Will Garcia step up?

By Andrew Gavan @AndrewGavan

The champ, Danny 'Swift' Garcia.

Zab Judah steps into the ring on Saturday the 27th of April at the Barclays Center in New York possibly for a final time. He will be attempting to reclaim the glory days which saw him win 5 world titles at 2 different weights and become undisputed welterweight champion.

Is Zab's time finally up?

His opponent is considered by many to be the top in the division although I disagree, he is the current WBC,WBA  and Ring light welterweight Champion with an undefeated record of 25-0 (16 Kos)  to his name which on paper shows he has power an Zab should be worried. This is a tough Ask for Judah in my opinion who surely will enter as underdog against a younger stronger opponent who is very comfortable and naturally big at the weight. A win propels Judah back into the mix and potential super fights with Peterson also a Kahn and Matthyse rematches.

Garcia however is on the way up and professes to many he is destined for stardom and the P4P No.1 spot and maintains nothing will stop him reaching his goals. Many critics including myself on the other hand are unsure how good this kid is, is he protected? 

Malignaggi Vs Cano likely to appear on Morales-Garcia undercard...

Pablo Cesar Cano after his victory over Johan Perez.

On October 20th at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York a huge boxing event will take place as part of the grand opening weekend. The fight headlining the show is a rematch between Danny Garcia and Erik Morales for the WBC light-welterweight title. Whilst this is a decent fight, if the event is going to live up to it's "huge" expectations, there will have to be some pretty decent undercard fights arranged for the show. One of these fights is Paulie Malignaggi Vs Pablo Cesar Cano.

Paulie Malignaggi.

Now, this is not the best fight you will ever see and it's certainly not the biggest fight that either of the two fighters will ever appear in, but it's a pretty decent fight for an undercard. The fight is not definite, but Cano's manager Rolando Arellano has revealed that an offer from Team Malignaggi has been made and he is just waiting for his fighter to make a decision.

"I actually want to speak with [Cano]. I want to actually have the team look at the video [of Malignaggi]. I want to make sure that he's not an unfair advantage at 147. Once I am assured that we can perform adequately at that then I will give Richard Schaefer the final answer. From a management perspective, I think it's a good opportunity for him. He's young, he's a good fighter and Paulie Malignaggi is a good fighter also but he doesn't have a big bang," Arellano told BoxingScene.com.

Cano is actually coming off of a career-best performance against previously undefeated Johan Perez last Saturday (July 21st). With the victory he captured the WBA light-welterweight interim title. Malignaggi is also coming off a fantastic performance where he won the WBA welterweight title against highly-ranked Ukrainian Serhiy Fedchenko.

Malignaggi claims that if a fight with Cano does come off, he will not overlook the young fighter.

"Cano I have to take seriously," he said. "He's a very good body puncher, he'll try to take my legs away. I will take him seriously."

I think this would be a good fight to take for both men. Malignaggi is looking to make the first defence of his title and Cano is the perfect fighter to do it against. He's the not the most talented fighter out there but he's still a relatively big name that will attract a few fans. And it's an even better opportunity for Cano. If he beats Malignaggi it will be a huge career-boost for him at exactly the right time.

We will have more news on the status of the fight in the near future.

Maidana Vs Thurman added to HBO event on July 21st...

Marcos Maidana.

On July 21st 2012, young superstar Adrien Broner takes on Vincente Escobedo in the main event of the HBO Boxing After Dark show in Cincinnati. And now, another fight has been added to the show. Argentinian welterweight Marcos Maidana takes on up and coming prospect Keith Thurman.

Thurman after his second round KO of Travis Hartman.

This isn't a great fight, as many people have already portrayed it to be, but it is a decent fight. I've heard some people moaning about it and saying it's not even worth watching but I don't think it's that bad.

It's actually good to see an undefeated prospect taking on a tough fighter for once. Thurman (17-0, 16 KO's) has not faced anyone of any note yet but now, unlike many other young prospects in the world right now, he is taking on a fighter who will actually provide him with a tough test. Maidana (31-3, 28 KO's) is definitely past his best but he is still a tough fighter to beat. He has showed the ring with many great boxers that are around today, including a close loss to Amir Khan and wins over Victor Ortiz and Erik Morales. At one point, he looked as though could have gone on to be one of the best in the world. However, recently he has been on a slight decline.

The former world title challenger lost a wide points decision to Devon Alexander back in February which lead many people to think that his run as a top level fighter was over.

This will be a relatively close fight and if Thurman manages to get the victory it could give his career a huge boost and help him a hell of a lot in the future.

Marquez Vs Morales potential fight for July 14th...

Juan Manuel Marquez                                     Erik Morales.

According to reports, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions and Todd DuBeof are in talks to stage a Mexican showdown between Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales. The fight has a 50-50 chance of happening as a few days ago Marquez narrowed his options down to just two men... Mercito Gesta and Morales.

If this fight does happen, it will be a rare occasion where Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank actually work together to make an interesting and exciting fight. At first, it seemed as if GBP were just going to let Morales out of his current deal and let him pursue the fight with Marquez but it sounds like the two companies may be willing to co-promote the fight.

"Morales wants to fight Marquez," said Schaefer. "And I have been talking to Todd DuBeof over the past few days, and we are trying to find a way to see if we can get that fight done."

It would have been a little better if this fight was made just a few years ago when both Mexican warriors were in their prime. Marquez is still going strong and is still near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings but at the age of 38 he will no doubt soon start to take the slide that most fighters do when they get close to 40. Morales is younger than Marquez (35-years old) but has certainly not aged as well. His last outing against Danny Garcia was very disappointing if you compare it to the good old days when Morales was one of the fittest and toughest fighters in the game.

However, this is a still a very interesting fight as it is the only fight of the great featherweight four-some (Marquez, Morales, Pacquiao, Barrera) that has not happened and it will be a fight that a lot of people will want to see if both men can agree terms and put everything they have into what could be one of the last big fights in either man's career.

Erik Morales loses title on the scales!

The two fighters go head-to-head at the weigh-in.

Yesterday at the weigh-in for Erik Morales Vs Danny Garcia, Mexico's Morales lost his WBC light-welterweight title on the scales.

Morales weighed in at 142 pounds which is 2 pounds over the division weight limit. This means he cannot retain his title even he is victorious against unbeaten fighter Danny Garcia.

Garcia, who weighed in at 139.5 pounds must still defeat Morales to win the title. Any other outcome will result in the title being vacated.

Garcia looks in top condition as he steps onto the scales.

There is a big gap in experience between the two fighters. Morales, 35, has a record of 52-7-0 and Garcia, 24 is unbeaten with 22-0-0.

This is the first time Garcia will fight for a world title but many people believe he will have the edge over Morales after his performances in his recent fights, and now that he knows that Morales has struggled with his weight he will have even more confidence going into the fight in Houston, Texas.

The fight was originally scheduled for January but was rearranged due to the fact Morales had to undergo gallbladder surgery.  The action will start in the early hours of Sunday morning and will be shown live on SkySports.

What are your predictions for the fight? (Let us know on our Twitter @BoxingOpinions1 or comment below).