12/6 – Yesica Bopp (25-1, 11 KO’s) vs. Ana Fernandez (14-6, 10 KO’s) – Concordia, Argentina
Light flyweight champion and top pound for pound female boxer, Bopp puts her WBA and WBO world straps on the line in her 17th world title bout. Her lone defeat came in June in a rematch with Jessica Chavez. Bopp’s titles weren’t at stake, but Chavez retained her WBC Silver belt. Fernandez last fought in July of 2012, losing to Arely Mucino in a bid for the interim WBA flyweight belt. Prior to that, she had won four straight against opponents with a total of one win.
12/6 – Chris John (48-0-3, 22 KO’s) vs. Simpiwe Vetyeka (25-2, 15 KO’s) – Perth, Australia
John really should be getting more worldwide attention. The WBO Super World featherweight champion turned pro in 1998 and hasn’t lost yet. He won his first world title in 2004, and has 17 defenses since. Vetyeka holds the IBO featherweight strap, also up for grabs in this fight. He won the title in April when he stopped Daud Cino Yordan in the final frame. Last year he lost an eight rounder to Klaas Mboyane; his other defeat was in 2007 to Hozumi Hasegawa, no shame there.
12/6 – Daud Cino Yordan (31-3, 23 KO’s) vs. Sipho Taliwe (21-3-1, 14 KO’s) – Perth, Australia
On the same card as the above bout, Yordan makes the first defense of the IBO lightweight title. Yordan is the former IBO featherweight champ, but lost that title to the above mentioned Simpiwe Vetyeka before moving up in weight to beat Daniel Eduardo Brizuela for the lightweight strap. His other two defeats: decisions to Chris John in 2011 and Celestino Caballero in 2010. Taliwe had a nice stretch as the WBC International super featherweight champion, but lost that belt to Matt Garlett in May. He won a ten rounder over Takalane Dangala in October.
12/6 – Joachim Alcine (33-6-1, 19 KO’s) vs. Francisco Santana (17-3-1, 8 KO’s) – Santa Ynez, Ca., U.S.A.
Alcine’s hit a rough patch as of late, after beating David Lemieux in 2011, the former light middleweight world champ has dropped four straight, the last to Omar Chavez. Santana on the other hand, lost to Jermell Charlo in 2011 and has won five in a row, but not against anyone noteworthy.
12/6 – Lateef Kayode (18-0, 14 KO’s) vs. Travis Fulton (21-33-1, 20 KO’s) – Santa Ynez, Ca., U.S.A.
Kayode fought IBO cruiserweight champion Antonio Tarver to a draw last year, before the official decision was changed to a no contest, thanks to Tarver’s positive PED test. He takes a seemingly easy comeback fight against Fulton, whose record speaks for itself.
Barker vs. Sturm
12/7 – Darren Barker (26-1, 16 KO’s) vs. Felix Sturm 38-3-2, 17 KO’s) – Stuttgart, Germany
Barker makes the second defense of the IBF middleweight crown he won in August with a one point decision over Daniel Geale. His only loss was to top pound for pound middleweight Sergio Martinez in 2011, including the Geale bout he’s won three since then. Sturm had a long run as the WBA middleweight champion, and was “promoted” to super world champion in 2010. He lost the belt to Geale in 2012, then in his following bout, lost to Sam Soliman, who also fights this week, only to have the result changed to a no contest when Soliman tested positive for methylsynephrine. He stopped undefeated Predrag Radosevic in July.
12/7 – Susi Kentikian (31-2, 16 KO’s) vs. Simona Galassi (19-2-1, 4 KO’s) – Stuttgart, Germany
After losing back to back fights in 2012, Kentikian came back in 2013 to regain the WBA flyweight championship, first defeating Sanae Jah to win the interim title, then avenging one of her losses, defeating Carina Moreno to take the full version of the championship. Galassi’s held the WBC and IBF flyweight straps, and has won her last two. She last fought and won over Sanae Jah to take the EBU flyweight crown.
12/7 – Enzo Maccarinelli (37-6, 29 KO’s) vs. Courtney Fry (18-3, 6 KO’s) – Liverpool, U.K.
Enzo was on the fast track until he was starched by David Haye in two rounds back in 2008. He came back with a win, but was stopped two more times in 2009, which basically killed his chances among the world class. He’s lost three more since then, all by KO, and won eight, splitting a pair of fights with Ovill McKenzie. The fact that all six of his losses came by early stoppage (save one that made it to the seventh round) give his opponents a short term goal. Fry is the perfect opponent; a decent record on paper, hasn’t beaten anyone important, and lost all three times he’s stepped up in class.
12/7 – Matt Korobov (21-0, 12 KO’s) vs. Derek Edwards (26-2-1, 13 KO’s) – Atlantic City, N.J., U.S.A.
On the under card of HBO’s Boxing After Dark, undefeated middleweight prospect Korobov grabs and eight rounder. Korobov’s been seen plenty on PPV shows, and is making slow, yet steady progress. He’s gradually stepped up his level of opposition the last few years, fighting experienced, yet past their prime opponents. He last defeated “Contender” winner Grady Brewer in September. The twice beaten Edwards is your typical record padding opponent. Over the last four years, he’s fought once annually, last drawing with Anthony Hanshaw in February.
12/7 – Sadam Ali (17-0, 10 KO’s) vs. Jesus Selig (16-1-1, 10 KO’s) – Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A.
On Showtime’s quadruple header under card, Brooklyn’s own 2008 U.S. Olympian and Golden Gloves champion puts his undefeated record up against the once beaten opponent fighting out of Sonora, Mexico. The level of opposition between the two is even, more or less, with Ali having a major home town advantage.
12/7 – Marcus Browne (7-0, 6 KO’s) vs. Kevin Engel (20-8, 16 KO’s) – Brooklyn, N.Y. U.S.A.
In another Showtime under card bout, U.S. 2012 Olympian Browne continues his pro career on familiar ground: this will be his fifth fight at The Barclay’s Center. Engel’s lost his last two fights, and five of his last seven.
12/11 – Sam Soliman (42-11, 17 KO’s) vs. Les Sherrington (33-6, 19 KO’s) – Victoria, Australia
Mid-week action in Australia, former WBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman looks to bounce back after a failed drug test nullified his huge win over Felix Sturm in February. After being out pointed by Anthony Mundine in 2008, he had a seven fight winning streak going into the Sturm bout. After a one point victory, Soliman’s positive test resulted in a nine month suspension and a changing of the victory to a no-contest. Sherrington’s held a bunch of minor titles at both middleweight and super middleweight, most recently winning the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council middleweight title in September. The interim PABA middleweight title is up for grabs in this one.
12/11 – Kasim Ouma (27-8-1, 17 KO’s) vs. Rahman Mustafa Yusubov (9-12, 7 KO’s) – Allentown, PA., U.S.A.
“The Dream”, former IBF light middleweight champion, has a great background story, and a documentary movie based on his life. After 2006, things took a downward turn however; up through 2011 he lost six of eight bouts, including world title opportunities against Jermain Taylor and Gennady Golovkin. After two and a half years on the shelf, he comes back in a scheduled six rounder at a small show in Pennsylvania. Yusubov brings little to the table; he’s lost 10 of his last 11 outings but is a good pick for the returning Ouma to warm up on.