Carl Frampton vs Chris Avalos; Tyson Fury vs Christian Hammer; Dmitry Chudinov vs Chris Eubank Jr - boxing on TV this weekend
The action starts on Friday night
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Your support makes all the difference.Cano vs Abreu, Friday night 2.00am, BoxNation
The televised action begins on Friday night, where the impeccably named Fantasy Springs Casino hosts a good main event between 28-4 Mexican Pablo Cesar Cano, and 18-1-1 Juan Carlos Abreu who hails from the Dominican Republic. Cano is most known to British fans for defeating Ashley Theophane two years ago, but has lost three of his last five bouts and is approaching gatekeeper status at welterweight.
Abreu too is at a crossroads in his career, with only two wins from his last four fights, and this represents only the third time he will fight outside of his home country. Both men carry power, with Abreu winning 17 of his 18 bouts via stoppage, and Cano boasting 21 finishes in his career. The Mexican is the betting favourite at 3/10, with the heavy hitting Abreu available at 7/2.
The undercard in California features the undefeated cousin of Oscar, Diego De La Hoya, and in action against Manuel Roman, while seven foot Chinese heavyweight Taishan Dong makes his third professional appearance.
Seldin vs Garcia, Friday night 2.00am, ESPN
A New York feature emanates from the Paramount Theatre on Friday night with 15-0 Cletus Seldin looking for a picturesque performance over 19-2-1 Johnny Garcia. Seldin is a strong light welterweight who has finished 11 of his last 12 opponents, and the Hebrew Hammer is a clear favourite over 3/1 Garcia who has drawn and lost his last two bouts.
Fury vs Hammer, Saturday night 7.00pm, BoxNation
An excellent Frank Warren card at London’s O2 Arena has flown under the radar somewhat, but there are many intriguing fights taking place on BoxNation. The headline bout sees 23-0 Tyson Fury in action against 17-3 German Christian Hammer. Fury was last seen stopping Dereck Chisora in a one-sided contest, while Hammer is on a ten fight win streak following back to back losses in 2010.
This card is entitled ‘Risky Business’, because Fury is on the cusp of a world title opportunity in 2015 with either Wladimir Klitschko or Deontay Wilder waiting for the charismatic fighter. A loss here would derail his entire career, but he has only fought 14 rounds in just under two years, and wants more ring time. The Brit is the overwhelming betting favourite at 1/14, with Hammer a huge underdog at 10/1.
Chief support in London sees the return of Chris Eubank Jr following his narrow loss to Billy Joe Saunders late last year, and he is back with a bang as he faces Russia’s undefeated Dmitry Chudinov for the interim WBA middleweight title. Eubank is still full of confidence despite suffering the first defeat of his career, and is 4/11 to bounce back successfully while Chudinov, who has twice fought in London before is available at 3/1.
Elsewhere, Liam Walsh and Joe Murray rematch for the British and Commonwealth super featherweight titles, the undefeated 14-0 pair of Ahmet Patterson and Glenn Foot battle for the English welterweight title in a British title eliminator, Bradley Skeete fights Anzor Gamgebeli, Frank Buglioni competes against Ivan Jukic, while Lewis Pettit, Dempsey Fury and the superbly named Boy Jones Jnr all have fights.
Frampton vs Avalos, Saturday night 7.30pm, ITV1/ITV4
Five years since Amir Khan battled Paul Malignaggi in the early hours of the morning, big time boxing returns to ITV1 as Carl Frampton defends his IBF super bantamweight title at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast. Superbly marshalled by Barry and Shane McGuigan throughout his career, Frampton is a superstar in Northern Ireland, and hopes terrestrial exposure will help his star rating improve throughout the rest of the United Kingdom.
19-0, Frampton is a powerful and dynamic fighter who boasts superb fundamentals teamed with exceptional combinations. The champion looked superb in September when he claimed the title after defeating Kiko Martinez for the second time, but Avalos represents a different challenge altogether.
His American opponent is 25-2, and also carries power with 19 stoppages on his record. His two defeats have been split decision losses, against Jhonathan Romero and Christopher Martin, both of whom were undefeated at the time he fought them. Avalos is on a six fight win streak, and is full of expectation that he can derail the Frampton hype train.
Frampton is a huge betting favourite at ⅛, while Avalos can be found at 7/1 according to some bookmakers which is a huge discrepancy considering that the American is a genuine top ten fighter in the weight class. Some value can be found in a generous 13/8 for the fight to go the distance, while Frampton by KO is 8/11.
The undercard will be held on ITV4, and lacks depth. Brixton Heavyweight Dillian Whyte looks for his fifth stoppage win in three months against 10-0 Beka Lobjanidze, former Commonwealth welterweight champion Denton Vassell fights Viktor Plotnykov, and there are also outings for Paddy Gallagher, Anthony Cacace, Conrad Cummings and Marco McCullough.
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