By Jackie Kallen
Golden Boy has put together quite a nice fight card at the MGM in Las Vegas Saturday night. It’s a full night of boxing, with a total of 90 proposed rounds of action. If every fight goes the distance (unlikely), that could add up to a marathon five+ hours of boxing.
The main event is a good one. Devon Alexander (26-2) will fight Amir Khan (29-3) for the WBC silver welterweight belt. Both men would love a shot at Floyd Mayweather and each is hoping to knock the other out of contention. Khan talks a lot of smack and has not been quiet about his disdain for Alexander.
On the other hand, the American has been respectful for the most part and thinks Khan is a clown who talks a better game that he performs. Being from St. Louis, Alexander claims to be well aware of cocky guys whose butts can’t cash the checks that their mouths write. He sees this as an opportunity to show what he can do.
Both men have also tasted defeat. Alexander, a 27-year old southpaw, was beaten by Shawn Porter last year and suffered a technical loss to Timothy Bradley in 2011 when their fight was stopped in the 10th round due to a serious cut to Alexander.
Kahn has been on the losing end of the stick three times. The first was back in 2008 when he was stopped by Breidis Prescott in the first round. He also lost a split decision to Lamont Peterson three years later and was then knocked out by Danny Garcia in 2012.
Despite the losses, Khan still brags that he is something special and should be Floyd’s next opponent.
I personally see Alexander winning a decision. It may be a close fight, but I’m not confident that Khan is still as good as he thinks he is.
The co-main event does not look like a highly competitive one, despite the records of the contestants.
Keith Thurman faces Leonard Bundu for Thurman’s interim WBA welterweight belt. Both men are undefeated. Thurman boasts an impressive 23-0 record with 21 KOs. Bundu is 31-1 with 11 KOs. Power will be the determining factor here. Bundu has solved the puzzle of the other 31 men he has faced. But none had the thunder in their gloves that Thurman possesses.
Bundu is a 40-year-old Italian who turned pro in 2005 and has never fought in the US. He doesn’t appear to be too much of a threat to Thurman. Kind of like throwing a kitten to a hungry lion.
Both Charlo twins are on the undercard and so is Victor Ortiz.
The “Dancing with the Stars” alumni Ortiz hasn’t has much luck in the past few years.
In 2011, he got the nod to fight Mayweather. It lasted four rounds and ended in a bizarre fashion, to say the least.
Less than a year later, he faced Josesito Lopez and had his jaw broken and was stopped in the 9th round.
Two years later, in January 2014, he fought Luis Collazo and got stopped in the 2nd round. Now he’s back, this time fighting Manuel Perez (22-10-1). Hopefully he can handle Perez as easily as the other ten guys who beat him.
The Showtime card also features featherweight Abner Mares (27-1-1) against 25-4 Jose Ramirez in a 10-round bout.
