July 16 - ESPN2 6:00
Bryant Brannon vs. Demetrius Davis
Bryant is doing the popular and in thing that alot of boxers are doing now a days. Going
the retread route and fighting someone he has stopped before. (Why not, isn't that what
Julio Cesar Chavez did last week-end?) He stopped Davis in 4 rounds back in Feb of 94, and
I guess he thinks we've forgotten. So what are the chances he'll do it again? Odds are . .
.YUP!
Bryant is a descent super middleweight trying to position himself for a possible title
shot sometime in the near future. What better way to do that then look good stopping
someone cold. His only loss was to an overpowering Roy Jones Jr. in Oct 96.
How about Davis? Davis isn't the same fighter he was when Bryant stopped him before. He
looked pretty impressive in Apr of 98 in his decision win over Joseph Kiwanuka, and his
points loss to Thomas Tate last Oct. He has mediocre speed, and weak power. Bryant has the
mental edge over Davis, and expect a short night for Bryant.
Bryant inside 7
July 16 - Fox Sports
10:00
David Reid vs. Kevin Kelly
This is David's first defense since winning the title from Laurent
Boudouani last March (against my prediction). David since then has had surgery on
the droopy eye syndrome, and is supposed to be %100 now. Kevin Kelly is a nobody from down
under who has fought nobody's up to this time. Look at Kevin's record = 23-5-1 with 10
KO's. No big power puncher, and so why does he get a shot at Reid's title? Hmmm, let's
see. . .
Kevin is ranked #1 by the WBA! What!!! You have GOT to be kidding me. And the guy David
beat for the title is ranked 4th! Kevin isn't even in the top 15 with the IBF, or ranked
in the top 10 with the WBC. It's the Don King WBA at work. Needless to say, Reid will get
another easy inside the distance win in a less than competitive fight.
Reid inside 5
July 17 - HBO 10:30
Fernando Vargas vs. Raul Marquez
Honestly, I feel VERY sorry for poor Raul. Fernando is going to KILL the poor
kid. Fernando is THE hottest jr middleweight out there, and nobody can touch the
unstoppable force dubbed Ferocious. He is currently 16-0 with 16KO's. That's metric for a
%100 KO to win ratio!! He stopped Yori Boy Campas last December to win the title, and has
defended the title once since then. He doesn't like it when people talk crap at press
conferences, and STUPID Raul did just that. Oh my . . .
Raul Marquez is an esteemed fighter in his own right. He was a 92 Silver Medallist, and
former a world champion too. But you got to remember, the title Fernando took from Yori
boy, Yori Boy took from Raul. Yori Boy stopped Raul in 8 in Dec of 97 to claim the title
from Raul. And Raul THINKS he has a chance against Fernando? Like I opened with, I feel
VERY sorry for poor Raul.
Vargas inside 5
David Tua vs. Gary Bell
David rounds off my top 5 favorite heavyweights. This banger from new Zealand owns
stoppages over John Ruiz (in 19 seconds of the 1st round in March of 96), David Izonritei
(now David Izon) in the 12th in Dec of 96, Oleg Maskaev (a possible Tyson opponent
this Oct) in the 11th in Apr of 97, and most recently, Hasim Rahman in the 10th last Dec.
It doesn't matter what round, the boy is dangerous. His only pro loss was to my all time
favorite heavy today Ike Ibeabuchi in June of 97. He went a grueling 12 rounds with the
Ike'ster and came up short in the eyes of the judges.
David is similar in stature and in hunger as Tyson of old. He has the skills and the
ability to make BIG waves in the heavyweight division, a division of old blood and geezers
that just will not go away! David also fights out of the Duva stable.
Gary Bell . . . hmmm Gary Bell. Isn't that the dude Tua stopped in 10 seconds?
Just kidding . . . Gary's only win of any significance is over Louis Monaco in July of 97.
Remember Louis? He was the guy who was DQ'd for hitting Buster Douglas after the bell in
the 1st round, and after a 5 minute rest, Buster couldn't continue. Yeah, that Louis. Gary
fought him 2 months after that fiasco and did score a decision off Lou.
So what!
Gary cannot match the speed, power or tenacity of a Tua.
Tua will ring Gary's bell in the blink of an eye.
Tua inside 3
In Retrospect:
Bryant Brannon vs. Demetrius Davis
Unfortunately, this fight didn't happen. Instead, James Butler stopped Merqui Sosa
in 2 rounds. That kinda sucks. Not just the fact that the fight was cancelled, but I used
to e-mail Merqui's wife Jean a lot and Merqui was kinda of a Homie of mine. What makes it
worse is poor Merqui dropped from Light Heavy to Super Middle and still lost.
David Reid vs. Kevin Kelly
As predicted. Well, almost. Kelly proved to be more the foe than Reid expected. Reid puts
his hands down and sticks his tongue out and three seconds later he is sitting on his ass!
From what I have read, Reid looked amateurish in a most lackluster performance against an
"artificial" top ten contender. Vargas would like a shot at Reid. At this rate
he'd kill the wanna be clownboy David. Correct that, at ANY rate, Ferocious Fernando would
kill ANY Jr Middleweight out there!!
I expected David to walk through this guy, considering Kelly has had no world experience
and less than stellar power. But David proved two things:
(1) He can go down by mediocre power.
(2) Take the fight to him and he may fold.
enough said.
Fernando Vargas vs. Raul Marquez
Almost as expected. It is obvious to me Fernando had an agenda. I have no problem with
that. He wanted to:
(1) Shut up his detractors.
(2) Prove he can go the distance.
He did just that. Fernando in the first 2 rounds set the pace for the next 9. He held off
Raul to landing only 5 punches in 6 minutes. 5 punches. Fernando picked his shot, and cut
up poor Raul. He never turned it up though. Fernando wasn't landing those devastating
combinations like usual, just boxing pretty and winning not only rounds, but EVERY second
of every round. He waited until the 11th, and when that first overhand right landed, and
saw Raul was stunned, he unloaded and destroyed the former champion. He hurt poor Raul so
bad, the boy announced that this would be his last bout. Not only did Ferocious make him
quit the bout . . . he made him quit the sport.
Kudos to the greatest jr middleweight on the planet!!
I predict Fernando will be the next undisputed jr middleweight champion of the world by
the end of 2000.
Next stop . . . David Reid.
David Tua vs. Gary Bell
Exactly as predicted. David attacked with hand speed and sheer power. The unintentional
butt cut Gary's eye, but that's all fluff. The power hooks and overhand rights did the
job. Did the job in 97 seconds I might add.
Now who want's Tua? That remains to be seen. I would like to see him in with Lennox Lewis,
Michael Grant or even Chris Byrd. Especially Chris Byrd =)
