Next week will see card headlined by a genuine Undisputed World Title fight at Lightweight, but this week there is a World Champion defending his Middleweight crown and then a vacant Light-Welterweight crown to be handed out.
Last time out the main card that Boxing fans would have been tuning in for was the return of Canelo Alvarez and he won a comfortable Decision over John Ryder. However, you do have to feel that Canelo has definitely lost a step in the ring and his chase to have the rematch with Dmitry Bivol at 175 pounds looks like it will end the same way the original fight did last year.
The scorecards were close enough on that day to suggest that a slightly harder working performance from Canelo Alvarez could see him on the right end of some 'home cooking' if they are going to have a rematch, but at the moment the sticking point seems to be the weight. While Canelo wants to go back in for a Light Heavyweight World Title bid, Dmitry Bivol feels like the bigger motivation for him would be to go down to Super Middleweight and challenge for the Undisputed World Titles held by the Mexican superstar.
I do think money will talk at the end and they will meet in September, and Dmitry Bivol is likely to head into the bout as a big favourite too.
Another fighter that returned last week is Joshua Buatsi and he won a Decision after spending twelve months out of the ring. While he did not make excuses, I do think ring rust affected Buatsi and it might be a performance that tempts some of the big names at Light Heavyweight into the ring with him.
Anthony Yarde has to be the fight to make with the World Titles held up, but I think Joshua Buatsi's new promoters would rather get him out again quickly in the summer before pushing for the mandatory against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith WBC World Title fight which is also set to be placed in the calendar within the next three months.
Dan Azeez is a potential 'in house' option for a fight in the summer, and there are other options out there as Buatsi looks to get his career back on track.
The Picks had a mixed week last time out, but it was much of a muchness at the end of the weekend's fight card.
I feel one or two of the Picks last week were unfortunate losers, but a couple of solid winners effectively erased those and meant the slightest of losses on the week.
Despite that, I expect better from the selections and will be looking to regain some of the momentum that might have been slowed after last weekend.
Rolando Romero vs Ismael Barroso
The fracture of the World Titles in the Light Welterweight Division over the last ten months has led to a number of new faces holding those belts.
Next month the Lineal Champion Josh Taylor is back to defend the last of those Belts that he has been able to keep after becoming Undisputed Champion, but the likes of Regis Prograis, Subriel Matias and Alberto Puello have become World Champions in the Division.
Well that was the case until just a few days ago when Alberto Puello was stripped of his WBA World Title after failing a drugs test a few weeks ago. Originally Puello was allowed to keep hold of the Belt and his scheduled opponent, Rolando Romero, was set to fight for the Interim World Title.
That has changed now and this is now for the full World Title, even if some have complained that his opponent, Ismael Barroso, has been given this opportunity.
Rolly Romero has made it clear that if people are complaining they should not be watching and becoming a World Champion after losing his last fight to Gervonta Davis will be a huge bounce back effort from the American.
You can understand the frustrations of some of the fans that someone like Ismael Barroso is in this position considering he is not Ranked by any of the other governing bodies. At 40 years old, Barroso has clearly enjoyed his best days even if he has won four fights in a row since losing back to back bouts.
Stoppage defeats to Anthony Crolla in 2016 and Botirzhon Akhmedov in 2018 should have really ended Ismael Barroso's time at the top, while four wins since March 2019 is hardly indication of an active fighter.
His younger opponent has won fourteen fights and twelve of those have been in Stoppages, although Rolly Romero has to show he has recovered from a big Knock Out defeat to Gervonta Davis. In fairness to Romero, it was a competitive fight with Davis before the Sixth Round defeat and it is a bout that he wants to avenge, but the focus has to be on winning this World Title which will then open up some big opportunities for him in both the Lightweight and Light Welterweight Divisions.
I think Rolando Romero will work through the gears in this World Title fight and I do think he will eventually find the angles to break down the veteran southpaw. His last two Stoppage wins have both been in the Seventh Round and I do think he can wear down Ismael Barroso in the second half of this fight as the pressure and power of the younger fighter shines through.
The expectation is that Rolando Romero will call for the rematch with Gervonta Davis, but holding a World Title will see him involved in some big fights in the months ahead. He should win and I think Romero will do enough to get either the referee or corner to step in against an opponent who has been hurt to the body in his younger days.
I've already mentioned Botirzhon Akhmedov in relation to his win over Ismael Barroso and I am not surprised that he is a little perturbed to not have been offered this World Title shot instead.
He will be waiting some time with the winner of the main event already ordered to defend the Belt against Ohara Davies, but Akhmedov has to keep winning.
I am surprised he is the underdog against Kenneth Sims Jr in what is a crossroads fight and that is mainly because I do think Botirzhon Akhmedov has been in with a higher level of opponent.
The Split Decision loss to Alberto Puello and the Unanimous Decision to defeat to Mario Barrios are the only dents in his record and I just think Akhmedov can outwork and land the heavier shots to come away with the victory.
I am also expecting Rances Barthelemy to win his own crossroads fight with Omar Juarez as he bounces back from the defeat to Gary Antuanne Russell and give the veteran one more shot at getting into a position for a World Title bid in what is an open Light Welterweight Division.
There are other cards going out this weekend and one is headlined by Janibek Alimkhanuly who is defending his WBO Middleweight World Title as he looks to make it fourteen unbeaten.
The Champion looked pretty ordinary in his win over Denzel Bentley (although I would like to give Bentley more credit than that), but Alimkhanuly still believes he is being 'ducked' by the big names at 160 pounds.
All credit has to be given to Steven Butler for taking the opportunity to challenge for a World Title, but he has lost three times and all three by Stoppage. Two of those were a definite step up in level and that is what Butler is going to be facing on Saturday against a hard hitting World Champion.
I do think Janibek Alimkhanuly will want to end this fight quicker than Ryoto Murata was able to do against Steven Butler as he looks to call out some big names, but I think Alimkhanuly will have to bide his time and break down his opponent.
Backing the Champion to secure a mid-Round finish looks about right as he warms into his task and breaks down Steven Butler around the Sixth Round.
On Friday evening Queensberry Promotions are broadcasting an event from York Hall headed up by a European Cruiserweight contest between Ellis Zorro and Hosea Burton.
You have to believe the favourite has been set up to continue his unbeaten run and show another step in his progression, but Zorro will know this is going to be a tough test against Hosea Burton. The experience edge is with Burton having fought for British and European honours at the Light Heavyweight limit, although he did come up short more often than not.
Ellis Zorro has not been beyond Eight Rounds as a professional and so he will be tested in this scheduled Ten Rounder as he steps up his level of opponent.
We have Karol Itauma returning after a stunning defeat at Wembley Arena back in January and he should be a comfortable winner as long as there are not any mental demons lingering.
Losing is one thing, but the way Itauma was Stopped by Ezequiel Maderna will have had an impact on the young fighter and I am expecting a somewhat cautious return. He is not fighting a puncher, but Khalid Graidia might be stubborn enough to stick around for a few Rounds as Karol Itauma warms back to his task as a professional.
Once the confidence is restored, Karol Itauma may be able to get Graidia out of the there in the second half of the scheduled Eight Rounder and become the second man to Stop this opponent.
Talking of Ezequiel Maderna, he will be defending the WBC International Light Heavyweight Title won against Karol Itauma on the undercard on Friday evening. This time he takes on Willy Hutchinson who has won two in a row since an upset defeat of his own against Lennox Clarke.
That defeat came in the Super Middleweight Division and Hutchinson has earned a couple of early wins in his move up to Light Heavyweight.
Respect for Ezequiel Maderna will be easy considering what we all saw in January, but it also should be remembered why the Argentinian had been brought over to face Karol Itauma.
He has suffered ten career defeats and Maderna is someway removed from when he challenged Artur Beterbiev in a Four Round loss in 2016. More recently he had been Stopped in three of his previous seven fights before the upset over Itauma and while he is a dangerous, come forward fighter, Ezequiel Maderna is also pretty open which has to be hugely encouraging for a heavy hitting Willy Hutchinson.
The performance back in January could have spooked Willy Hutchinson a little bit and he may not want to exchange having been Stopped before by someone who has not been considered a big power puncher. However, I do think Hutchinson has been happier at this weight and Maderna's style could see the British fighter make a big statement with an early win.
There is also a bout in South Africa of some note on Saturday that is of interest and that is the return of Kevin Lerena for the first time his firefight with Daniel Dubois at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.
He was one or two big punches away from landing a huge Heavyweight upset, but Lerena is struggling to decide at which weight he really wants to operate.
This is a Bridgerweight fight that could see the winner set up to face Lukasz Rozanski who crushed Alen Babic to become the World Champion.
Kevin Lerena will not want to overlook Ryad Mehry who has an impressive record, although against a pretty basic set of opponents.
He was Stopped the one time he did step up and I think Mehry could be put to the sword by Lerena who has found more pop on his shots since moving out of the Cruiserweight Division and I think the home fighter could land enough to end this one inside the distance.
MY PICKS: Rolando Romero to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.75 William Hill (2 Units)
Botirzhon Akhmedov to Win @ 2.37 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Rances Barthelemy to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 2.25 Bet365 (2 Units)
Janibek Alimkhanuly to Win Between 5-8 @ 3.00 Coral (2 Units)
Karol Itauma to Win Between 5-8 @ 4.00 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Willy Hutchinson to Win Between 1-5 @ 4.00 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Kevin Lerena to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 3.50 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Boxing 2023: 22-32, - 2.22 Units (103 Units Staked, - 2.16% Yield)
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