It will mean that we have not seen Jermall Charlo in the ring for over twelve months as he waited out an opportunity to face Canelo Alvarez, but that doesn't look like coming to fruition any time soon and the American needs to be more active.
His absence has come at a time when twin brother Jermell has become an Undisputed Champion in the Light Middleweight Division and arguably become the more sellable of the two. Considering where the two would have been placed a year ago, you can see how inactivity has hurt Jermall and we will have to wait a little while longer before he is involved in a big fight.
While this is feeling like a quieter weekend of Boxing after some of the solid shows we have had over the last couple of months, there is still a massive Undisputed fight taking place in the Light Heavyweight Division.
Dmitry Bivol has already shown the world the kind of calibre of Champions in this Division when he comfortably beat Canelo Alvarez, but Artur Beterbiev has long been considered the King of the 175ers.
Joe Smith Jr is another popular name and their Unification is going to move the Light Heavyweights that much closer to a Super Fight with all of the belts on the line either later this year or early in 2023.
Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr
Right now you would say there are three Light Heavyweights that will have to duke it out to see who is the best of the best in the 175 pound Division.
More critical people may even suggest it comes down to a straight shoot out between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev to decide the King of the Light Heavyweights and that argument could be made when you think Bivol holds a win over Joe Smith Jr, the opponent facing Beterbiev this weekend who also holds one of the World Title Belts.
Gilberto Ramirez and Callum Smith may have something to say about who should be the headliner in the Division, but the reality is that we are likely one fight away from determining the best fighter in this weight class. And that will be the winner of this one on Saturday facing off against Dmitry Bivol with all four World Titles on the line.
I am hopeful we will get there and this Unification on Saturday has all of the makings of a brutal slugfest.
Not many would choose to stand trade with Artur Beterbiev who has yet to hear the final bell in his pro career and who has fought and stopped some solid names. However, one person who shouldn't be too hard to find is Joe Smith Jr, who buzzed Dmitry Bivol late on in what was otherwise a one-sided win for the WBA World Champion.
That power cannot be underestimated and we did see Beterbiev put down by Callum Johnson and look pretty hurt, although that is the only time we have really seen that happen.
There is no doubting the heart that Joe Smith Jr will likely show too, but I cannot help think that he is not going to have faced someone who hits as hard as Artur Beterbiev. Standing in front of the Russian fighter just seems a bad move all around, but Smith Jr only fights one way and I think that is going to lead to a dismantling and an eventual stoppage in favour of Artur Beterbiev.
Joe Smith Jr has to be respected and has some decent wins behind him, but I think a crude, pretty basic style is going to be tailor-made for Artur Beterbiev who hits plenty hard.
Artur Beterbiev is 37 years old now though and you always have to wonder if Father Time will catch up with on any given night. He hasn't had a lot of wear and tear on his body though, but I do think the age has meant he has taken a little longer to perhaps get into his groove and really start digging home with the big shots.
Only two of his first fourteen opponents were able to make it out of the Fifth Round, but each of his last three have lasted at least Nine Rounds. Some of that is down to the increased level of competition, but Adam Deines and Marcus Browne are perhaps a tier or two below Joe Smith Jr in terms of their ability to stick in a fight and I do think the American will not go down easily.
Ultimately everyone has eventually gone down.
Only one fighter has even made it to the last Round against Artur Beterbiev, but I would be surprised if he is able to get Joe Smith Jr out of there much earlier than his last three opponents. Joe Smith Jr was stopped in the Fourth Round early in his career, and there was a feeling that Dmitry Bivol could have forced a stoppage in the second half of their fight before being buzzed late on.
I just don't think Artur Beterbiev is nearly as likely to 'coast' in this one as it felt Dmitry Bivol was doing late on and I think he will get this fight won in the second half of the scheduled Twelve Rounds.
The main undercard bout features stand out amateur Robeisy Ramirez continue his pro career.
He has bounced back from a debut defeat and Ramirez is clearly on a fast track to the top of the Featherweight Division, but this is not going to be an easy test against the undefeated American Abraham Nova.
Both will feel this is a step up in their level of competition, but the feeling is that Ramirez has the skills to edge past Nova in what should be a very good undercard bout. He has made up for that sole loss on the record by beating Adan Gonzalez over Six Rounds, and I just think he will flash at times to impress the judges, although the Boxing Pick will solely come from the main event.
On Friday evening, we have the latest of a series of boxing events that are going to be shown on UK terrestrial television that are being promoted by Wasserman Boxing.
It is the chance to try and build some big local names and two fighters are on the same card in Liverpool looking to put a spark back in their careers.
Both Josh Kelly and Nathan Gorman were earning some big headlines before devastating Knock Out losses on their resumes.
Josh Kelly certainly had a big reputation and looked to be fast tracked into the World Title scene, but after a fifteen month lay off during the Covid pandemic, he was obliterated by David Avanesyan in Six Rounds. The feeling was that the fight was coming too soon, but the manner of the loss would have really hurt and he has not been out since that defeat in February 2021.
He returns having had an opponent pull out of a bout at the last minute last month, but Josh Kelly is now operating at the Light Middleweight limit. You have to expect he is going to be given an opponent that can help shake off some of the ring rust, although they have picked Peter Kramer who has been pulled down from the Middleweight Division.
Peter Kramer has fought a couple of times in the UK over the last ten months and took opponents to the cards on both occasions, although those were over Six Rounds and this has been scheduled for Ten. His two previous stoppages have come pretty early, but one of those was in the Fourth Round against Sam Eggington and it may take Josh Kelly a little bit longer to really get his timing and feeling back in the ring.
The layers expect an early night, but Josh Kelly may need a little longer than that and I think it is worth a small interest in this one getting a few Rounds under his belt before finding a Stoppage somewhere in the middle of the contest.
Nathan Gorman's career has really stalled since his early defeat to Daniel Dubois and this is only his third fight since that defeat all the way back in July 2019.
It has been fifteen months since we last saw Gorman in the ring when he was beating Pavel Sour in the Second Round and he is fighting another Czech on his return.
Tomas Salek has won the Czech Heavyweight Title and defended that in a Ten Rounder on the cards against the aforementioned Sour last time out.
However, Salek should not pose too many problems for Nathan Gorman having been stopped in the Third Round by Kash Ali and I expect the fast hands of the British fighter to get this one done pretty quickly. If his promoters have any sense, Nathan Gorman will be fighting at least two more times in 2022, and perhaps even throwing a third fight, and the boxer himself has talked about getting into the mix in a deepish Heavyweight Division so will know he needs to be as active as possible.
I am not expecting too many problems for Gorman and I will look for this contest to end before the Fourth Round begins.
MY PICKS: Artur Beterbiev to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.20 Bet365 (2 Units)
Josh Kelly to Win Between 5-6 @ 4.50 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Nathan Gorman-Tomas Salek Under Four Rounds @ 2.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Boxing 2022: 24-36, + 20.86 Units (109 Units Staked, + 19.14% Yield)
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