Post-Fight Thoughts On Gary Russell Jr - Time To Step Up!

@PriceyJ97.

Trout could be next in line for 'Canelo'...

Austin Trout.

Over the last few months, Golden Boy have been desperately trying to find an opponent for their young star Saul Alvarez for September 15t. So far, they have managed to find three men that would have all made a great fight for the fans and Alvarez himself, but unfortunately, all three of these have fell through.

WBC champ Saul Alvarez.

'Canelo' was originally set to face young up and coming light-middleweight James Kirkland but Kirkland pulled out due to injury. Then an even better opponent was brought in. The former pound-for-pound contender Paul Williams. But unfortunately, Williams was in a tragic motorcycle accident that could potentially leave him paralysed from the waist down. So, at this point everyone was thinking that we would just have to see Alvarez fight a "nobody" on September 15th. However, two weeks ago, things got even better for fight fans. It was announced that Saul Alvarez would be fighting welterweight superstar Victor Ortiz. This was set to be the toughest test of the 21-year old's career and all Ortiz had to do was get a win against a half decent fighter named Josesito Lopez on June 23rd. But once again, another problem occurred. Ortiz lost the fight and had his jaw broken, meaning that there was no chance of him fighting Alvarez on September 15th.


Many people believe that all of this is happening because the "boxing gods" want to see 'Canelo' face Cuban light-middleweight prospect Erislandy Lara. However, it still seems as though this fight is not going to happen.


The main opponent that is being discussed right now is WBA 'regular' light-middleweight champ Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO's). If it does happen, the bout will be televised live on Showtime and go head-to-head with the highly anticipated grudge match between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Sergio Martinez. If this does happen, then I'm sure that the majority of the fans will be watching Chavez Vs Martinez on HBO which means Golden Boy and Alvarez will potentially lose a lot of money. 


To be honest with you, this is a decent fight, but I don't think it will interest as many people as Alvarez Vs Kirkland, Williams or Ortiz would have done. Trout is a good fighter but just doesn't have the popularity to make this a headline fight on a PPV. Golden Boy would have to do a hell of a lot of hyping up to get people excited about this. The only thing that could get people a little more interested is that Trout has a win over Canelo's brother Rigoberto. This is something that Golden Boy will no doubt mention on plenty of occasions.

Abner Mares returns on August 25th...

According to reports, WBC super-bantamweight champ Abner Mares will return to the ring on August 25th in Puebla. The most likely opponent at the moment is Christian Esquivel (25-3, 18 KO's).

This is a decent fight for Mares as Esquivel is a man that will come to fight and come to win, and he's not that bad either. He's not the toughest opponent that Mares (24-0-1, 13 KO's) will ever face on his journey to the top but it will do good in showing us if Mares really is something special. However, there is one little negative surrounding this fight. Mares is a super-bantamweight and this is the second bout in a row that he has chosen to face a man who usually boxes at bantamweight. The Mexican has been criticised on occasions for not facing a top contender at 122lb (super-bantamweight). But that's the only bad thing I can think of about this fight.

It will be a good little scrap and it will definitely be more closely contested than Mares' most recent fight against Eric Morel, where the 26-year old widely outpointed the much older man.

The viewing of this clash on the night of August 25th could be a little less than usual. This fight will be shown on Showtime and on the same night, HBO will be showing a much more popular and 'high-key' fight in Dmirty Pirog Vs Gennady Golovkin for the world middleweight title. If it does not go head-to-head with this fight then I'm sure a lot of people will be watching it.

BJ Flores calls out Lateef Kayode...

No.2 WBO, No.4 WBC & No.4 WBA ranked cruiserweight Bj Flores.

Highly ranked cruiserweight BJ Flores is desperately trying to land a fight with Nigerian powerhouse Lateef Kayode. Flores was watching with intent on Saturday night when Kayode took on Antonio Tarver in highly competitive fight. 

"The cruiserweight division is definitely starting to heat up," said Flores, who has probably been the most active world rated cruiserweight in the past year or so. "Both guys fought well and Tarver started a little slow but came on down the stretch. He definitely hurt Kayode and showed he can still punch. The decision being a draw was just. I was leaning towards Tarver but this fight was good for the division. Both guys fought well."

Lateef Kayode.

One of the fighters is on Flores' radar and he wasted no time in calling him out.

"I want to make a formal challenge to Kayode. This is a fight between two top world rated cruiserweights both trying to get into position for the world title. I need a fight like this to make a statement. A dangerous fight! A big fight between two Top 5 world rated guys on Showtime between us will be exciting and bring more notoriety to the cruiserweight division."

"It's no secret that I've wanted Kayode for a long time. After he beat Nick Iannuzzi. I contacted Gary Shaw promotions immediately for a match between us. Well, they went in another direction and I fought Iannuzzi next to make a statement. They said the timing wasn't right. I respect their decision. But now the time couldn't be more right! I have had 3 fights in 8 months and would love to fight Kayode next. He has shown improvements and this fight can be big. We can do it in Springfield, Missouri and sell 5000 seats with this on Showtime or any network! But the truth of the matter is I will fight you anywhere. I just want it to be known that the money is there and we can easily make this happen."

This seems like a fight that is realistic and easy to make. Most of the top guys at cruiserweight are scheduled to face mandatory defences or they are already in preparation for a fight. Both of these guys are free and they both have something to prove. If Kayode doesn't get a rematch with Antonio Tarver then this is the next best fight out there for him.