WBO Super Lightweight Champion Terence Crawford (26-0) climbs back into the ring to defend his title against the challenge of Dierry Jean (29-1) in his home town of Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford appears on most of the respected top 10 pound for pound lists and he is on a short list of fighters whose talent are considered capable of dominiating the sport. Whether he does or not remains to be seen. Crawford is coming off a big 2014 that saw him grab his share of the “Fighter of the Year ” awards.
Inearly 2014, he traveled to Englsnd and came back with Ricky Burns‘ WBO Lightweight title. He defended it twice against the challenges of Yuriorkis Gamboa and Ray Beltran to go 3-0 for 2014. He then gave the belt back to the WBO and jumped a weight class. His lone match of 2015 so far saw him grab the WBO belt at Super Lightweight, making him a two-weight division champion. Jean is a hard working fifhter whose lone loss came in his first bid to ein a world title when he lost to Lamont Peterson. He has won four straight since that setback and is eager for his second chance. Crawford is a tall order, however.
Also from Omaha, undefeated Heavyweight prospect Andy Ruiz Jr (25-0) takes on Brazilian veteran Raphael Zumbano Love (37-11-1). This is a showcase for Ruiz Jr, as he has faced competition of Zumbano Love´s level before and passed the test. He has appeared on HBO PPV before on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao versus Brandon Rios, and his most recent fights have aired on UniMas, a spanish language TV station in the United States. Bob Arum and Top Rank must not have wanted to take any chances with Ruiz’ debut on HBo’s free show.
[related_post_one]
On Showtime, the offering is a bit diminished, as the main event was to feature IBF World Welterweight Champion Kell Brook (35-0) was slated to defend his belt against Argentine Diego Gabriel Chaves. Brook was forced to pull out of the fight with just two weeks to go after sustaining a rib injury in training, and unfortunately for Chaves, the match seems to have been scrapped altogether.
The new main event features interim WBO titleholder Chris Eubank Jr. as he takes on American Tony Jeter. Eubank Jr. is the arrogant son of Chris Eubank, perhaps the most arrogant figure ever in British boxing history. But the senior Eubank was a great fighter in his day, and expectations are high for the younger Eubank. Eubank Jr´s only loss on his record is to Billy Joe Saunders in a rivalry that has many people calling for a re-match and British promoters carefully building towards one. Suffice it to say that promoter Eddie Hearn was likely very careful in selecting an opponent for Eubank Jr, as he has already booked him for a December 12th fight as well. Jeter is going to be thoroughly outclassed in this fight.
[related_post_two]
Check out the latest video blog where we review the odds for this weekend’s major boxing fights airing on HBO and Showtime in the United States.
