This Week in Boxing.

Alright fight fans, the majority of this week’s boxing action begins on Thursday, so without further ado, we’re going to dive right in at the deep end. That being said, the event being held at the Palace Indian Gaming Center in

Lemoore, California represents deep water for some of the fighters participating in it. Firstly, we have the main event which will see Irishman Wayne McCullough trying to return from near obscurity to win the WBC super bantamweight championship from Oscar Larios. McCullough is a hard-as-nails, all-action fighter who has tasted the power of such terrific punchers as Naseem Hamed and Erik Morales. Larios may not possess such force in his punches, but with his awkward style and admirable work-rate, if he is to be dethroned, he will not go quietly.

On the under-card, Olympian Andre Ward will seek out his second professional win against fellow novice pro Kenny Kost. This event represents more high-profile exposure for Ward, and hopefully against Kost, whose record stands at eight wins without a loss, it won’t be a case of too much, too soon.

In heavyweight action on the card, Cedric Boswell returns to action against Gilbert Martinez. Boswell gave noted contender Jameel McCline all he could handle in their fight before being stopped late on. Martinez has fought virtually all of the ranked heavyweight contenders over the past five years, usually coming up short but always providing a tough test.

And lastly, in more heavyweight action, promising heavyweight Malcolm Tann returns to the ring for the first time since his impressive performance against former unbeaten pro Jason Gavern. Tann is a huge heavyweight, possessing fast hands and feet with some knockout power in his fists. There is still some smoothing out of his rough edges to be done, but Tann has more than his physical attributes going for him. Firstly, he is promoted by Dan Goossen, and secondly, he is a spar-mate of James Toney. Watch out for Malcolm Tann.

On Friday, we switch our attentions to the convention center in San Diego, California to see whether Marcos Licona can overcome the challenge of Hector Velazquez. Both men have fought an abundance of world-class competition. Velazquez has often lost when stepping up in class against the likes of Robbie Peden, Kevin Kelley, Israel Vazquez and Ricardo Juarez, and Licona hardly managed better against Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar Larios and Angel Vazquez. However, the two share a common opponent in Israel Vazquez, and where Velazquez failed against Vazquez, Licona succeeded.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. makes his latest appearance on the under-card of this event. Chavez Jr. competes in the lightweight division and has already amassed a staggering fifteen wins against no losses in just over a year as a professional fighter. He is already scheduled to appear at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in support of the Morales-Pacquiao fight, but first, he must dispose of Leroy Newton for his sixteenth win.

Friday will see a lot more boxing action before the night is over, not the least of which will come in the form of women’s champion Laila Ali who will fight unheralded Cassandra Geiger at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Then, at the Mohegan sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, a light heavyweight encounter will take place between contenders Eric Harding and David Telesco. Both fighters were found wanting against former champion Roy Jones Jr., but in the wake of his demise, and a shortage of top-flight matches to be made at the weight, a win could be crucial for either man in enforcing their claim to fight for a world title in the near future.

Lastly on Friday, we turn to the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, where Michael Gomez will get to give his mouth a rest and his punches achance against Javier Alvarez. The Manchester Mexican headlines the MEN card, defending his WBU super featherweight title, but with his recent audacious challenges to the likes of Scott Harrison and Alex Arthur in the media, Gomez cannot afford a career slip against Alvarez.

Saturday night begins for us at the Max Schmeling Halle in Germany, and how fitting that at the arena named after the recently departed heavyweight champion, we have a significant heavyweight attraction headlining the card. Nicolai “the Beast from the East” Valuev versus Attila Levin sounds like a monster movie, and monstrous is a perfect adjective to describe Valuev. Standing seven-feet tall and weighing around 300-pounds, Valuev remains a league apart in physical terms, but Levin, trained by the legendary Angelo Dundee will be looking to revive the truism of, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Valuev is unbeaten in thirty-nine contests and the Russian giant is beginning to stir interest in Western fight fans who are wondering when they will see him in an American ring.

In more heavyweight action from Germany, Sinan Samil Sam will fight American contender Lawrence Clay-Bey. Conventional wisdom says that Clay-Bey’s superior skills should be enough to grab him a decision win over the predictable Turkish puncher, but since when did conventionality have anything to do with fighting?

Super middleweight Danilo Haussler will make an appearance on the card, and an intriguing middleweight contest between Canada’s Ian Gardner and Germany’s Arthur Abraham will also take place. Abraham is known as a concussive puncher, but the slippery Gardner is coming from two impressive decisions against Kuvanych Toygonbaev and Tokunbo Olajide. Gardner is not to be underestimated, and he should be able to tell us if Abraham is a legitimate contender or not.

Eight hours over the Atlantic, we come to Montreal, Quebec in Canada and middleweight contender Joachim Alcine. The “Haitian Sensation” is coming from a fantastic stoppage of former Canadian domestic standout Stephane Ouellet, who after tasting Alcine’s punches promptly retired to write children’s books. Bojorquez fought them all as a light middleweight, but has not fared quite as well in the middleweight division. Still, if he loses big against Alcine at the Casino de Montreal, there’s always roulette or the slot machines.

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but not this week at the Brentwood International Center in England. Colin Lynes will face Jauquin Gallardo in his first defense of the IBO light welterweight title. Gallardo has almost always failed to impress when moving into a higher class of opposition, so a good win for the once-beaten Lynes will be a decent gauge of his ability.

In a lightweight contest on the under-card, Welsh fireball Jason Cook looks to resurrect the momentum he gained in beating European notables Sandro Casamonica and Stefano Zoff by taking out Ted Bami. Cook was stopped last time out against former Ricky Hatton victim Aldo Rios. Zoff is now involved in world title competition and Cook wants some of that action, but he will have to get rid of the twice-beaten Bami before he can hope to engage in that level again.

Finally, on Sunday, we return to Germany once more for Mohamed Abdullaev’s fight against Juan Godoy. Much was expected of Abdullaev after the 2000 Olympics, but he floundered against a determined Emmanuel Clottey and the Uzbekistanian is now conducting a rebuilding process before stepping up into higher-class opposition once again.

And that’s it for this week. SaddoBoxing.com will continue to bring you a closer look at the world’s weekly boxing schedules.

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