Boxing: December 11 - 13, 2008

[H2O Man]

Thursday, December 11 - at Newark, New Jersey (Versus) - 12 rounds, IBF cruiserweight title: Steve Cunningham (21-1, 11 KOs) vs. Tomasz Adamek (35-1, 24 KOs); 12 rounds, bantamweights: Joseph Agbeko (25-1, 22 KOs) vs. William Gonzalez (21-2, 19 KOs).

Friday, December 12 - at Los Angeles (TeleFutura) - 10 rounds, flyweights: Brian Viloria (23-2, 13 KOs) vs. Benjamin Garcia (13-10-3, 1 KO); 10 rounds, super featherweights: Urbano Antillon (24-0, 17 KOs) vs. Juan Ramon Cruz (15-5-1, 11 KOs).

Saturday, December 13 - at Mannheim, Germany (HBO) - 12 rounds, IBF heavyweight title: Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) vs. Hasim Rahman (45-6-2, 36 KOs).

Saturday, December 13 - at Atlantic City (Showtime) - 12 rounds, junior welterweights: Kendall Holt (24-2, 13 KOs) vs. Ricardo Torres (32-2, 28 KOs); 10 rounds, light welterweights: Demetrius Hopkins (28-0-1, 11 KOs) vs. Germaine Sanders (27-6, 17 KOs); 10 rounds, light middleweights: Yuri Foreman (26-0, 8 KOs) vs. James Moore (16-1, 10 KOs).

Saturday, December 13 - at Cabazon, California (Versus) - 12 rounds, heavyweights: James Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs) vs. Fres Oquendo (29-4, 18 KOs); 10 rounds, super middleweights: Andre Ward (16-0, 11 KOs) vs. TBD.

This is an interesting week for boxing fans. We are coming off of a high-profile, expensive PPV card that should mark the end of Oscar de la Hoya’s career in the ring. Though I have never liked Oscar, I respect him as a great boxer, who fought against many of the very best of his generation. Also, he is a good for the sport as a promoter, and owner of the best boxing magazine, The Ring. As sad as it was to see him in the position he was in on Saturday, he will be key in making good fights in 2009.

This week provides boxing fans with several televised fight cards that will bring 2008 to an end. The first one is Thursday on Versus. It features The Ring’s two top cruiserweight contenders, for the IBF "title." Although there is no actual champion in the division, it is likely that The Ring will recognize the winner as champion, and most American fans recognize The Ring’s rankings as being much more important than any of the alphabet commissions.

On Saturday, Wladimir Klitschko defends his IBF "title" against ex-champion Hasim Rahman, who is a substitute. On one hand, Rahman has not really earned a title shot. But because of the promotional issues involved in what has become the most unpopular division in the sport, I do not think Klitschko is fighting him because he was looking for an easy victory. More, although it would seem that Wladimir should win by a knockout, Rahman poses a potential danger to a tall opponent with a weak chin – as Lennox Lewis found out years ago.

The most important fight "on paper" is the rubber match between Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres. The two, ranked at 6 and 7 respectively by The Ring, have had strange outcomes in their two previous fights. This should settle any question about who is more deserving of a possible challenge for Ricky Hatton’s title.

Finally, James Toney will meet Fres Oquendo on Versus’s second fight card of the week. He had been scheduled to fight against Tony Thompson, who was replaced by Oquendo on short notice. Although neither is going to be the future of the division, it is likely to be an entertaining fight. Toney has to be favored, although he is getting old and does not always enter the ring well-trained.

Enjoy the fights.