Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs Austin Trout – After a slow and uninspiring starts in 2013 boxing has picked up quite a bit of momentum over the last few weeks and looks to continue to do so with Saturday’s Junior Middleweight unification bout between WBC champ Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and WBA title holder Austin Trout. The original plan was for Canelo to face Miguel Cotto but things went awry when Trout defeated Cotto in December. After Trouts upset win many in the media and fans believed he was the deserved opponent for Alvarez but being as this is boxing him getting that opportunity was no guarantee. Fortunately for Trout once talks about a Floyd Mayweather and Alvarez fight were shelved the New Mexico product became Canelo’s only viable option. In what is becoming an increasingly rare instance in the sport this contest features two undefeated champions who are either in or close to their respective primes. While Canelo is a bigger commodity he still has more than his share of skeptics given his resume of opposition which over the last couple years has consisted of outsized or over the hill fighters. While he gained both respect and an increased profile with his victory over Cotto, Trout has just recently emerged on the mainstream scene for most non-hard-core fans. A win here is significant for both as it should provide an aspect of validation to Canelos career whereas for Trout it would put him atop the division and could set up different lucrative fights including a rematch.   916Chris’ pick – I wish I had the opportunity to read my cohorts prediction for this fight before giving my own as it’s no easy call for me, which in actuality is a good thing. Not good that I’m indecisive but in that [...]

  The Good TUF 17 – As mentioned in my predictions for The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale, this season has been one of the best and fittingly the finale delivered a fun night of fights and a big upset. The show kicked off with a fight between TUF 17 participants Bubba McDaniel and Gilbert Smith which was actually better-than-expected and ended with McDaniel submitting Smith in the third round with a triangle/arm bar combination. The following fight was a heavyweight bout between Gabriel Gonzaga and Travis Browne which was almost over as soon as it started. As Gonzaga had Browne against the cage and was working for a takedown, the Hawaiian fighter landed a series of elbow strikes to the side and back of the Brazilians head that put him down and out just over a minute into the first round.   That was followed by the second ever women’s MMA fight in the history of the UFC as Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano competed for a coaching spot on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter along with the number one contendership to champion Ronda Rousey. In the best fight of the night both ladies went all out from the opening bell throwing strikes and trading positions on the ground. Tates edge in experience showed early as she took the first round and was ahead for most of the second. Zingano would turn the tables with a minute left in the second round when she got on top and unloaded with punches on the former Strikeforce champ. Going into the third the fight was up for grabs and while Miesha looked good early the undefeated Zingano would once again turn the tables and pound Tate from the top position. Tate attempted to stand only to be met with a [...]

  Nonito Donaire vs Guillermo Rigondeaux – The super bantamweights take center stage this Saturday as the top two fighters in the division Nonito Donaire and Guillermo Rigondeaux cross paths in a title unification bout. Donaire has been mentioned amongst the best pound for pound fighters in the sport since his second round destruction of Fernando Montiel but fans have cooled on him of late due to his opposition. While Nonito has not beaten a string of nobody’s the fact that he did not face Abner Mares despite his insistence of his desire to do so is one of, if not the main reason he has begun to see a backlash. On the other hand you have Rigondeaux who has only a third of the professional experience of Donaire but whose amateur pedigree is second to none. Rigondeaux won the Olympic gold medal in both 2000 in 2004 but didn’t turn pro until 2009 after defecting from Cuba. The amateur standout has gone unbeaten in 11 fights thus far along with acquiring the WBA 122 pound championship. This contest will certainly be a contrast in styles where the explosive Donaire will look to exploit the efficient and technically sound Cuban. A win here should silence some of Donaires naysayers even if only temporarily whereas a victory for Rigondeaux will be the ultimate validation for a man who left his family behind in hopes of providing a better future for them and himself.   916Chris’ – It’s interesting to see how many people are picking Rigondeaux although I’m not sure if that’s because they actually believe he can win or due to the growing dislike for Donaire. While I can be added to the list of those who were frustrated with Nonitos efforts or lack thereof to put together a showdown [...]

The Good Bellator 95 – Bellator ended this season on a high note on Thursday night with four entertaining fights, three of which ended early. The show opened with a grudge match between former title challenger Rick Hawn and UFC vet Karo Parisyan. The first round was relatively uneventful until the closing seconds when Hawn landed a head kick that stunned Parisyan. By the second round it was clear that Hawn was the much better conditioned fighter which was punctuated when he dropped Karo with a right hand followed by a few hammer fists before the referee stopped the contest. The second televised bout ended in even more definitive fashion as Doug Marshall floored Brett Cooper with a right hook that put him down hard on his back. Unfortunately for Cooper the referee did not intervene in time as Marshall landed a final crushing right hand that separated him from consciousness. The win earned “The Rhino” a shot at Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Schlemenko.   The co-main event of the night was the finals of this season’s featherweight tournament between Mike Richman and Frodo Khasbulaev. Both fighters traded strikes standing for the majority of three rounds and while it was competitive, the judges scored the bout for Khasbulaev via unanimous decision after three rounds. With the victory Khasbulaev set himself up to face the winner of the main event of the night. That fight was between Bellator 145 pound champ Pat Curran and challenger Shahbulat Shamhalaev. Many felt that Shamhalaev would be a stern test for Curran given the way destroyed his opposition en route to his title opportunity but that wasn’t the case. After a slow start to the contest, the challenger landed a couple low kicks but neither fighter landed anything significant. Midway through the round Curran shot [...]

The Good Mike Alvarado vs Brandon Rios – Regardless of the medium it is rare where a sequel is better than its predecessor but fortunately for fight fans that was the case for Saturday’s rematch between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado. The first battle, which took place in October of last year was regarded by many as the best fight of 2012 thus expectations were lofty for this encounter. Early on in the fight Alvarado lookedto box as most expected he would but Rios just kept marching forward, landing shots and it looked like “Bam Bam” was on his way to duplicating the results of the first contest, particularly after rocking and almost knocking “Mile High” down with a jab in the second round. Rios came out aggressively in the third looking to chop down Alvarado but the challenger began landing some powerful overhand rights. The fight took a dramatic turn when Alvarado buckled Rios with a big right hook to the jaw with just over 30 seconds left in the third round as he flurried upon the champ in an attempt to finish him off which was unsuccessful as the round came to a close. The next few rounds saw both men trading shots and perhaps rounds depending on how one scored it but either way the fight was close and the action nonstop.   Every time it appeared that Rios was gaining momentum and was perhaps getting the better of Alvarado, Mik would respond most notably in the eighth round where he once again hurt Brandon. As the bout got into the later rounds Alvarado appeared to be pulling ahead by out boxing Rios from a distance while also continuing to land hard shots although each round was close and highly competitive. Entering the championship rounds the belief [...]

  Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado 2 – Over the years I have learned that in both movies and combat sports if something is really good the first time around you can bet that there will likely be a sequel. Such is the case with this Saturday’s rematch between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado. These two warriors first battled in October of last year where Rios emerged the victor by seventh round stoppage in what was widely regarded as one of, if not the best fight of 2012. It was one of those rare occasions where lofty expectations were not only met, but were perhaps exceeded as Rios and Alvarado slugged it out for 6 plus rounds until “Mile High” succumb to “Bam Bam’s” pressure and power when the referee waved off the contest at 1:57 of the seventh. Some, most notably Alvarado and his team, believe that the fight was halted prematurely as although the Colorado native was stunned, he was still on his feet at the fights conclusion. The rematch figures to be more of the same and although it’s easy to envision Rios repeating his performance the fact is Alvarado did have success the first time around during the few instances where he boxed from a distance. Whether or not he’ll be able to do so the second time around or if he’ll be drawn into another slugfest is yet to be determined but much like their first encounter there is little doubt in the minds of most boxing fans that unlike most Hollywood movies this sequel will be a crowd pleaser and worthy, if not equal to it’s predecessor.   916Chris’ pick – 2012 got off to a relatively slow start for boxing but things picked up with the unexpected early fight of the year contender [...]