Fight Week Preview
It's a busy but not spectacular week of boxing with four fights in three separate countries. Two decent mid-week fights and two big-time cards on Saturday.
The action kicks off in New York City on a Tuesday as the Hebrew Hammer returns from a nearly two-year layoff to battle with Patrick Okine at the Sony Hall in the main event of the Boxing Insider card. Seldin, 26-1 (22), last fought William Silva at the Garden and scored a seventh-round KO in October 2021. Okine, 21-5-2 (18) of Accra, Ghana, is best known for being stopped by Lee Selby in 2021 in a 126-pound fight. This battle will be contested at the 140-pound limit.
The mid-week action moves north of the border on Wednesday with a big-time fight for highly touted Canadian Prospect Erik Bazinyan, who puts his 30-1 (21) record on the line against skilled contender Ronald Ellis, 18-3-2 (12), in Montreal. Canada. Ellis, a world-class fighter from Lynn, Massachusetts, is coming off back-to-back losses to David Benavidez and Christian Mbilli in 2021. In February, Bazinyan had the best victory of his career in outpointing Alantez Fox in a very close and controversial decision. The Canadian came back four months later and outpointed Jose de Jesus Macias.
The weekend action Kicks off in Roseberg, Texas as a major unification headlines a low key very loaded card. WBO middleweight champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly 14-0 (9), of Kazakhstan, will look to defend his version of the middleweight crown and add Vincenzo Gualtieri's IBF strap. Gualtieri is largely unknown to even hardcore. He hails from Germany 21-0-1(7) and won his strap by outpointing Esquiva Falco in July. Alimkhanuly, a massive betting favorite, last fought in May and blew out Steve Butler in two rounds. A prospect-loaded undercard features Olympians Keyshawn Davis, 2021 Prospect of the Year Duke Reagan, and Ricardo Torrez in step-up fights.
The weekend action concludes in Australia as Tim Tszyu puts his WBO Jr Middleweight strap on the line in a really intriguing bout with Brain Mendoza. Mendoza,22-2 (16), is coming off of a KO of the year performance of Sebastian Fundora in April. Tszyu, 23-0 (17) of Australia, is likely the leader in the clubhouse for Fighter of the Year. He has stoppage victories over Tony Harrison (TKO-9) and Carlos Ocampo (KO 1). In the co-main event, undefeated super bantamweight prospect Sam Goodman, 15-0 (7), who eked out a decision victory over Ra'eese Aleem in June, is back to take on fan-favorite pressure fighter Miguel Flores of Houston, Texas. Flores, 25-4-1 (12), is coming off a draw with future Hall of Famer Abner Mares last September and has been inactive for the last 13 months.
