Ryan Garcia's upset loss to Rolly Romero has disrupted some of the plans that Turki Alalshikh may have had for later in the year, but Canelo Alvarez was able to come through his fight and we finally heard an official announcement for his next fight against Terence Crawford, which had long been rumoued.
The Time Square event did not work as well as would have been hoped, while there isn't much Canelo could have done about facing an opponent who literally refused to engage for Twelve Rounds. William Scull might have received much more respect for his performance if he had looked to win the fight, but it was clear almost immediately that he felt a win would be simply hearing the final bell.
In saying that, Canelo Alvarez did not exactly impress with his inability to cut off the ring nor his own output, or lack of output, and Bud Crawford has to feel pretty confident in earning the upset as he moves up a couple of Divisions.
The most interesting fight of the long weekend turned out to be the one featuring Naoya Inoue after his Second Round Knock Down- he came back very strongly to secure the Stoppage, but it is another reminder that fighters booking bouts down the line can come unstuck by tempting fate.
He is due back out on the same weekend that the Canelo-Crawford fight has been scheduled, although once again a clash will be avoided with the fight in Vegas taking place on Friday night and Naoya Inoue set to be out on Sunday in Japan or Saudi Arabia.
The weekend proved to be another tough one for the Boxing Picks in what has been a poor season so far- there is still more than half of the 2025 calendar year to get through, but it is still frustrating and something that needs to be turned around pretty quickly if the year is to end with another positive number.
May is another busy month of action and the usual mid-summer break looks a little shorter than usual with some decent cards set for June and July. That offers an opportunity for the Picks, although one that has to be carefully negotiated to get things moving in the direction we are aiming to go.
Anthony Cacace vs Leigh Wood
It has been a very different eighteen months for Anthony Cacace and Leigh Wood and that is down to the activity, or inactivity of the latter.
Of course Anthony Cacace has really put some momentum into his career very late on thanks to some big wins over Joe Cordina and Josh Warrington and those kind of wins have just pushed him to the forefront of the domestic scene. He had won a World Title as well, but Cacace decided to vacate that in order to chase the bigger paydays and one of those is coming up on Saturday.
Antony Cacace will be going into enemy territory, but he should be the more natural at the weight class with Leigh Wood moving up following a win over Warrington of his own.
He looked to be on the way to a defeat before finding a punch to force the Stoppage, but that fight took place in October 2023 and at 36 years old, you do have to wonder how much is left in the tank.
Eight Stoppages in twenty-three wins may suggest Anthony Cacace does not punch as hard as some of the others in and around the Super Featherweight Division, but that number has long been dismissed. Most accept that Cacace punches plenty hard and that could give him the edge in a bout where it should not take too long to find the other Boxer in the ring.
This is where we could see the inactivity hurt Leigh Wood and he was being hurt in recent fights.
There also has to be some concern that the Wood injuries have piled up over the last eighteen months and the fighter himself has spoken about his time coming to an end as a professional. No one will doubt his toughness and the home fans should be right behind Leigh Wood, but even that may not be enough to keep Anthony Cacace from building the momentum and a late Stoppage for the more active fighter is potentially the outcome.
On the undercard in Nottingham, Ezra Taylor can get the better of the contest with a fellow unbeaten fighter and he can continue his move up the Rankings with a Stoppage win.
All of the momentum looked to be behind Liam Davies, but he was upset in his last bout and is looking to bounce back against unbeaten Kurt Walker.
This is not going to be easy, but Davies has shown his qualities before the defeat to Shabaz Masoud and he may be able to break down an opponent stepping up a couple of levels.
We also have an event being run in San Diego which features a World Champion defending his title and another bout where an Interim World Champion will be crowned in what looks a pretty deep Lightweight Division.
Emanuel Navarrete has spoken about his struggles to make weight as the Super Featherweight World Champion, but a venture to Lightweight lasted a single fight when he was beaten for a vacant World Title. He came back to defend his WBO World Title with a crushing win over Oscar Valdez, but Navarrete had to make weight at a second attempt ahead of this defence.
His opponent is unbeaten, but at 36 years old, Charly Suarez is stepping multiple levels even if he has taken some encouragement from the fact the Champion is tight at the weight.
However, it is going to be very tough to keep Emanuel Navarrete from pushing forward and Charly Suarez may just find out how tough the World level can be.
There has been a long hope of how far Raymond Muratalla can go as a professional and the promoters are firmly behind him as he looks to pick up an Interim World Title.
This does feel like the time for Muratalla to really put some momentum into his career and he faces Zaur Abdullaev who has won nine fights in a row since his sole professional loss to Devin Haney.
At 31 years old, you have to think Abdullaev understands that he may not get too many more opportunities to join the elite in the Division and that should mean a willingness to push forward and see if he can put a dent in the unbeaten home fighter.
The problem is that Raymond Muratalla hits plenty hard and has been a pretty good finisher when that chance presents itself.
We should have a decent fight between two Boxers looking to move into a position to face some of the other Champions in and around the Lightweight Division, but the expectation is Raymond Muratalla can push through and secure a Stoppage to really make a statement to potential rivals.
After returning from a pretty bad beating at the hands of Brian Norman Jr, Giovanni Santillan should be able to make it two wins from two.
His Mexican opponent might offer a bit more resistance compared with Fredrick Lawson, but Santillan should still be able to move through the gears pretty quickly as he looks to get back with one of the Welterweight leading contenders.
MY PICKS: Anthony Cacace to Win by KO/TKO @ 4.33 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Ezra Taylor to Win by KO/TKO @ 1.80 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Liam Davies to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.10 William Hill (1 Unit)
Emanuel Navarrete to Win by KO/TKO @ 2.05 Bet365 (2 Units)
Raymond Muratalla to Win by KO/TKO @ 1.80 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Boxing 2025: 17-46, - 23.70 Units (77 Units Staked, - 30.78% Yield)
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