This Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, boxing takes center stage as Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte is the main event of the show promoted by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing. Joshua is the 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Super Heavyweight division, and at 14-0 as a professional, he is one of the hottest prospects world-wide among the heavyweights. Whyte is basically unheralded, but he owns an win over Joshua in the amateur ranks and he has done a good job as a professional, running his record to 16-0. Whyte has done his job promoting the fight as well, as he has made it clear that he does not like Joshua.
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The interim WBA World Lightweight title is on the line between Kevin Mitchell (39-3) and Ismael Barroso (18-0-2) in a match that promoter Eddie Hearn is calling a “50/50 fight”. Mitchell is 0-3 in World title fights and he is hoping that the fourth time is the charm. Barroso is a well traveled veteran who has managed to remain undefeated despite fighting on the road a great deal, and this is his first attempt at a world title belt.
Veteran Paulie Malignaggi (34-7) is set to face late replacement Antonio Moscatiello for the vacant EBU European title. Malignaggi, the popular Brooklynite of Italian descent is trying to fulfill a goal of his and that is to win a major European title. Malignaggi made his debut in Italy this past September, and though Moscatiello is a late replacement, the new opponent is eight years younger than original opponent Gianluca Branco.
Luke Campbell is the other 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist on the card, as the undefeated Brit faces the experienced Yvan Mendy (32-4-1) in the first defense of his WBC International Lightweight title. Mendy is making his first appearance fighting in ther UK, and he has lost the only two fights he has ever done outside of his native France.
The card also counts on British veterans Tony Bellew, Dereck Chisora and Chris Eubank Jr. in what is one of the bigger cards of the year. Eubank Jr (20-1) faces Gary O’Sullivan (22-1) in a middleweight bout that is expected to yield the next challenger for the WBO World title. Cruiserweight Tony Bellew continues his climb up the rankings, having moved up a weight class recently. In veteran Mateusz Masternak (36-3), Bellew faces his stiffest test yet as a Cruiser, and the vacant EBU title is on the line. Chisora, the enigmatic Heavyweight, is stepping into the ring after just seven days, having fought Peter Erdos for five rounds on Dec. 5 in Germany. This will be the veteran’s fourth fight of 2015 as he continues his “comeback” since a November of 2014 match with Tyson Fury.
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Eleven total fights are on the schedule for Saturday, and most of the card is already up at the sport books. Check out our latest video blog where we review the odds for the O2 Arena show this Saturday.
