by B.A. Cass
Tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov 21, Premier Boxing Champions brings us another Toe-to -Toe Tuesday on FS1. The fights will take place at The Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida. The TV coverage is set to begin at 8 PM EST.
The main event will be between the evenly matched Devon Alexander and Walter Castillo. The co-main event will be between Miguel Cruz and David Grayton.
Miguel Cruz (16-0) vs. David Grayton (15-1-1); Welterweight
In his most recent fight, the twenty-seven-year-old Cruz dropped his opponent, Alex Martin, multiple times. The first of these knockdowns came by way of a sharp left. Cruz and Martin had fought previously. Cruz won their first fight by split decision. His second victory over Martin was more decisive; he did not KO Martin, but at least won by unanimous decision.
As for Grayton, he last fought seven months ago against Kermit Cintron. Grayton failed to defeat a much older Cintron. It could be argued that Grayton was on his way to winning before the referee called off the fight due to a headbutt in the fifth round. After all, Gray had already dropped Cintron in that round. However, this knockdown came only after only after a severe shot to the back of the head.
Cruz employs an effective power jab and knows how to land powerful hooks to the body. Grayton will have to be fast on his feet if he hopes to avoid the fate of Alex Martin.
Expect at least one major headbutt from the southpaw Grayton, who is seems to employ the “accidental” headbutt almost as often as he employs his jab.
Devon Alexander (26-4) vs. Walter Castillo (26-4-1); Welterweight
When Alexander and Castillo step into the ring to face each other tomorrow night, it will be the first time either man has fought for over a year and a half.
Alexander, the former two-division champion, was once thought of one of the up-and-coming boxers of his generation. His first career loss came when he faced William Bradley Jr., but rebounded from that defeat to score a unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana. However, he soon lost his IBF title to Shawn Porter. The Porter fight was close, but Alexander has not been able to regain his career momentum. He fought Amir Khan, and though he was undamaged during that fight, Alexander was unable to contend with his opponent’s speed.
Alexander’s last fight was against Aaron Martinez. Going into the fight, he was thought to have a decent shot at winning, but he lost because he fought on Martinez’s terms. Instead of boxing, he decided to brawl with Martinez. Alexander rarely employed the jab and Martinez repeatedly went to the body, tiring out Alexander, before landing well-timed jabs and rights to the face in later rounds.
Castillo is coming off a loss at the hands of Sergey Lipinets. In the third round against Lipinets, Castillo seemed to have Lipinets in trouble. Landing fast combinations, he cornered Lipinets against the ropes. But Lipinets remained unfazed and undamaged. Lipinets, clearly the stronger man, scored a seventh round TKO win.
Castillo is a year younger than Alexander, which gives him, at least in theory, a slight advantage. But he’s moving up seven pounds to fight Alexander, and it remains to be seen if he can be as powerful and effective in a higher weight class.
The odds for this fight, to my mind, are fifty-fifty. Only the winner will have a chance to get their career back on track. They both know that and will fight accordingly.
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