Avila Perspective, Chap. 161: Elite Battles from East to West

Avila Perspective, Chap. 161: Elite Battles from East to West

Prizefighting jumped to another gear.

On back-to-back nights the elite compete on a high level with Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter clashing in Las Vegas, and a day earlier middleweights Demetrius Andrade and Jason Quigley (pictured flanking promoter Eddie Hearn) battling in New Hampshire. Once again professional boxing has a lot to offer.

First up on Friday evening, will be the multiple world championship fights at Manchester, New Hampshire. DAZN will stream the card.

Four world title fights take place at SNHU Arena including Mexico’s Julio Cesar Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs) defending against Puerto Rico’s slick McWilliams Arroyo (21-4) for the WBC flyweight title.

We just saw another Mexico versus Puerto Rico battle last week with Jaime Munguia and Gabe Rosado. That was a doozy.

A second contest pits WBA and IBF super bantamweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev (9-0, 7 KOs) of Uzbekistan defending against Chile’s Jose Velasquez (29-6-2, 19 KOs).  It’s the second defense for Akhmadaliev who edged Daniel Roman for the titles almost two years ago.

Another world title match pits female super lightweight champion Kali Reis (18-7-1) fighting Canada’s Jessica Camara (8-2) for the WBA and WBO world titles. The winner moves on to fight England’s Chantelle Cameron to decide the undisputed super lightweight world champion.

The fourth world title match on the Friday card pits Andrade (30-0, 18 KOs) defending the WBO middleweight title against Ireland’s Quigley (19-1, 14 KOs). This is home territory for Andrade who lives in nearby Providence, Rhode Island.

“I give him much respect,” said Andrade of his next foe Quigley. “May the best man win, unfortunately for him it’s going to be me.”

Andrade has been physically stalking other middleweight titlists in hopes of luring one of them to a mega fight. First, he must pass through Quigley who has his own dreams.

“I’m a young hungry fighter looking to be a world champion,” Quigley said during the press conference. “Boxing is a crazy old game and it can go any old way.”

Saturday in Las Vegas   

It’s sort of a dream fight for Terence Crawford who for one reason or another has been unable to land a mega fight. First it was multiple attempts to convince Errol Spence Jr. or Keith Thurman inside the prize ring. Then, it was Manny Pacquiao opting to go in another direction instead of fighting the multi-division winner from Nebraska. Finally, Shawn Porter signaled he wanted the fight.

“I’m a show him come Saturday,” says Crawford on why he’s been avoided.

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) finally gets an opportunity to match blows with another elite welterweight when he defends the WBO title against Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 20. The Top Rank fight card will be televised on ESPN and pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Now 34 years old, Crawford has a pivotal opportunity to showcase his eye-popping fighting skills against a true top welterweight in Porter who has banged it out with Spence, Thurman, and Danny Garcia. This is it for the fighter who many claim is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

The problem has always been his competition.

No fault of Crawford, but the top welters all fight on the other network and are part of Al Haymon’s contingent. Whether it was the fighters themselves or Haymon, a match could not be made.

Crawford, who is signed with Top Rank, was simply too good for the other welterweights to risk their reputations without proper monetary compensation. In other words, the money just wasn’t there. Until now.

“I really have to commend Al Haymon for working together to make this happen,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum.

Of all the welterweights in Haymon’s camp it was Porter who agreed.

The Las Vegas-based Porter has always been one of the crowd-pleasers simply because of his “in-your-face” fighting style.

“This is the biggest fight of my life,” said Porter. “I’m a showtime fighter.”

Porter had Spence on the ropes and lost by split-decision. Had the pressure-fighting Porter not been floored in that fight he probably could have won the fight.

Now Crawford gets a real chance to show off his skills.

“I can’t wait till Saturday,” said Crawford.

For the past two years, Canelo’s followers and Crawford’s fans have debated who is the best pound for pound fighter in the world?

So far, Canelo has battled current or former world champions and pound for pound listed fighters. Crawford through no fault of his own has not had the opportunity until now.

Crawford versus Porter allows comparisons on an elite level.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 6 p.m. Demetrius Andrade (30-0) vs Jason Quigley (19-1); Murodjon Akhmadaliev (9-0) vs Jose Velasquez (29-6-2); Julio Cesar Martinez (18-1) vs McWilliams Arroyo (21-4); Kali Reis (18-7-1) vs Jessica Camara (8-2).

Sat. ESPN+ 3 p.m. Carlos Balderas (10-1) vs Julio Cortez (15-3); Raymond Muratalla (12-0) vs Elias Araujo (21-3).

Sat. ESPN ppv 6 p.m. Terence Crawford (37-0) vs Shawn Porter (31-3-1); Esquiva Falcao (28-0) vs Patrice Volny (16-0); Isaac Dogboe (22-2) vs Christopher Diaz (26-3).

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