Lightweights Go At It In September
Posted in Uncategorized on September 3rd, 2008 by admin
Khan lands uppercut
BY: Diane Bennett
September will be the month for the lightweights to show their stuff. The fun begins on September 6th when we have The Baby Bull Juan Diaz (33- 1, 17 KOs) going up against knockout artist Michael Katsidis (23-1, 20KOs). The bout will be shown on HBO Boxing after Dark live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Diaz is coming off a devastating defeat by the hands of Nate Campbell. In that bout which was Diaz’s first defeat he also lost his world titles. Diaz who is now ranked anywhere between 3 and 4 depending which governing body you follow will be looking to get back on the winning track. However, he must figure out how to stay away from Katsidis’s power, Diaz will need to stick to a game plan of landing combinations and moving which he got away from in the Campbell fight. He can not get lured into a slugging match with Katsidis who is ranked 5th by the WBO and has one punch knock out power. Look for Diaz to get back to his boxing ways and to win this battle by unanimous decision.
Hours earlier on the 6th in Manchester England up and coming British Boxing star Amir Khan will be facing undefeated Colombian Breidis Prescott. Khan who is also undefeated and ranked 2nd by the WBO, 5th by the WBC and 10th by the IBF should be able to handle Prescott who only days ago was announced as Khans opponent. This is being classified as Khans biggest challenge aren’t they all and is Khans first under his new trainer Jorge Rubio. Look for Khan who under Rubio has been working on his defensive skills in order to become a complete boxer to take over the fight in the middle rounds and put Prescott away.
Lets now fast forward one week to September 13th which on this Saturday night we will be treated a lightweight triple header a HBO PPV clash between Joel Casamayor (36-3-1,22KOs) VS Juan Manuel Marquez (48-4-1,35KOs). On the same night Showtime will broadcast World Champion Nate Campbell who will defend his titles against Juan Guzman (28-0,17KOs). Campbell will be in a tough test against Guzman who has been able to beat the likes of Humberto Soto and Jorge Barrios. Campbell’s experience should help him through this one and we are projecting a unanimous decision victory for Campbell. Getting back to the Casamoyor – Marquez matchup our money goes on Marquez by TKO turn out the lights, it should be all Marquez in this one.
Lets not forget on the Campbell- Guzman undercard more lightweights will be pitted against one and another when Edner Cherry “Bomb” takes on Timothy Bradley. This match will be for Bradley’s WBC belt which he captured back on May 10th by upsetting Junior Witter in a bout held in Nottingham Arena in the UK. Don’t discount the Cherry Bomb from landing one of his original bombs and taking the title away from Bradley. So look for September to be the beginning of the who’s who in the lightweight division. With their eyes set on a Pac Man bout next year. Also look for Khan to set up camp next year in the US and make a championship run. He is going to need a few more bouts and some more seasoning under Rubio before he can step it up and challenge the likes of Diaz and Campbell.
