This Week in Boxing

ByRichard Eberline

Whether it’s freezing cold or nice and tropically warm where you are right now, there wasn’t a whole lot of boxing happening last weekend with the holiday season in full swing but there a few things to look forward to this week.

Tomorrow on Christmas day, 39 year old Pramuansak “The Machine Gun” Posuwan, 40-1-1- (22), will place his WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight crown at risk for the 23rd time over two reigns when he takes on Filipino slugger Marvin “The Leyte Bomber” Tampos, 14-8-2 (11), in Bangkok, Thailand. Posuwan suffered his only loss when attempting to lift the full WBO crown from Fernando Montiel two years ago.

Not taking any time off after Christmas are Massimo Bertozzi, 41-28-4 (12), and Alfredo Di Feto, 13-4-1 (5), who scrap for Bertozzi’s IBF Mediterranean Lightweight belt at Reggio Emilia in Emilia Romagna, Italy on Wednesday, December 26. 40 year old Bertozzi has swapped punches with all the best Italian fighters since turning pro in 1989 and has held domestic titles at lightweight and light welter.

On Friday, December 28, at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, British Colombia, Canada, heavyweight Dominick Guinn, 28-5-1 (19), mounts yet another comeback when he faces Philadelphia spoiler Robert Hawkins, 22-10 (7). Since losing a close split decision to Monte Barrett in 2004, Guinn has gone 4-4-1 and must defeat the well traveled 37 year old Hawkins, if he is to ever get another chance to join the top class in the heavyweight division.

Also that day, the TVRI Studios in Jakarta, Indonesia sees local man Roy Mukhils, 16-2-2 (13), place his PABA Super Feather trophy in harms way against Fernando Otic, 9-2 (7), with the vacant WBO Oriental strap as an added incentive. Mukhlis has gone 8-1-1 at the friendly TVRI venue but Otic has won three straight and will no doubt be looking to bring the titles back to his hometown of Madridejos in the Phillipines.

Back to Italy, southpaw Simona Galassi, 5-0-1 (3), puts her European Female Flyweight title up for grabs against Romanian lefty Floarea Lihet, 7-3 (3), at Palasport Villa Romiti in Forli, Italy. 35 year old Galassi went 86-1 in the amateurs and is an icon in her native Italy.

At the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California, America, light middle Eric Mitchell, 20-4-1 (10), squares up with Sergey “The Bomb” Stepkin, 17-2 (9), over ten rounds. Native Philadelphian Mitchell has won four straight since dropping a decision to two weight world champion Ricardo Mayorga in 2004 while the Russian Stepkin came up short against Miguel Espino in his most recent outing back in April.

The week’s big action takes place on Saturday at the Seidensticker Halle in Bielefeld, Germany, where IBF Cruiser Champion Steve Cunningham, 20-1 (10), also of Philadelphia, defends against big punching Germany based, 23 year old Yugoslav fighter Marco Huck, 19-0 (14). Over his last three bouts, Huck has turned back the experienced trio of Vadim Tokarev, Ismail Abdoul and Pietro Aurino but Cunningham has defeated the likes of Kelvin Davis, Guillermo Jones, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and Sebastiaan Rothmann over the last three years.

The undercard in Germany sees Prawet Singwancha, 30-2-2 (18), and Jose Alfaro, 19-3 (18), face off for the vacant WBA Lightweight title while Mohamed Azzaoui, 22-1-2 (8), and Yoan Pablo Hernandez, 13-0 (7), come to grips over the WBA Fedelatin and WBO Latino Cruiserweight crowns.

We wrap things up for the week in the United States, where at the Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, West Virginia, heavyweights Brian Minto, 28-2 (17), and Bryan Polley, 21-7-1 (10), go at it over the vacant WBA Fedcentro belt. Also scheduled is a USBA Lightweight title contest between Verquan Kimbrough, 18-1-1 (7), and Oisin Fagan, 20-4 (12).