Three Punch Combo: Under the Radar Fights, Potential December Upsets and More

THREE PUNCH COMBO — While events on Showtime Championship Boxing and Showtime Pay-Per-View will dominate headlines this coming week, there are other fight cards on the docket. Here is a look at some of the under the radar events taking place this week.

On Friday night, former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri (21-3, 8 KO’s) will return to the ring to face journeyman Angel Hernandez (14-11-2, 9 KO’s) at the Paramount Theater in Huntington, NY. This will mark the first fight for now 34-year-old Algieri (pictured) since April of 2016 when he was stopped in five rounds by Errol Spence Jr., but he shouldn’t have too many problems shaking off the rust. Hernandez is tough and has never been stopped but is very limited.

Algieri’s return is significant and needs to be monitored in that opponents are needed for the many big names in both the 140-pound and welterweight divisions. With a win on Friday, Algieri is right in the mix to get a big opportunity in 2019.

For those wanting to watch live boxing on Saturday night but not wanting to shell over the PPV dollars for Wilder-Fury, there will be a free show streamed live on Facebook via FIGHTNIGHT LIVE from San Antonio, TX. The main event of this Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions card features a pair of undefeated 140-pound fighters in Kendo Castaneda (14-0, 7 KO’s) and Gilbert Venegas Jr. (10-0, 6 KO’s).

There is not a lot of video available for these fighters but what I have been able to view suggests this should be a competitive, good action fight. Castaneda is considered more of the prospect and appears to stylistically be a classic boxer-puncher. He has decent hand speed and has scored some pretty spectacular knockouts although against very limited opposition. He scored his best win in August when he decisioned 14-2-1 Jesus Gutierrez.

Venegas actually appeared on a PBC on FS1 card a few years ago when he defeated then undefeated Deonte Wilson. In a four-round fight, Venegas used smart pressure to get the win. He out jabbed the taller Wilson and worked his way inside to throw combinations to the head and body outworking the more athletic Wilson.

Castaneda-Venegas is a solid fight that should be competitive and fan friendly. Kudos to FIGHTNIGHT LIVE for making this event available for free on Facebook.

Possible December Surprises

We are closing out the year in boxing with a loaded schedule in December. With so many events, there are bound to be at least a few surprising results. Here are a couple of upset possibilities.

As the chief support to the Canelo Alvarez-Rocky Fielding main event on DAZN December 15th, middleweight David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KO’s) returns fresh off his September first round knockout win against Gary O’ Sullivan to face Tureano Johnson (20-2, 14 KO’s). A win for Lemieux could mean a crack at Alvarez in 2019. However, Johnson could pose a real threat to Lemieux getting that big money fight.

I will make this very simple. Assuming Johnson is healthy – he’s had some injury issues in the past – this is not a good matchup for Lemieux.

Lemieux looks great against fighters who come at him. His knockout wins against Curtis Stevens and O’Sullivan are such examples. But fighters with foot speed who can box give Lemieux issues. Johnson has good speed and good boxing ability. He won’t come forward bringing the fight to Lemieux. Instead, he will rely on his legs and movement to out-box Lemieux from the outside.  And Johnson has the tools to out-box Lemieux.

A week later, Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KO’s) will make the first defense of his featherweight title when he faces former two division champion Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KO’s). This bout will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the United States. Frampton is a solid favorite in the sports books, but I like Warrington’s chances.

In my opinion, Warrington’s style is going to give Frampton fits. Warrington, who will be constantly moving, is shifty and very adept at setting up angles to land clean effective punches. In addition, he has a high work rate and has shown he can keep up a high output of punches through the course of a long fight. And coming off his best win against Lee Selby in May, he appears to be peaking.

I have not liked what I have seen recently from Frampton. I think Warrington will out-hustle him.

Remembering Tszyu-Hurtado

HBO’s Boxing After Dark series routinely produced classics in its early years in the mid-to-late 90’s. As a matter of fact, there were so many great fights on the series that some classics have gone forgotten. One such forgotten classic took place twenty years ago on November 28^th, 1998 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA, when Kostya Tszyu (21-1-1, 17 KO’s) met Diosbelys Hurtado (28-1, 19 KO’s) in a 140 pound contest.

Tszyu was originally slated to face Miguel Angel Gonzalez but Gonzalez pulled out about two weeks prior due to an injury. Those involved in the event wanted to keep Tszyu on the card. Scrambling to find a suitable replacement, they quickly located Hurtado who was just coming off a fight of his own.

Tszyu had won three straight since suffering a stunning loss to Vince Phillips in May of 1997. Hurtado had fought once previously on HBO, giving Pernell Whitaker a tough test before getting stopped in the 11^th round, and was riding an eight fight winning streak since suffering that defeat.

Tszyu came out aggressively and put Hurtado down with a vicious right hand followed by hard left hook less than one minute into the fight. Hurtado appeared badly hurt but as Tszyu charged in for the finish, Hurtado landed a counter right that floored Tszyu. Tszyu would get to his feet and come back firing but would get clipped with another counter right that planted him on the canvas for a second time. The two would then slug it out to close the round but Tszyu seemed to turn the tide having Hurtado a bit wobbly as the wild first round ended. However, as Tszyu walked back to his corner there was visible swelling around his right eye.

The next three rounds saw some blistering action. Tszyu continued to press forward landing hard shots both to the head and body, but Hurtado stood his ground and found Tszyu an easy target to counter. Hurtado couldn’t miss with the counter right in particular which caught Tszyu clean on several occasions.

Tszyu started the fifth round strong, seemingly making a more conscientious effort to work behind the jab. He hit Hurtado clean on several occasions with that powerful left jab, freezing Hurtado, which allowed him to then pound away to the head and body. Hurtado was clearly getting broken down as the round progressed and eventually would get dropped by a clean left hook to his liver. He got up but Tszyu landed another left hook, this time to his midsection, and that put Hurtado down for good.

HBO’s Boxing After Dark produced some memorable wars during its run. Tszyu-Hurtado hasn’t gotten the press of some others on the series, but was another classic.

Photo credit: Esther Lin / SHOWTIME

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