The Premier Boxing Champions series will kick off the
month of September with an interesting doubleheader on Sunday, September 6th at
the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX. In the main event former WBC
Super-Middleweight world champion Anthony Dirrell will return to the ring for
the first time since losing his world title in April this year in a razor thin
twelve round majority decision to Badou Jack. Dirrell will face longtime Jr. Middleweight
and Middleweight contender Marco Antonio Rubio in a fight scheduled for ten
rounds.
Dirrell (27-1-1, with 22 Knockouts) has gone 1-1-1 in his
last three fights including a draw and winning his world championship in two
fights against former WBC champion Sakio Bika. In his last fight Dirrell came
out on the losing end of a fight that could have gone either way in losing a
twelve round majority decision to Badou Jack. In what was an extremely close
fight that was very difficult to score Jack was able outwork Dirrell to earn a
victory that some considered an upset.
Coming off of that loss Dirrell, who will come into the
fight ranked number five by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in the Super-Middleweight
division will look to get back in the win column when he takes on Marco Antonio
Rubio. Rubio, a veteran of sixty-seven professional fights will be returning to
the Super-Middleweight division where he is undefeated in three previous bouts
in the 168lb. weight class.
In his last fight in October of last year Rubio was
knocked out in two rounds at the hands of unified WBA/IBO Middleweight world
champion Gennady Golovkin. Some readers may recall following that fight this
observer speculated that if Rubio, who failed to make weight for the fight with
Golovkin that it would be interesting if Rubio could no longer make the 160lb. Middleweight
limit if he would see what potential options would be available to him in the
168lb. Super-Middleweight division.
The question I have coming into this fight centers on
what Marco Antonio Rubio has left to give as a fighter. At thirty-five years of
age and having competed in sixty-seven professional fights in his career one
may be justified in wondering what Rubio (59-7-1, with 51 Knockouts) will have
to offer in this fight. It is important to remember that Rubio has fought for a
world title three times in his career. Rubio certainly has more than enough
experience against top level opposition including a knockout win in 2011
against recently crowned IBF Middleweight world champion David Lemieux.
Rubio however, was unable to provide much resistance in
his fight against Golovkin. Although Rubio was able to land some offense
against Golovkin he was not able to land anything that prevented Golovkin’s
consistent pressure and punching power. Although Rubio lost that fight he is a
fighter that has compiled a career knockout percentage of 76% in his career and
should still be considered a dangerous fighter even coming off of a knockout
loss.
For Anthony Dirrell it will be interesting to see if he
will attempt to pressure Rubio from the outset and test whether the loss to
Golovkin has had any effect on Rubio’s ability to take a punch. Dirrell has
scored twenty-two knockouts in his twenty-nine professional fights and has a
career knockout percentage of 76% in his own right. It will also be interesting
to see if this fight goes into the middle and late rounds whether Dirrell will
be able to maintain a consistent work rate throughout the entire fight. An
argument can be made that although his fight with Badou Jack was very close
that one thing that may have worked against him in that fight was the inconsistent
work rate he put forth in the first half of that fight.
If Dirrell manages to look impressive in this fight and
can get himself back in the win column it is not difficult to envision a
potential rematch with Jack at some point in the near future. For Marco Antonio
Rubio however, this could be a “Must Win” scenario at this stage in his career.
Also on this card there will be a rematch between former Bantamweight
world champions former IBF world Bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1,
with 12 Knockouts) and former WBO world Bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda
(31-1, with 19 Knockouts) in a twelve round bout to determine interim/regular
champion status in the WBA’s Bantamweight ratings. In their first fight in May
of this year McDonnell overcame a third round knockdown to win a twelve round
unanimous decision winning the fight by just one point on all three official
judges scorecards.
The first encounter between the two was an extremely
close fight that could have gone either way. It will be interesting to see whether
the rematch will resemble the first fight in that Kameda seemed to have the
edge in the early rounds, but it was McDonnell who was able to come on in the
middle and late rounds to win the fight. Although opinions differed among Boxing
fans and experts alike as to who won the first fight between the two, it was a
highly competitive battle that shined the spotlight on a weight class, the 118lb.
Bantamweight division that does not always receive the kind of exposure in the
United States as compared to other weight classes.
As was the case with the first fight, the rematch will be
televised as the co-feature of a Premier Boxing Champions card on CBS in the
United States. No matter what happens in this fight the increased exposure for
one of Boxing’s lower weight divisions, but an extremely competitive division
should be viewed as extremely positive for not only the fighters themselves,
but the sport overall.
An interesting doubleheader featuring two compelling
storylines. A former world champion in Anthony Dirrell looking to get back in
the win column going against a grizzled veteran in Marco Antonio Rubio who may
be fighting for his career. The second storyline a compelling rematch between Jamie McDonnell and Tomoki Kameda, two former world champions
in a fight that for the winner could lead to a potential world title
opportunity down the line.
We will see what happens on Sunday afternoon.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
Premier Boxing Champions: Dirrell-Rubio/McDonnell-Kameda
II takes place Sunday, September 6th at the American Bank Center in Corpus
Christi, TX. The card will be televised in the United States by CBS at 4PM
Eastern/ 1PM Pacific. Check your listings internationally.
For more information on the Premier Boxing Champions
series please visit: www.PremierBoxingChampions.com
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau
Denison All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment