While no one is going to dispute that Sporting events are not the same without the crowds surging in anticipation for what they are about to see, the Boxing world has rightly decided they cannot allow 2020 to slip through the cracks.
It has been a difficult year for everyone and that is the same for Boxers who fight for their living and so had to take pay cuts to ensure they were able to bring home some bacon.
Credit has to be given to those who have decided to not only get back in the ring, but to take on the big bouts that would usually have filled big Stadiums and ensured a heftier pay cheque. Those will return and hopefully sooner than later, but for now we continue to see some top quality Boxing being put together.
There have already been some decent announcements for January and we will then be looking forward to some very good fights in the first half of 2021 when the crowds may begin to slowly return. That should pave the way for a very good second half of the year and I am looking forward to at least attending one, and possibly two, mega fights which are surely going to come together over the next twelve months.
Before we think about 2021 and the kind of fights we would all love to see, we do have a couple of solid cards to close 2020.
Unsurprisingly interest in a potential third bout between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez is still very high and both of those big names are fighting on back to back nights. Don't be surprise that DAZN have decided to place GGG in that slot before Canelo Alvarez so the obvious call out can be made and that still looks like a big fight that will intrigue the masses.
I am expecting Golovkin to clear his mandatory, but Canelo is in a serious fight against Callum Smith, a fighter I have long rated pretty highly. The only disappointment I have in Smith is that he has not really built on his WBSS win in the manner I would have hoped as he has continued to wait for the big fights, but he remains King at 168 and this is a proper test for Canelo.
Saturday looks to have a couple of decent cards for us to enjoy, but the action begins on Friday and those who have signed up for DAZN should get plenty of value for money over the next couple of days.
John Ryder vs Mike Guy
The last time we saw John Ryder in the ring was when he was being harshly treated by the judges in a losing effort to Callum Smith.
Instead of perhaps fighting Canelo Alvarez for the 168 Titles, John Ryder returns to the ring the night before and is looking to 'shake off the rust' having been out of action for almost thirteen months.
There was a hope that Ryder may be able to earn a big fight to end 2020, but instead he will have to wait until 2021 as long as he can remain focused on Mike Guy. The American has a 1-2-5 record, but he has shown himself to be durable and hard to break down and that should mean John Ryder is able to put a few Rounds in the bank here.
'The Gorilla' from London had won four in a row since a Split Decision defeat to Rocky Fielding before being handed a Unanimous defeat by Callum Smith, but John Ryder, and many others, felt he had done enough to win that fight against the top fighter in the Super Middleweight Division. All four of his wins came by Stoppage and John Ryder was only pushed past the Fifth Round once so it is perhaps no surprise than many feel he is going to become the second man to stop Mike Guy.
However it should be noted that that sole stoppage came against Sergey Derevyanchenko in the Eighth Round and Mike Guy has gone the distance with heavy handed Kazakhstani Ali Akhmedov. Unbeaten Junior Younan is another who has been taken the distance by Mike Guy despite a strong Knock Out percentage.
You have to wonder how much Mike Guy has left in the tank at 39 years old, but he is a crafty veteran and he may just force John Ryder to have to get a few Rounds in here. There is a chance the additional two Rounds that this fight is scheduled for could see Ryder produce some late fireworks, but I would be a little surprised if he can win this one early at the same time.
If John Ryder is fully focused on the task at hand he may get Mike Guy out of there, but I do think the extended lay off could see him ease his way into the fight. The American has shown enough durability to believe he could get to the scorecards, but I can't rule out a late stoppage for the British fighter and the best approach may be looking for the fight to at least get into the second half of the scheduled Ten Rounds.
Ali Akhmedov vs Carlos Gongora
The aforementioned Ali Akhmedov is the chief support to compatriot and friend Gennady Golovkin on Friday evening and he will be looking to pick up a vacant IBO Super Middleweight Title.
He is up against another unbeaten fighter in Carlos Gongora, although you do have to wonder about the level of competition that the Ecuadorian has faced. There is no doubting that the punch power has been evident, but Gongora has largely been operating a pretty average level and this is a huge step up for him.
Ali Akhmedov has won eleven straight fights against opponents with a winning record and four of those have come against unbeaten opponents. No one will dispute the power of Akhmedov who has stopped twelve of his sixteen previous opponents and I do think this is the kind of showcase fight where most will expect his opponent to stand right in front of him and try and trade off.
That should give the favourite a chance to impress and I do think he is going to close the show on this latest fight pretty early.
I believe he will be the more skilful and his power is likely to be telling as Gongora tries to fight fire with fire.
Most are not offering much in terms of pricing for this one, but I do think there may be some value in looking for the fight to finish under the Total Rounds line set here as Ali Akhmedov looks to show his ability off to a wider audience on a card headlined by a popular fighter.
Gennadiy Golovkin vs Kamil Szeremeta
This is a mandatory Title defence that Gennadiy Golovkin was keen to get out of the way in 2020 and we would have likely seen it much earlier in the year if not for the pandemic that postponed so much of life for so many.
As soon as Canelo Alvarez made it clear that any trilogy fight with GGG would have to wait until 2021 at least, Gennadiy Golovkin was quick to arrange this bout and it goes on the night before Canelo Alvarez.
Make no mistake about it, Gennadiy Golovkin will be looking to make a statement and try and get people talking about his potential bout with Canelo Alvarez. He may have banned all talk about Canelo in the lead up to this fight, but it will be looming large in the mind and I do expect the Champion to really look to show there is plenty left in the tank.
Some have questioned that after a labouring win over Sergey Derevyanchenko, but the Ukrainian has given many fits and stylistically would have been a tough fight for Golovkin.
I simply don't think that will be the case on Friday as Number 1 contender Kamil Szeremeta looks to upset the odds. The Polish fighter is unbeaten in twenty-one, but there is very little that stands out on his resume and it does feel this may be a European level fighter.
When you go up against someone like GGG, you do want the power to at least give him something to think about, but Szeremeta has five stoppages in his wins. Everyone can pop, but I don't think he will make Golovkin take a backwards step and this may see the favourite run right through him.
Over the last three years we have seen Gennadiy Golovkin involved in some tough fights with Daniel Jacobs, Canelo (twice) and Derevyancheno, but all three of those opponents are levels above Kamil Szeremeta. During that time GGG has wiped out Vanes Martirosyan in Two Rounds and Steve Rolls in Four Rounds and he does look like he is in the shape to do the same to an opponent who won't really have enough to keep Golovkin at bay.
I would be extremely surprised if we get to the second half of this fight barring GGG really having lost a step- in fact I think Golovkin makes a big statement twenty-four hours before we next see Canelo Alvarez and he does that by clearing his mandatory at some point within the first Four Rounds.
Gilberto Ramirez vs Alfonso Lopez
It may not be on the card headed up by Gennadiy Golovkin, but Gilberto Ramirez is back on his own promotion for the first time in eighteen months.
There is a serious danger that the 40-0 Ramirez is going to be wasting his prime years as he continues to operate around a couple of tough Divisions, but has not really pushed on to take on the very elite.
His wins over Jesse Hart are decent, but both were very close and Ramirez has to look at 2021 as the year when he really looks to take on some of the best Light Heavyweights out there. He has already spoken about Dmitry Bivol being a potential opponent, but Ramirez has a bout here to shake off some of the ring rust that may have developed in his time out of the ring.
Gilberto Ramirez is taking on a veteran in Alfonso Lopez who may only have three defeats on his resume, but who has not really taken on anyone of note since fighting Kelly Pavlik back in 2011. Even that was against a faded Pavlik that had lost some of his early aura and ended up in a Majority Decision defeat for Lopez, but Gilberto Ramirez should be fresher and hit plenty hard enough to get through him without too many issues.
There is a NABF Light Heavyweight Title on the line that Alfonso Lopez won in his last fight in November 2019, but this is a big step up for him.
He has shown durability in the past, but Ramirez should be motivated to put on a show and can force the stoppage relatively early.
Jaron Ennis vs Chris van Heerden
It feels like Jaron Ennis has been around a lot longer than his 23 years of age would suggest, but the prospect is ready to take the next step in his development over the next twelve months.
He has called out some of the top names in the 147 Division, but Ennis is well respected within the community and that means most of those know he is high risk-low reward as far as the casual fans may go. Jaron Ennis has been building his name on the PBC cards over the last couple of years and any Boxer who has the Knock Out percentage that Boots carries is going to pick up a strong fan base.
This is another step up for him against a durable veteran Chris van Heerden, although it has been a long time since the South African has stepped into a fight of this magnitude. The defeat to Errol Spence Jr came five years ago and Chris van Heerden has not been very active since then and is also on short notice.
He showed courage before being beaten down by Spence Jr and I think it is going to be another fight where van Heerden has to show his durability if he is going to give Jaron Ennis some Rounds.
The Philadelphian has yet to move past the Sixth Round in his twenty-four professional fights, and I do think Ennis is going to be looking to make a statement and try and get this done quicker than Errol Spence Jr did. The prospect has not really made a big deal about that, but you can't ignore it being an additional motivation for Ennis and I think he is likely to close the show in the mid-Rounds.
the layers feel like it could end very early, but I think backing Ennis to win somewhere just before Errol Spence Jr managed to is the play here.
Canelo Alvarez vs Callum Smith
This is a legit fight for Canelo Alvarez who is finally returning to the ring after getting through a couple of legal disputes with former promoter Golden Boy and television network DAZN.
Ironically he is back on the same platform and he has decided to take on an opponent who many regard to be the very best at the Super Middleweight limit.
Four weeks notice has to be a concern for Smith fans and I do count myself one of those. He is a top fighter, although the fact he has not kicked on from winning the WBSS tournament is a concern.
So is the performance against John Ryder who has similar dimensions to Canelo Alvarez and that may have been the moment when the Mexican superstar decided he would take on this test.
Canelo is off a superb stoppage of Sergey Kovalev, but Callum Smith is expected to have a lot more left in the tank compared with the former Light Heavyweight king. We simply don't really know how good Smith is and I do worry that he won't take advantage of his obvious reach and size compared with Canelo.
It feels like the fight could go a similar way to the Kovalev one in being competitive early as counter punching Alvarez works his way through the gears. My concern for Callum Smith is that I think he will want to sit down on his punches and that means Canelo won't have to stalk him nearly as much as he did against Kovalev and eventually it could lead to some huge body damage.
No one can doubt how strong the Smith brothers are and they are willing to go through the fire to get to where they need to. Callum Smith should show the same, but he may not be able to last much longer than brother Liam who was stopped in the second half of the fight with Canelo a few years ago and in Texas too.
I do believe Callum Smith is the best of the brothers, but I've long felt he would have had to drain himself to make the 168 limit and this could leave him open to the body work especially with little time to really prepare. He has said he has always prepared for Canelo, but the whole fight has been dictated by the favourite and I think he is going to find the power late on to force an end.
There are other factors that also make the stoppage more likely (short notice means fighters prepare 'differently'), but it would be a big surprise if Canelo is able to blitz through a Boxer of the quality of Callum Smith. Instead it may be a wear down effect through the Twelve Rounds with the body work likely to be key as it was when Canelo stopped Rocky Fielding and Callum's brother Liam.
MY PICKS: John Ryder-Mike Guy Over 6.5 Total Rounds @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Ali Akhmedov-Carlos Gongora Under 6.5 Total Rounds @ 2.00 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Gennadiy Golovkin to Win Between 1-4 @ 2.50 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Gilberto Ramirez to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Jaron Ennis to Win Between 5-8 @ 2.62 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Canelo Alvarez to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.30 Paddy Power (2 Units)
