Three Punch Combo: Two Under The Radar Fights on Saturday and More

THREE PUNCH COMBO — We have another busy week in store with several events on the docket that will be available on various platforms. With so many fights on the schedule, some very intriguing contests inevitably fall under the radar.

On Saturday, ESPN+ will broadcast a card from Reno, NV that will be headlined by a contest between Shakur Stevenson (12-0, 7 KO’s) and Joet Gonzalez (23-0, 14 KO’s) for the vacant WBO featherweight title. While this main event is drawing almost all the press coverage, there is a very pivotal bantamweight bout on this card between Joshua Greer Jr. (21-1-1, 12 KO’s) and Antonio Nieves (19-2-2, 11 KO’s) that could very well steal the show.

Greer (pictured) exploded on the scene in March of 2017 with an electric knockout over James Smith in a bout televised on the popular ShoBox series. This was the beginning of a stretch of impressive outings for Greer in which he easily disposed of some very credible opponents. During this stretch, Greer landed a coveted promotional deal with Top Rank and seemed on the fast track toward big things in the bantamweight division.

However, in his last fight this past July, Greer’s stock took a hit when he was fortunate to squeak out a close 12-round majority decision over Nikolai Potapov. In that fight, Greer appeared to be out-worked by Potapov in the majority of the rounds. Now to get his career back on track, Greer not only needs to win but bring back some of that explosiveness we saw in the past.

Similar to Greer, Nieves also finds himself at a career crossroads. In 2017, Nieves faced off against the aforementioned Potapov. In that fight, which was also shown on ShoBox, Nieves raised his game and got the better of Potapov, or so it appeared. But the judges saw things differently and Potapov won a controversial split decision.

Although he lost, Nieves parlayed that performance into a big fight with Naoya Inoue later that year. And though he fell short against Inoue, Nieves gave a good account of himself in defeat. Now after two knockout wins against lower level opponents, Nieves has a big chance to move up the rankings with a win over Greer.

These are just the type of crossroads fight I absolutely love in this sport. These two are evenly matched and stylistically should mesh well inside the ring.

Greer is a boxer-puncher with fast hands and possesses legitimate one-punch power in both fists. But he also has a tendency to fight in spots and not be very active with his hands.

Nieves is also a boxer-puncher. He lacks Greer’s speed and power, but is a more active fighter and is technically proficient. He is a sharp accurate puncher and uses angles well to get in position to land clean shots.

We are going to see crisp back-and-forth action fight between these two on Saturday. This is a fight that should not be missed.

Under The Radar Fight, Part Two

Also on Saturday, Showtime will broadcast a tripleheader from the Santander Arena in Reading, PA. This card will be headlined by a fight between 154-pound contenders Erickson Lubin (21-1, 16 KO’s) and Nathaniel Gallimore (21-3-1, 17 KO’s). While I do like this main event and consider Gallimore a live underdog, the fight on this card that really piques my interest is the 140-pound co-feature between former lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-1-1, 14 KO’s) and Adrian Granados (20-7-2, 14 KO’s).

Easter, once a highly touted prospect, won his title in a rousing effort against current IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey in 2016. After three successful defenses, Easter found himself in a big unification fight against Mikey Garcia in 2018. While some thought Easter could rise to the occasion, he was underwhelming, dropping a wide 12-round decision.

In his bounce-back fight this past April, Easter fought former two-division champion Rances Barthelemy to a 12-round split draw. Anyone who unfortunately watched this fight knows that neither Easter nor Barthelemy put forth his best effort.

Granados was never a highly touted prospect. Instead, he was often the opponent. But he always gave an honest effort and occasionally would spring a surprise. And in 2015, he sprung a major surprise when he knocked out the then undefeated Amir Imam.

Following that win, Granados has had a mixed bag of results. He has tough competitive decision losses to Adrien Broner and Shawn Porter mixed in with some stay-busy knockout wins against overmatched foes.

And this past April, Granados was utterly out-classed by Danny Garcia and stopped for the first time in his career.

With both Easter and Granados coming off underwhelming performances, I understand why many are overlooking this fight. But the way I see it, both have a lot to prove and know they must make a statement in order to stay relevant in the sport. And in these instances, we sometimes get some really fun fights.

Easter is a classic boxer-puncher who likes to work combinations behind the left jab. He has quick hands and can be a sharp accurate puncher when unloading those combinations. Granados, for his part, is an aggressive pressure fighter. He will come forward and look to get inside the taller Easter. Granados, at his best, is a high volume puncher who is more than willing to eat some leather when pressing forward to create opportunities to do his own work.

Unlike Easter’s last fight, this is not one to sleep on. Styles make fights and I am confident we see an entertaining and competitive fight.

Emanuel “Pinky” Colon

Most of the attention of the boxing community this past Friday was on the big light heavyweight title unification fight between Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. But that wasn’t the only televised show that night. Telemundo continued with its fall swing of events with a card from the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls, NY. The card was headlined by a local fighter, Emanuel “Pinky” Colon (17-1-1, 16 KO’s). And Colon, who fights at 140, did not disappoint in his national television debut as he dispatched his opponent, Richard Zamora (19-4, 12 KO’s), in the very first round.

I recorded this show and watched it first thing Saturday morning. I hated not attending a live show in my backyard of upstate NY but could not miss Beterbiev-Gvozdyk. But I was very interested in seeing Colon as there wasn’t much video available on him and he was getting a lot of local buzz (and from the look of the crowd, he sold quite a few tickets).

It is tough to handicap a fighter from about two and a half minutes of action. However, I really liked what I saw from Colon and think he can be a good local draw. Against Zamora, Colon came in clearly looking to put on a show and make a statement. And he certainly did just that.

Zamora had been stopped on three previous occasions, so the jury is still out on Colon’s punching power, but he appears to put his punches together well and he appears to have heavy hands.

Can Colon become a top contender at 140? Maybe, but at the very least I think he has a chance with his offensive-minded style and his ability to sell tickets to revive the boxing scene somewhat up here in upstate New York.

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