Boxing TV Guide: Heather Hardy Takes Center Ring as Women Invade Boxing
Boxing TV Guide: Heather Hardy Takes Center Ring as Women Invade Boxing
Boxing promoters hope Heather Hardy will be the next Ronda Rousey. She headlines a wacky weekend of fighting.
Ronda Rousey changed the game for fight promotion in the United States. Her emergence as a superstar made women a valuable commodity for the first time in decades and she quickly became the most famous fighter in the game.
Today you can find women up and down the card for the UFC and its competitors, even headlining television bouts and pay-per-view. And they deserve it. It turns out that women are just as scrappy, courageous and aggressive as men--at least when they strap on gloves and come to fight.
Boxing, however, has been slow to adapt. Finally, however, Lou DiBella and Al Haymon are jumping into the fray. Heather Hardy is the chosen one--but whether she emerges as a major star or not is sort of beside the point. A boxing promoter is at least willing to try. That's a big first step towards a bright future.
Hardy, of course, isn't the only fighter competing this weekend. There are some amazing fights all over the television dial. That's why we're here. We'll tell you what's worth watching and even who will win--and why.
Jarrell Miller (17-0-1, 15 KOs) vs. Fred Kassi (18-5-1, 10 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 19th
Network: Showtime
Promoter:
Undercard bouts: Antonio Nieves (16-0-1) vs. Alejandro Santiago (11-2-1), Bakhtiyar Eyubov (10-0) vs. Karim Mayfield (19-3-1), Bahodir Mamadjonov (19-2) vs. Mason Menard (31-1)
Interest Level: High
This is an amazing, amazing card filled with some straight up wacky fights--and even a few really good fighters. Buried on this card are gems like Menard/Mamadjonov. One is a resurrected Uzbek brawler who's career was almost sunk by Don King, the other a fighter who unexpectedly scored a KO of the year contender earlier this year on ShoBox. How can it miss?
Karim Mayfield was once a contender for Floyd Mayweather Jr.s farewell bout last year. Now he's on a Showtime undercard. That's a pretty steep decline.
And all that's before we get to the main event, with kickboxer Jarrell Miller being in very deep for the first time against spoiler Fred Kassi. Should be a cracking show.
Main Event Prediction: Fred Kassi by 6th Round KO
Heather Hardy (17-0, 4 KOs) vs. Shelly Vincent (18-0, 1 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 21st
Network: NBC Sports Network
Promoter: DiBella Entertainment/Haymon Boxing
Undercard bouts: Claudio Marrero (20-1) vs. Derrick Murray (13-0-1)
Interest Level: Medium
Yes folks, a women's boxing match on a real network! This is for some sort of trinket in the terminally damaged sport of women's professional boxing, but I'm not sure what it means in the big picture. Perhaps in the near future, being more acquainted with women's boxing will be a requirement and we can all talk about it with more depth. For now, it is a far second place in the women's fight game behind MMA here in the United States. Hardy apparently throws a ton of punches, so this will at least be entertaining while it goes to decision.
Main Event Prediction: Heather Hardy by Unanimous Decision
Errol Spence (20-0, 17 KOs) vs. Leonard Bundu (33-1-2, 12 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 21st
Network: NBC
Promoter: DiBella Entertainment/Haymon Boxing
Undercard bouts: None
Interest Level: Not actually high, but I wish it was?
Why? Why fights like this? PBC consistently shoots themselves in the foot booking mindless fights like this one. Sure, Bundu is a ranked contender according to the geniuses at the IBF. I get that. But god, really, this on NBC?
Spence is bigger, faster, stronger, better in every way than the 41(!) year old Bundu. For this prediction, we're going to use history as a guide. In 2011, Nonito Donaire won every single round against an inactive Omar Narvaez, who chose to go into a defensive shell and stay there the entire fight. Three years later, Narvaez finally stepped into the ring with a world class fighter again, the spectacular Naoya Inoue. Narvaez was obliterated in 2 rounds.
Bundu is Narvaez, Spence is Inoue. This should be a whalloping.
Main Event Prediction: Errol Spence by 4th Round KO
Caleb Plant (13-0, 10 KOs) vs. Juan De Angel (18-4-1, 17 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 23rd
Network: Fox Sports 1
Promoter: King's Boxing/Haymon Boxing
Undercard bouts: Earl Newman (9-0) vs. Leo Hall (8-1), Junior Castillo (10-1) vs. Khurshid Abdullaev (7-1-1)
Interest Level: Low
Caleb Plant is slowly moving up the ranks, making another appearance here for PBC in a step up against Juan De Angel. De Angel isn't totally bad --he has a win over Jose Pinzon, and that guy is at least a decent gatekeeper sort. So Plant is probably going to face at least some resistance. Will he land a KO shot against De Angel? I sense no, but he should be able to connect solidly and give himself a chance to.
Main Event Prediction: Caleb Plant by Unanimous Decision
Today you can find women up and down the card for the UFC and its competitors, even headlining television bouts and pay-per-view. And they deserve it. It turns out that women are just as scrappy, courageous and aggressive as men--at least when they strap on gloves and come to fight.
Boxing, however, has been slow to adapt. Finally, however, Lou DiBella and Al Haymon are jumping into the fray. Heather Hardy is the chosen one--but whether she emerges as a major star or not is sort of beside the point. A boxing promoter is at least willing to try. That's a big first step towards a bright future.
Hardy, of course, isn't the only fighter competing this weekend. There are some amazing fights all over the television dial. That's why we're here. We'll tell you what's worth watching and even who will win--and why.
Jarrell Miller (17-0-1, 15 KOs) vs. Fred Kassi (18-5-1, 10 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 19th
Network: Showtime
Promoter:
Undercard bouts: Antonio Nieves (16-0-1) vs. Alejandro Santiago (11-2-1), Bakhtiyar Eyubov (10-0) vs. Karim Mayfield (19-3-1), Bahodir Mamadjonov (19-2) vs. Mason Menard (31-1)
Interest Level: High
This is an amazing, amazing card filled with some straight up wacky fights--and even a few really good fighters. Buried on this card are gems like Menard/Mamadjonov. One is a resurrected Uzbek brawler who's career was almost sunk by Don King, the other a fighter who unexpectedly scored a KO of the year contender earlier this year on ShoBox. How can it miss?
Karim Mayfield was once a contender for Floyd Mayweather Jr.s farewell bout last year. Now he's on a Showtime undercard. That's a pretty steep decline.
And all that's before we get to the main event, with kickboxer Jarrell Miller being in very deep for the first time against spoiler Fred Kassi. Should be a cracking show.
Main Event Prediction: Fred Kassi by 6th Round KO
Heather Hardy (17-0, 4 KOs) vs. Shelly Vincent (18-0, 1 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 21st
Network: NBC Sports Network
Promoter: DiBella Entertainment/Haymon Boxing
Undercard bouts: Claudio Marrero (20-1) vs. Derrick Murray (13-0-1)
Interest Level: Medium
Yes folks, a women's boxing match on a real network! This is for some sort of trinket in the terminally damaged sport of women's professional boxing, but I'm not sure what it means in the big picture. Perhaps in the near future, being more acquainted with women's boxing will be a requirement and we can all talk about it with more depth. For now, it is a far second place in the women's fight game behind MMA here in the United States. Hardy apparently throws a ton of punches, so this will at least be entertaining while it goes to decision.
Main Event Prediction: Heather Hardy by Unanimous Decision
Errol Spence (20-0, 17 KOs) vs. Leonard Bundu (33-1-2, 12 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 21st
Network: NBC
Promoter: DiBella Entertainment/Haymon Boxing
Undercard bouts: None
Interest Level: Not actually high, but I wish it was?
Why? Why fights like this? PBC consistently shoots themselves in the foot booking mindless fights like this one. Sure, Bundu is a ranked contender according to the geniuses at the IBF. I get that. But god, really, this on NBC?
Spence is bigger, faster, stronger, better in every way than the 41(!) year old Bundu. For this prediction, we're going to use history as a guide. In 2011, Nonito Donaire won every single round against an inactive Omar Narvaez, who chose to go into a defensive shell and stay there the entire fight. Three years later, Narvaez finally stepped into the ring with a world class fighter again, the spectacular Naoya Inoue. Narvaez was obliterated in 2 rounds.
Bundu is Narvaez, Spence is Inoue. This should be a whalloping.
Main Event Prediction: Errol Spence by 4th Round KO
Caleb Plant (13-0, 10 KOs) vs. Juan De Angel (18-4-1, 17 KOs)
Key Info
Date: August 23rd
Network: Fox Sports 1
Promoter: King's Boxing/Haymon Boxing
Undercard bouts: Earl Newman (9-0) vs. Leo Hall (8-1), Junior Castillo (10-1) vs. Khurshid Abdullaev (7-1-1)
Interest Level: Low
Caleb Plant is slowly moving up the ranks, making another appearance here for PBC in a step up against Juan De Angel. De Angel isn't totally bad --he has a win over Jose Pinzon, and that guy is at least a decent gatekeeper sort. So Plant is probably going to face at least some resistance. Will he land a KO shot against De Angel? I sense no, but he should be able to connect solidly and give himself a chance to.
Main Event Prediction: Caleb Plant by Unanimous Decision