At the start of this week we were all expecting to see some great Heavyweight action on Saturday. Sadly as boxing fans we don't seem to get what we want and that was certainly the case again this weekend when we got nothing that wanted.
Firstly Dereck Chisora pulled out of a much anticipated and highly hyped rematch with Tyson Fury. That was "fine" when Fury was the matched, at late notice, with the gigantic Alexander Ustinov. Unfortunately on Saturday morning Fury was forced out of the bout after his uncle was reported to be gravely ill. Fury and his uncle-trainer Peter Fury were unable to be at the venue and this in term caused another to be called off, that of Eddie Chambers who is also part of the Fury stable.
Effectively we had seen one card dismantled in what looks, on reflection, like a card that will be remembered as a cursed card.
We did still get a bout that we anticipated later on in the day as Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10) took on former Cuban amateur star Mike Perez (20-1-1, 12) and claimed a huge split decision win. The bout, a WBC world title eliminator, looked great on paper though sadly it turned out to be a dud with Perez only about to fight for 6 rounds before tiring. Jennings took a well deserved win though we need to wonder if Perez is going to be another wasted Cuban talent. He looked out of shape, disinterested and did more holding in second half of the fight than a happy couple. It was a second successive disappointing performance from Perez following his tragic bout with Magomed Abdulsalmov and it looks like Perez is lacking the fire needed to become anything more than a one time prospect.
Another fighter who kept his unbeaten record was the rotund Akhror Muralimov (16-0, 13) who stopped Jason Bergman (23-11-2, 16) in 2 rounds to claim the NABA USA title. We think Muralimov has plenty of talent but he really does need to get in shape and being a 5'11" Heavyweight will certainly work against him
Talking about prospects it was a good day for unbeaten German Tom Schwarz (8-0, 6) who scored an opening round victory against Olegs Lopajevs (8-10, 7). The 20 year old Schwarz is highly regarded in Germany and with good size, skills, speed and power it's hard to deny his potential though there are worries that he will be the next Edmund Gerber.
Over in Latvia fans got the chance to see two veterans going at it as Denis Bahktov (38-9, 25) took a well earned decision victory over Konstantin Airich (21-9-2, 17). We won't pretend this was a thriller but it was a well made bout and we can't complain about that.
The earliest bout of the day took place in Australia as Kyle Brumby (4-9-2, 1) took a split decision, over 3 rounds, against Herman Ene Purcell (2-3, 1).
In New Caledonia fans saw a small surprise as Tafa Misipati (2-3) scored a 6 round points victory over the previously unbeaten Temoo Tamaititahio (5-1, 3),
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