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Guerrero-Martinez on good ol’ NBC on Saturday

Fighters Network
04
Jun
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Boxing here, there, everywhere. It’s a good thing for us degenerate addicts.

Ample supply

It also means some decent stuff falls through the cracks a bit, doesn’t get the love and attention and pre-fight hype that maybe it deserves.

You got Miguel Cotto gloving up Saturday in Brooklyn, so most of my attention has been on his tangle with Daniel Geale.

But over there on that far coast, a card is unfolding – with a WTF start time of Noon PT at StubHub Center – which is topped by old-school rumbler Robert Guerrero.



Unless he’s lost two miles off his fastball from wear and tear, he should handle foe Aron Martinez. Their scrap will run on NBC – real-deal NBC – and that clash will harken back to some glory days, when fighting ran on the networks on Saturday afternoons.

That violent waltz, on a card promoted by Tom Brown and Goossen Promotions, will be joined by what might be a tasty heavyweight showdown. Dominic Breazeale meets Cuban Yasmany Consuegra in the first televised tangle. I touched base with Brown and he shared some elements of the card which stand out for him.

“All the time, people come up to me and I will tell them about a show upcoming, and they say, ‘Are there any good heavyweights on the card?’ Brown said. “You get that from the average fan. So, how often do we get two undefeated heavies, at this level, fighting each other?”

Indeednot often enough.

Breazeale, age 29, holds a 14-0 mark, with 13 KOs. He’s 6-foot-6, while Consuegra is 17-0 with 14 KOs, and is from the Cuban school. No, Brown tells me, not the Cuban school, which turns off some US-based fight fans, with an excessive level of cute and risk aversion in the mix. “No, the kid can crack,” Brown said. “He’s had over 300 amateur fights, has power in both hands and, yes, does have tremendous defense. Breazeale, is he a prospect or a contender? He’s right at that borderline crossing; a win here could push him over the hump.”

Neither man has fought Godzillas to this point but Breazeale’s foes are of a better caliber than his 31-year-old opponents’.

Brown got a real good look at the Cuban last December when he beat Byron Polley (KO 1). He was impressed.

Brown told me he thinks Guerrero is still a top dog at 147 and that he loves his willingness to take on all comers. He shouldn’t have troubles with Martinez, 1-2 in his last three, who has been stopped by Josesito Lopez in round five of their April 2014 tussle. But one doesn’t know until one knows…

Also, a note: 26-1 Argentine featherweight Jesus Cuellar, ranked No. 9 by THE RING, clashes with 40-7-1 Vic Darchinyan, the fighting pride of Armenia, in a face-off which will screen on the NBC Sports Network. So get ready to flip over to that channel when the time comes

Oscar Molina is on the card, as is war-horse Alfredo Angulo. If you’re hitting StubHub, remember to hydrate yourself; the card is a long one. It runs 3-4:30 PM ET on NBC, and then 4:30-6 PM on NBC Sports Network (on cable).

 

Follow Woods on Twitter.

Video by Dominic Verdin and Daniel Morales

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