It meant it was something of a quieter weekend after the two very good fights/events headlined by Joe Cordina and Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia a couple of weeks ago.
Joe Cordina has reclaimed his World Title in a very good fight and I am only a little disappointed that we are not going to get an immediate rematch in what was a competitive win over Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov. The reason I am not so upset is because Cordina is likely going to be moving into some very big fights in his Division as Unifications look to be in his future, while he could move up to 135 pounds over the next eighteen months where some more big fights could be waiting.
Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia is the most high-profile Boxing event of 2023 year so far and it did not disappoint in the main.
However, I think most Boxing fans will feel justified in picking Davis to win the bout having been comfortable from the moment he earned the Knock Down in the Second Round. Both fighters did their job in bringing in a very strong PPV number, but it has left Ryan Garcia in a tough spot as he looks for another new trainer and has to likely rebuild the reputation, even if he is going to be operating at 140 pounds in the foreseeable future.
Over the last twelve months, the World Titles have fractured in the Light-Welterweight Division after Josh Taylor had previously held all four Belts at the same time. He is still the WBC Champion and will be defending that Title in June, but Garcia will have options as a fairly highly Ranked contender in the WBA, an organisation whose Light-Welterweight Champion Alberto Puello has recently been found with a failed drug test.
The Interim World Champion is not going to be one of the very top names and I think that would be a good route for Ryan Garcia to go as he rebuilds confidence under a new trainer and can then lead to some big Unifications and a potential rematch with Gervonta Davis down the road.
The 'new face of Boxing' Tank Davis looks to have a lot more easy paths to tread, but we have yet to see him really go after Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson or Vasyl Lomachenko. The head of the Lightweight Division will be decided later in May when Haney and Lomachenko meet, but Gervonta Davis will know this is a loaded Division and he will have a chance to really strengthen his resume in the months ahead.
Hopefully the WBA Regular Champion will be forced to fight for the main World Title sooner than later and we could have some monster nights involving Davis, who has also fought at 140 and who may be thinking about a challenging move to the Welterweight Division once Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr get their acts together.
The current 'face of Boxing' will be back in the ring on Saturday as Canelo Alvarez returns to Mexico for the first time in over a decade.
Joshua Buatsi headlines a Boxxer card in the United Kingdom on the same evening at the start of a good looking month.
Both of the big names headlining are hoping that this weekend is the one that will create the path to the huge nights they are looking for, but overlooking the opponent in the opposite corner would be a mistake.
Two weeks ago, a 4-3 record returned a solid profit for the Boxing Picks, although I am still trying to turn this season back around to produce a positive return to back up the decent returns in 2022.
Moving back into the black before the halfway mark of the calendar year is the aim, but it does take patience too.
I don't need to get it all back this weekend, but another winning weekend will be well received of course.
Canelo Alvarez vs John Ryder
Eight months have passed since Canelo Alvarez beat rival Gennady Golovkin again to retain his status as Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion and he will be returning to fight in Mexico for the first time since November 2011 when crushing Kermit Cintron in Five Rounds.
Some were hoping that May would be the time when Canelo Alvarez would look to rematch Dmitry Bivol having lost an Unanimous Decision to the Light Heavyweight Champion in May 2022. Instead that fight looks likely to take place at the end of the summer, which means Alvarez decided to get one of his Mandatory challengers out of the way.
To dismiss John Ryder would be a mistake and The Gorilla deserves this shot with some believing he should have been the one to welcome Canelo Alvarez into the Super Middleweight Division instead of Callum Smith having lost a very controversial Decision to his fellow Brit.
Canelo Alvarez ended up with a wide Decision win over Callum Smith to take the second of the 168 trinkets he now carries.
These two share some common opponents and John Ryder has momentum with a four fight unbeaten run behind him since the defeat to Smith in 2019. The only negative has to be that he has not been as active as he perhaps should have been, but wins over Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker in 2022 will have given the Londoner a lot of confidence.
This is another step up, even if some believe Canelo Alvarez is now on the slide, and I do think the Undisputed Champion is still very comfortable dealing with an opponent like John Ryder.
The latter will want to make things rough and get inside, while his being a Southpaw might be a factor that is overplayed.
John Ryder is tough, but he won't be hard for Canelo Alvarez to find and I do think the Champion is going to want to put on a show for the home fans once he gets through a couple of Rounds to just get his rhythm going.
The likes of Billy Joe Saunders, Liam Smith and Callum Smith have lasted a number of Rounds with Canelo Alvarez, even though two of those were eventually Stopped, and I do think that is more likely the outcome for John Ryder than the blowout loss suffered by Rocky Fielding at the hands of Canelo.
Early Stoppages have been harder for Canelo Alvarez as he has moved up in weight and I do think John Ryder is tough enough to get past the halfway mark in this one. He has only been Stopped once before, but Alvarez is a sharpshooter who will not find it too difficult to find John Ryder in front of him and I do think Ryder will begin to feel the force of the shots by the Fourth/Fifth Round.
A couple of rough moments may be needed for this selection to succeed, but I will look for Ryder to tough out those occasions before eventually being overwhelmed.
Unsurprisingly there is a decent undercard also put together for this big event in Mexico.
Gabriel Valenzuela will be given plenty of support as he takes on Steve Sparks and this has all of the makings of a fan friendly fight.
I think both will feel they have the power to wear down and stop their opponent and I do think the fighters will decide the fight rather than the judges score cards. It would only be a surprise if any Stoppage comes early and I think this fight is likely to come to a conclusion in the second half of the bout.
The fighter I am looking forward to seeing back in the ring is Oleksandr Gvozdyk, the former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion. The Nail was finally hammered down by Artur Beterbiev in their Unification in October 2019 which ended his unbeaten professional record, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk spent over three years out of the ring before returning with a Six Round win in February.
He was genuinely winning the fight with Beterbiev before being Stopped in the Tenth Round, and I am hoping we are going to see the Ukrainian return to the top of the Division to force some big Championship bouts in the months ahead.
We will know plenty about Gvozdyk after this fight with Ricards Bolotniks who is a solid pro that has won European Titles in this Division and managed to go Eleven Rounds with Joshua Buatsi before being Stopped last year.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk at his best would have had too much for Ricards Bolotniks and I do think he can show that he has returned with big ambitions in mind by ending this one within the scheduled Ten Rounds.
Julio Cesar Martinez is defending his Flyweight World Title and he is looking for a big performance after some underwhelming outings. Going up in weight to drop a Decision to Roman Gonzalez will have dented some of the confidence, but the Martinez narrow win over Samuel Carmona when returning to his own Division was perhaps a touch more concering.
He has been given an opportunity to impress on this card as he faces Ronal Batista before a potential Unification with Sunny Edwards later in the year.
The home fighter tends to be someone who will wear down opponents rather than blitz through them very early and I think that will lead to a mid-Round finish in this one as Martinez looks to impress his home fans.
Joshua Buatsi vs Pawel Stepien
After a year out of the ring and a change in promoter, Joshua Buatsi is making his debut for Boxxer and looking to get into a position to earn a World Title bid sooner rather than later.
Eddie Hearn was critical of the departing Buatsi for failing to take him up on an offer to challenge Dmitry Bivol for the Light Heavyweight World Title, but Joshua Buatsi has moved on and wants to face the winner of the upcoming Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith WBC World Title fight.
Those plans will be in tatters if Joshua Buatsi is not able to beat Pawel Stepien with both fighters putting unbeaten records on the line.
However, unlike Buatsi, Pawel Stepien has not really fought at a great level and his first fight outside of his home nation will be a challenge.
Pawel Stepien was set to face Callum Smith before an injury forced the withdrawal of the latter and I think he was being brought over to make Smith look good.
I think similar plans are in place here and Joshua Buatsi will also know he is going to need to impress to get people to sit up and take notice of him again. Anthony Yarde's performance in coming up short against Artur Beterbiev in January has raised his stock, while Joshua Buatsi has been far too inactive, and the latter will have to remind the public of his talent.
A year out of the ring may mean Joshua Buatsi may need a couple of Rounds to just shake off the ring rust, but I expect he will then be able to get to work.
I expect Pawel Stepien to have some resistance, but Buatsi can wear him down and I am looking for him to earn the Stoppage in the mid-Rounds.
Ben Whittaker has had a slow start to his professional career after picking up an injury and will return for the first time since August 2022.
He says he is feeling a lot stronger and I do think he will have too much for Jordan Grant who has been beaten by Tommy Fury and Stopped by John Docherty. We have already seen Whittaker need Six Rounds to win a fight, but I think this is going to be the start of a busy year for the big signing made by Boxxer and they will be looking for him to close the show in the first half of this scheduled Six Rounder.
MY PICKS: Canelo Alvarez to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.20 Coral (2 Units)
Gabriel Valenzuela-Steve Sparks Either Fighter to Win Between 6-10 @ 2.37 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Oleksandr Gvozdyk to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.50 Bet365 (2 Units)
Julio Cesar Martinez to Win Between 5-8 @ 3.50 Coral (2 Units)
Joshua Buatsi to Win Between 5-8 @ 2.62 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Ben Whittaker to Win Between 1-3 @ 2.40 Bet365 (2 Units)
Boxing 2023: 20-29, - 2.02 Units (93 Units Staked, - 2.17% Yield)
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