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Showtime Boxing’s pay-per-view offering is absolutely fantastic.
Boxing is back on PPV with a card headlined by the Charlo brothers defending their titles against some very good opposition in Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Jeison Rosario, plus three title bouts on the undercard. The night begins at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT on Showtime PPV, with a 30-minute intermission following the first Charlo title fight.
Jermall Charlo vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko – WBC middleweight title
Jermall Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) defends his WBC middleweight belt against Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs). Charlo was the IBF super welterweight champion and scored two big wins at the weight against Austin Trout and Julian Williams before moving up to middleweight and picking up the WBC interim belt. He’s since been upgraded to full champion but hasn’t quite faced the elite of the division yet. Derevyanchenko on the other hand has never held a belt in the pros but his title shots have come against Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs, two of the very best middleweights of the last few years. He gave an excellent account of himself in both fights and lost close decisions.
Charlo is an excellent athlete who prefers to stay at mid-range and use his jab to set up his powerful left hook if the opponent doesn’t come to him but is at his best when they do and he can counter them, particularly with his right uppercut. On the inside he likes to tie up and use his size to wear down opponents, push them back to the ropes and land a few punches before the referee break. Derevyanchenko, as you’d expect from an Eastern European fighter with his amateur pedigree, is a very solid technician with an excellent jab serving as the basis for very fluid combos. As a small middleweight who’s gone down in his two major fights, Derevyanchenko might find Charlo’s athleticism and power problematic but he’s also by far the best fighter Charlo will have faced at middleweight. He’s also unlikely to give Charlo the type of fight he wants and his edge in technique and efficiency at mid-range makes me lean towards him in what should be a very contested fight.
Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario – Junior middleweight title unification bout
Jermall’s twin brother Jermell (33-1, 17 KOs) just regained his WBC junior middleweight title in a rematch with Tony Harrison and will be unifying it with WBA and IBF belts that Jeison Rosario (20-1, 14 KOs) picked up with an upset 5th round KO over Julian Williams.
Jermell fights very similarly to his brother, although I’d consider him to be a bit behind in power and talent. Rosario has looked solid at mid range, combining a good one two with a solid left hook and appears to be quite a hard puncher, though it remains to be seen if that will hold up at the highest level given that there are some questions about Williams’, his marquee win, chin. He definitely has the tools to give Charlo trouble but I think Charlo’s superior experience in high level boxing should make him the favorite.
Daniel Roman vs. Juan Carlos Payano – Super-bantamweights
On the undercard, former super-bantamweight titlist and action fighter Daniel Roman (27-3-1, 10 KOs) welcomes former bantamweight champion Juan Carlos Payano (21-3, 9 KOs) to the division. It should be a fun fight but at 36 and following two recent KO losses at bantamweight, I don’t see Payano getting past Roman and a good performance from the American should position himself back in contention at 122 pounds.
Brandon Figueroa vs. Damien Vasquez – WBA “world” super bantamweight title
Speaking of super-bantamweight belts, Brandon Figueroa (20-0-1, 15 KOs) defends his WBA title against Damien Vasquez (15-1-1, 8 KOs). Vasquez has a recent lopsided loss to the aforementioned faded Payano and recently went to a draw with 9-10-3 fighter so it’s tough to see him offering much opposition to the champion.
Luis Nery vs. Aaron Alameda – Super-bantamweights
Luis Nery (30-0, 24 KOs) is also moving up from bantamweight to super-bantamweight after struggling to make the 118 pounds limit repeatedly in the past. He’ll be fighting Aaron Alameda (25-0, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBC belt. Alameda has spent his entire career fighting journeymen in Mexico, so Nery, one of the most devastating punchers in the lighter weight classes should be a firm favorite to become a two division champion.
John Riel Casimero vs. Duke Micah – WBO bantamweight title
Rounding up the slate of title bouts is the WBO bantamweight title fight between Filipino veteran John Riel Casimero (29-4, 20 KOs) and Ghana’s former Olympian Duke Micah (24-0, 19 KOs). Casimero is coming off of a great stoppage win over Zolani Tete and from the limited footage available, Micah seems a bit limited technically to trouble a veteran of his stature.
The undercard’s title bouts are a bit underwhelming in term of competitive appeal but with such an interesting doubleheader topping it, should make for a nice appetizer before the really interesting boxing starts.