Boxing is Boxing: June 2006 Forecast
3rd: Diego Corrales (40-3 33KOs) defends his WBC lightweight crown (135lb) in his third and final dance with Jose Luis Castillo (54-7-1 47 KOs). The two fighters currently grasp impressive knockout victories over each other. In what may have been one of the top fights of all time; two bloody combatants in Corrales & Castillo battled to blood and sweat as Corrales arose after two consecutive knockdowns to stop Castillo at 2:06 of the 10th round. In the rematch, Castillo was the better man; getting up close landing short & acute left hooks on the chin of Corrales. Eventually, one of those left hooks got through and put Corrales away at 0:47 seconds of round 4. This promises to be an epic battle to end their superior saga. Despite the results, both fighters are considering elevating 5lbs north into the land of 140lbs (Junior welterweight).
10th: Antonio Tarver (24-3 18 KOs) defends his Light Heavyweight status and legacy against 41-year-old middleweight statue Bernard Hopkins (46-4 32 KOs). Tarver, a southpaw and native of Tampa, FL, has been training since October of 2005 for his upcoming role in the new Rocky 6 motion picture. It was reported that while on set, Tarver surpassed 200lbs in order to sell his heavyweight character, Mason Dixon. Since then, Antonio has been in training camp and is ready to shock the world. He promises a knockout before the sixth; claiming his skill and punching power will be too much for Hopkins to deal with. Hopkins, however, has other ideas. As the fighter making the leap 15lbs above 160lbs (middleweight) this gives Hopkins no sense of discouragement for his fight with the Tarver. Infact, B-Hop has been training under the advisory of a new trainer in Noazim Richardson. For Hopkins, win lose or draw this will be his last professional fight after suffering back to back consecutive losses to rising star, Jermaine “Bad Intentions” Taylor (25-0 17 KOs) of Little Rock, Arkansas.
17th: In what may be one of the most important fights of the 2006 boxing forecast, Jermaine Taylor (25-0 17 KOs) defends his undisputed middleweight titles against the technically sound Winky Wright (50-3 25 KOs). Upon discovering his contract with Wright, Taylor decided to acquire the services of legendary trainer Emmanuel Steward. Steward is known for shape-shifting some of this industry’s top fighters in: Lennox Lewis, Tommy “Hitman” Hearns, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. Steward has received tremendous acclaim for his status as magnificent trainer and is considered by many to be simply the best. Whether or not this plays a successful role for Jermaine Taylor is the question that will be answered on June 17th. Winky, as he prefers to be called, is one of the top- if not- THE pound for pound fighter of today.
Winky prospered perfectly after two consecutive defeats over future hall of famer, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley (42-4 36 KOs) Mosley of Pomona, California in 2004. By the end of 2005, Wright move up to 160lbs and added a 12 round destruction over Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad and a harder than anticipated win over Sam Soliman. Theoretically, that would bounce him into #1 contender status to face Jermaine Taylor.
24th Calvin Brock (28-0 22 KOs) squares up against Timor Ibragimov (21-0-1 13KOs) of Hallandale, FL in a clash of Heavyweights at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV. Calvin Brock, a college graduate and former banker, entered the boxing scene in 2000 and has been capturing impressive victories since then. With the recent status of the heavyweight division, many eyes were watched closely on ‘The Boxing Banker’ as he would thoroughly dismantle fighters with his skill and punching power. The recent talk around the town is that Brock may be the next big thing to hit the heavyweight scene.
We’ll find out on June 24th in Las Vegas, NV!
June 2006 Predictions:
3rd: I believe Corrales will take the lead in the trilogy by defeating Castillo and taking a 2-1 lead. He’ll fight effectively, learn from his 4th round KO loss last October and finish the fight standing on his feet.
Out on a limb: Corrales UD12 Castillo.
10th: Tarver is a much bigger and stronger specimen than Hopkins is use to facing not only in his career but at this weight. It won’t be an easy fight to score, and Bernard will give him all that he can handle inside of 12 rounds. At the end of the night, it’ll be Antonio Tarver who gets the nod from the judges.
Out on a limb: Tarver UD12 Hopkins.
17th: New trainer or not, it won’t be enough for Jermaine Taylor to defeat Winky Wright. Jermaine will be fighting, not Emmanuel Steward and that makes all the difference. Winky Wright is more experienced, better defensively and will beat Jermaine Taylor by out-hustling him in an action packed match up!
Trust me on this: Wright UD12 Taylor.
24th: Truthfully, there is still a lot not known about Calvin Brock as he remains untested by a big name in the division, and even less info on Timor. However, we’ll give the two fighters the benefit of the doubt and see just who wants it a little more. The winner of this fight gets catapulted into a promoter’s dream land in terms of exceptional marketability.
See you in July!!
