A Look Ahead At The New Boxing Season: September

As Boxing is firmly in the August doldrums, we take a look at happier times ahead in which the new season kicks off with ultra-busy month of September.

September 5, Freiberger Arena, Dresden, Germany: WBA “regular” light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer faces challenger Konni Konrad. Awkward southpaw Braehmer, 46-2 (34), continues to be put in with lower level opposition by his handlers and Konrad, 22-1-1 (11), continues that trend.

At 36, Braehmer, a very good fighter, will hopefully get a chance to fight another world champion, particularly divisional kingpin Sergey Kovalev, who holds the WBA “super” title.

September 6, American Bank Center, Corpus Cristi, US: WBA “regular” bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell meets Tomoki Kameda in a rematch of their May barnburner which McDonnell came off the canvas in the third round to win a close UD in America.

England’s McDonnell, 26-2 (12), will have to be on top form to repeat his victory over Japan’s Kameda, 31-1 (19), a former WBO bantam king who is quicker than McDonnell but was outworked over the later stages of their initial clash.

Kameda feels he was robbed the last time out and will likely try to go all out early to drop McDonnell again but this time finish him off to keep a decision out the hands of the judges.

September 11, Richoh Coliseum, Toronto, Canada: WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson squares off against challenger Tommy Karpency. Stevenson, 26-1 (21), heads to Canada’s largest city for the first time for a tune up bout to a unification showdown with Kovalev, which will hopefully happen in 2016.

American veteran Karpency, 25-4-1 (14), hopes to spoil those plans and will look to show that his split decision win over former world champ Chad Dawson last year was no fluke.

September 12, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, US: in the biggest card of the month, WBC/WBA “super” welterweight king Floyd Mayweather Jr will fight former world champion Andre Berto in what Mayweather says will be is his final appearance in the ring.

Mayweather, 48-0 (26), surprised many in selecting Berto, 30-3 (23), who, despite previously holding the WBC and IBF titles, has never beaten a world class opponent.

Perhaps the selection of the very-hittable Berto makes sense if Mayweather is looking to produce a KO win, something he hasn’t done since his free shot finishing of Victor Ortiz in 2011.

Additionally, Mayweather took a lot of stick for his un-exciting win over Manny Pacquiao earlier this year and will be looking to avoid the same type of result by facing the less dangerous and free-swinging Berto.

Also on the bill at the MGM Grand is the bout between WBC super middleweight boss Badou Jack, 19-1-1 (12), and George Groves, 21-2 (16).

Jack upset Anthony Dirrell in April to win the title and faces a tough assignment in the form of Groves, who gave Carl Froch two very tough bouts during stoppage losses for the WBC and IBF titles in 2013 and 2014.

The third world title bout at MGM Grand is a rematch between WBO super featherweight supremo Rocky Martinez, 29-2-2 (17) and Orlando Salido, 42-13-2 (29).
Martinez dropped Salido twice enroute to taking the WBO belt away from him in April but the hard-nosed Mexican veteran has had many career resurgences and could turn the tables on Martinez.

September 12, Foxwoods Casion in Manshantucket, US: IBF super welter champ Cornelius Brundage, 34-5 (19), tangles with challenger Jermall Charlo, 21-0 (16). Despite standing only 5’6 and being 42 years old, Bundrage is in his second reign as IBF titlist and has a tough assignment against heavily-hyped contender Charlo.

Charlo is only 25 and at 6’0 will tower over Bundrage but the Texan has previously only faced pedestrian competition and could be in for a surprise when facing the champion, a veteran of five world title contests.

September 22, Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan; WBC bantamweight ruler Shinsuke Yamanaka, 23-0-2 (17), clashes with Anselmo Moreno, 35-3-1 (12), in an all-southpaw battle.

Moreno held the WBA bantam strap, both the regular” and “super” versions, over 12 defenses until getting dethroned last year and represents the biggest threat to the reign of Yamanaka, who has held the WBC bauble since 2012.

September 26, Legacy Arena, Birmingham US; WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder, 34-0 (33), gets challenged by Johann Duhaupas, 32-2 (20). Wilder was pushed hard by unheralded challenger Eric Molina when defending his title for the first time and could be in for a tough ride against Duhaupas.

The Frenchman hasn’t faced any world beaters during his career but did post a good majority decision victory over Manuel Charr in Moscow this past April and given that Wilder seems to be learning on the job and was rocked by Molina, Duhaupas does have a chance at producing an upset.

September 26, Buenos Aires, Argentina, venue TBA: IBF cruiserweight titlist Yoan Pablo Hernandez, 29-1 (14), travels to the homeland of Victor Emilio Ramirez, 22-2 (17).

The 6’4 Cuban southpaw champion will absolutely dwarf the 5’7 Ramirez but Hernandez doesn’t fight very often and when he does, often runs into stamina problems if his bouts go into the later rounds.

Ramirez won the Interim IBF strap with a victory over the world class Ola Afolabi in April and will no doubt look to force a fast pace on Hernandez and hope for a good result on the scorecards.

September 26, Wembley Arena, London, England: WBA “regular” super middleweight strap holder Fedor Chudinov, 13-0 (10), squares off against local man Frank Buglioni, 17-1-1 (13).

Chudinov hasn’t had very many bouts but did manage to upset a faded Felix Sturm for the vacant WBA trophy in May while Buglioni has never faced a top shelf opponent and has losses to lover level competition.

September 29, location and venue TBA; WBA “regular” super featherweight titlist Javier Fortuna, 28-0-1 (20), vs. Carlos Ivan Velazquez, 19-1 (12). Big things have been predicted for sharp Domincan southpaw Fortuna, who will probably be the favorite to defeat Puerto Rico’s Velazquez, who lost to the only top shelf opponent he’s faced, former world champion Rico Ramos.