight. The wily fox Frank Warren claimed ownership of the fight and posted it on the Night of Champions show.

This should be relatively straight forward for Clever Boy, but as we’ve seen in the past, not all prospects make it to the promise land. Take one eye off the ball and the veteran will pocket his chance.

The fight will headline Frank Warren’s Night of Champions, which was a juicy fight card before Kell Brook, Danny Williams and Sam Sexton all pulled out for different reasons. Also on the card, Kevin Mitchell will face blown-up Colombian super featherweight Ignacio Mendoza at 135 pounds and promising unbeaten heavyweight Derek Chisora will square up to the infamous Carl Baker. There are plenty of undefeated prospects on show too, one of which is James DeGale, our super middleweight House Fighter.

James ‘Chunky’ DeGale (5-0, 3 KO) will face china chinned Matthew Barr (14-5, 6 KO) scheduled for six rounds. In his last fight, Barr faced unbeaten French super middleweight Jean Paul Mendy, retiring in the fourth round claiming an injury.

DeGale is improving as he gathers more rounds under his belt, and this is visible with the level of competition he’s facing. Of course, the Gold Medallist is very carefully matched by Warren, but he’s not facing eastern European punchbags, at least he’s fighting domestic level, and that’s well respected in Britain.

I expect both House Fighters to win on Saturday, and hopefully they will. Two undefeated fighters at different stages in their careers will hopefully raise our record to 3-0. If you want to catch a glimpse of our House Fighters, tune-in onto the forum Saturday afternoon.

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The BTBC House Fighters (Cruiserweight, Super Middleweight, Middleweight, Jr. Middleweight, Welterweight)

The members of The Boxing Tribune Blue Corner (BTBC) decided to make 2010 personal by selecting a house fighter to follow in each weight class.

The BTBC House Fighter, as voted by the members of the community, is the fighter that most represents our community through either style, attitude or ability.

To avoid the label of front-runner, The BTBC has limited their choices for house fighter to only those who have yet to receive a world title shot.

Good luck to those fighters selected for this honor...the full support of boxing's pound for pound best fan forum is behind you every step of the way. Make us proud!

The votes were close, but have been tabulated for our next division winner and here are the winners:

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The BTBC House Fighters (Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Light Heavyweight)

The members of The Boxing Tribune Blue Corner (BTBC) decided to make 2010 personal by selecting a house fighter to follow in each weight class.

The BTBC House Fighter, as voted by the members of the community, is the fighter that most represents our community through either style, attitude or ability.

To avoid the label of front-runner, The BTBC has limited their choices for house fighter to only those who have yet to receive a world title shot.

Good luck to those fighters selected for this honor...the full support of boxing's pound for pound best fan forum is behind you every step of the way. Make us proud!

The votes have been tabulated for our first three divisions and here are the winners:

BTBC Heavyweight House Fighter

Nate James
Age: 28
Record: 2-0, 1 KO
Nationality: American

Given the current state of the heavyweight division, The BTBC decided to throw their support behind one of the young lions of the weight class.

James, the 2007 National Golden Glove Super Heavyweight Champion, compiled an impressive amateur record of 83-11, winning four New England Golden Gloves Championships in the process.

In March 2008, James turned professional with Joe DeGuardia’s StarBoxing, but frustrated by an inability to land bouts, he bought himself out of his contract to become a free agent.

Hall-of-fame trainer Emmanuel Steward invited James to help Wladmir Klitschko prepare for his upcoming contest against Tony Thompson. The 6ft 5 southpaw impressed Steward with his athleticism, and was offered the opportunity to debut on the undercard. He quickly found his feet in the pro game, outpointing Timo Schwarm over four one-sided rounds.

Vitali Klitschko invited him to spar in preparation for Vitali’s first defense of the WBC title against Juan Carlos Gomez. He was offered another spot on the undercard for his services, this time blitzing Taras Varva in the first round.

He’s been made chief sparring partner for Wladmir Klitschko, which is surely a positive sign if he can be competitive with Wladmir at this early stage of his career.

Shaped by direct and indirect lessons from high profile boxing minds such as Al Mitchell, Emmanuel Steward, Chris Byrd and the Klitschko Brothers, many insiders see Nate James as a "can't miss" prospect...The BTBC sees him as their house fighter.

Do us proud, Nate!

BTBC Cruiserweight House Fighter

At this point, the voting is too close to call...this position will be vacant until we have a decisive winner.

BTBC Light Heavyweight House Fighter

Name: Nathan Cleverly
Age: 22
Record: 18-0, 8 KOs
Nationality: British

After an amateur record of 32-4, Nathan ‘Clever Boy’ Cleverly started his pro career fighting four rounders on Joe Calzaghe undercards. It didn't take long for him to be fast tracked into his first meaningful bout.

Cleverly came up against an undefeated Tony Quigley, a former MMA fighter that had a massive Scouser following. With Cleverly receiving abuse from every corner of the stands for his nationality, he stunned everyone by stopping Quigley in the fifth round.

He was promoted to chief sparring partner for Joe Calzaghe, and fought over 400 rounds with the undefeated champion. He took his sparring experience as he decided to permanently campaign at light heavyweight and struggled in his first televised fight against Joey Vegas, but still managed to outpoint the orthodox opponent.

Cleverly then travelled with Team Calzaghe to Las Vegas, where he shutout Antonio Barker over eight rounds in a showy performance that earned high praise from the HBO broadcasting team.

In September 2008, Cleverly decided to leave Enzo Calzaghe’s stable to team up with his father, Vince. Cleverly had also been torn between joining Calzaghe Promotions or re-signing with Sports Network, but Cleverly made a wise call and stayed with Frank Warren.

The decision paid off as he was chosen to replace Dean Francis on two weeks notice to fight Tony Oakey for the vacant commonwealth title. In a fast fight, Cleverly decided to mix it up early on before outboxing the older Oakey for the final half of the fight, winning by comprehensive scores of 119-110, 117-111 and 116-112.

Still determined to complete his math degree at Cardiff University, he managed to balance studying and training to maintain his perfect record. Cleverly graduates this Summer and is hoping for an unrealistic double, winning a world title to go with his graduation.

Three defenses later, all coming by early stoppage, Cleverly challenged unbeaten Danny McIntosh for the British crown. Cleverly unexpectedly brawled with the stronger McIntosh, flooring him twice in the second round and once in the third. Cleverly failed to close the show and allowed McIntosh to creep back into contention. The referee saved the brave McIntosh in the seventh following a barrage of punches teed off by The Welshman.

He was edged out by Kell Brook for the prestigious Boxing Writers Club young boxer of the year award by one vote in the closest vote in history of the award.

His next opponent was spoiler Courtney Fry, a counter punching boxer with amateur pedigree. Cleverly dominated from the opening bell, but struggled to deal with Fry staying on the ropes until a perfect one-two rattled Fry in the eighth to force the stoppage.

‘Clever Boy’ will face his toughest test to date, against Antonio Brancalion in the Italian’s backyard. Can our light heavyweight house fighter capture the vacant European title on January 27?

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