After last weekend’s historic Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Andre Berto bout that saw Mayweather walk off into retirement, the boxing calendar turns to England this coming weekend. Matchroom Boxing and promoter Ed Hearn are at the Olympia in Liverpool with a card headlined by the IBF Title Eliminator bout at super featherweight between Stephen Smith (22-1) and former European champion Devis Boschiero (37-3).
The fight is a test for Smith, who has three brothers who fight professionally as well and all are nearing the world title picture. A win over Boschiero, who qualifies as his toughest opponent to date, puts Smith firmly in the world title hunt.
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Also on the Olympia card is undefeated Bradley Saunders (12-0) as he faces Renald Garrido (14-11-1) in a match that sees Saunders heavily favored. Saunders is trying to speed his career along since going professional in 2012. The 2008 Olympian was subject to a criminal investigation that saw the authorities decide not to pursue the case, but it delayed his career in boxing and Sunders is trying to speed things along here.
Also up at the books from Sweden is undefeated (22-0) Erik Skoglund as he defends his IBF Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight title against Oleksandr Cherviak (15-4-1). Skoglund is fighting in his native Sweden for the first time in his career, but the 24 year old has put together a good career so far and has the potential to be a big star in Sweden, if he can just keep winning. Cherviak is unlikely to be the guy that stops Skoglund’s run.
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Check out our latest video blog where we look at this weekend’s boxing odds.