This Week in Boxing.

OK fight fans, in the absence of the invention of a full-blown recovery kit for fights such as Corrales-Castillo, I hope you can at least scrape your chins off the floor in time for Tuesday, which is the day we return to the ring and the starting point for this edition of “This Week in Boxing.”

Former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall features in Tuesday’s action this week as he travels to Florida to face Kelvin Hale. You might wonder to yourself, why is Oliver McCall, at forty-years-old, still around and looking to do business in the heavyweight division? Well, all I can offer in the form of an explanation is simply, because he can. “The Atomic Bull” knows better days spent in the hardest game of all, but when you have a nickname such as his, you must possess something to redeem it, and McCall’s chin and power certainly do that for him.

Read on for the rest of our exclusive preview of the coming week’s action, brought to you by SaddoBoxing.com, the only boxing website offering quality and consistency FREE!

On Friday, in San Jose, California, Jose Celaya faces the undefeated James Webb in a light middleweight attraction. Celaya, under the teachings of Emanuel Steward, is the recipient of considerable expectation, and this fight, shown live on Friday Night Fights offers him the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the power of his reputation. On the under-card, Jose Perez Jr. appears against an undetermined opponent. Perez Jr., also known as “The Punisher,” interviewed exclusively on this site last week, perhaps, with an impressive performance, can land the promotional contract his talent deserves.

From London to South Africa to America, Silence Mabuza’s reign as the IBO bantamweight champion includes several titles defenses, the latest of which comes against Cruz Carbajal in Las Vegas. Mabuza, known as “The Real Deal,” is undefeated in seventeen starts, but he faces a force in Carbajal that stood up against the likes of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, Hugo Dianzo, Nestor Garza, Johnny Bredahl, Fernando Montiel, Mauricio Martinez, Danny Romero, Ratanachai Sor Vorapin and Jorge Lacierva in challenging for various world titles.

Edner Cherry also returns to the ring this week, the time, against Juan Polo Perez. The last time we saw the Bahamian “Cherry Bomb,” it was during his dropped decision to veteran Ricky Quiles in an IBF lightweight title eliminator. Perez is another fighter who is a former world champion who has fought so many top names, but with only two wins and a draw in eighteen contests since the year 2000, the fuse on the “Cherry Bomb” may not even have to be lit to get the job done.

Saturday sees the big one: Felix Trinidad versus Ronald Wright in a middleweight contest that may determine a future challenger for the undisputed middleweight title. Wright achieved all things possible in the light middleweight division, but after the sanctioning bodies stripped him of his championships, he no longer had anything to lose in challenging Trinidad. However, some healthy haggling between the camps meant that even if Wright loses, he will be paid handsomely for doing so. Trinidad’s second return fight could scarcely be against a tougher opponent in the classy Wright, and one cannot help but think that the overwhelming expectation upon Trinidad to easily deal with Wright is too hasty to say the least. In the chief support feature, Zab Judah defends his undisputed welterweight championship against IBF mandatory contender Cosme Rivera. The rumor is that Judah might be set to take on Oscar de la Hoya in “The Golden Boy’s” return to welterweight. Judah showed maturity in and out of the ring to dispatch Cory Spinks for the undisputed crown, and he will need to do so again to get past Rivera and hold his course towards the biggest money fight in the sport. Mexico’s current IBF light flyweight champion Victor Burgos also sees action on the under-card as he takes on Will Grigsby in the latest defense of his crown.

Over in Europe, Germany based Turk Oktay Urkal returns to action to contest the European welterweight championship against Frederic Klose. Known to absorb a punch well, Urkal nonetheless returns from a stoppage loss to current WBA light welterweight champion Vivian Harris. The Universum presented fight card presents their newest heavyweight acquisition Henry Akinwande in a fight against Alex Vassilev. An odd pattern emerges from this fight card, as Russia’s Nicolai Valuev is also scheduled to appear against America’s Clifford Etienne; Akinwande is set to face Valuev later this year if he defeats Vassilev, another Russian fighter whose boxing debut came against none other than Valuev.

Vassiliy Jirov has one rebound loss since losing to former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer. Moorer may have retired, but the Jirov express runs on in the heavyweight division as he makes a stop in Los Angeles, USA to deal with the challenge of Troy Beets.

Stay tuned to SaddoBoxing.com for quality coverage of all the week’s action as it happens.

Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk