Purdy set for Jones test

Purdy overpowered his Argentinian opponent

It looks as though Lee "Lights Out" Purdy has earned himself another big fight for December, with a bout against American tough man Carson Jones being mooted for either the 8th or 15th. Eddie Hearn is expected to put together another stacked bill, featuring the return of Darren Barker (hopefully), a cracking domestic dust up between John Ryder and Kreshnik Qato, as well as the return of Erick "The Eagle" Ochieng.

Jones, who gave Kell Brook an incredibly tough fight in July, is set for a return to Britain and will no doubt give Purdy the biggest test of his career. It represents a real change in fortune for the Colchester man, who was handed a last minute opportunity to fight unbeaten Argentine banger Gumersindo Carrasco for the IBF International Welterweight title in September, stopping the crude 25 year old in four rounds, in what was a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle.

Purdy is never in a bad fight and judged on Jones' fight with Brook, it could be a real pre Christmas cracker for Boxing fans tuning into Sky Sports. The step up in class for the talented Ryder will be another reason to tune in as he takes on the very experienced and battle hardened London based Albanian.

Five opponents for Ricky Burns

Ricky Burns stunned Kevin Mitchell on Saturday night by completely out-muscling the Dagenham man inside four rounds to remain WBO lightweight champion. That win has led calls for an unification clash with Antonio DeMarco or Miguel Vazquez, but that won't be happening this year and is more likely going to happen in March or April. After the fight Frank Warren said that Burns is likely to be out in December and here are five potential opponents for that date.

1. Scott Harrison

An all Scottish fight with Harrison is likely for Burns

I don't think Harrison deserves a shot at the title, but this is modern Boxing and with both guys signed up to Frank Warren's promotional company, this would be an easy one to make, but would also make a huge amount of money for Warren. These are Scotland's two best boxers in the last 10-15 years, Harrison was a great featherweight, but in his two fights back, he's fought a very low level of opponent. Saturday night Harrison got a six round points decision over Joe Elfidh, and other than the first round, he showed that he was a long way off a world title fight. This is the fight that would least surprise me, even though I'm totally against it, Harrison should be nowhere near a world title fight when there's so much quality domestically and world wide at 135lbs. Personally I would like to see Harrison fight Mitchell on the undercard of Burns' next title fight.

2. John Murray

Murray's on the comeback trail

Another fight that would be pretty easy to make because of the promotional deals. Murray has been out of the ring since a brave challenge for Brandon Rios' world title in December 2011 over in New York, where he was stopped in eleven rounds. Before that Murray had lost to Kevin Mitchell in what was an amazing fight, but one he hadn't trained properly for, and he showed that he's very dangerous if he's taken his preparation seriously. Murray is back in full training at Joe Gallagher's gym, him v Burns would be a serious contender for FOTY.

3. Sharif Bogere

Bogere would be an interesting choice

Ugandan based in Las Vegas holds a high ranking with the WBO as he's the current WBO NABO champion, and is certainly a live contender at 135 as he's ranked #14 in the world by boxrec and undefeated in 23 pro fights. Is promoted by Golden Boy in the States, and they have a good relationship with Frank Warren, which certainly makes it a contest with not so many political brick walls in front of it. Bogere however is being linked for a November title fight with Richard Abril, although it's doubtful if that will go ahead, Eddie Hearn was expecting Gavin Rees to challenge for that WBA title.

4. Raymundo Beltran

Beltran has never challenged for a world title

26-6 31 year old Mexican is having a resurgence in his career, this after the biggest win of his career against then top 10 ranked Hank Lundy in July, claiming a majority decision over 10 rounds. Has lost two of his last four fights against US based prospects Bogere and Luis Ramos Jr, but the victory over Lundy has brought him into the title picture. On form this defence would hold little risks for Burns, Beltran's tough, but you would expect Burns to be far too good technically.

5. Miguel Acosta

Acosta (left) has a fan friendly style

I'm not expecting a huge name for this defence for Burns, Acosta fits the type of name who could get a title shot. The Venezuelan is a former WBA champion, but is on the slide having lost three of his last four fights. The first of those was when Brandon Rios took his title off him, and since then both Richard Abril and unbeaten Armenian Art Hovhannisyan have beaten the 34 year old, although his last fight with Art was a split decision and he did put him down. Again an opponent you'd expect Burns to beat cosily, but ranked 22nd in the world by Boxrec.

There's no doubt Frank Warren has many options for Burns, hopefully Burns v the winner of DeMarco v Broner will take place next year, but judged on these five potential opponents, there's definitely some nice appetisers out there ahead of the tasty looking main course!

Gallagher debuts in Belfast

Gallagher with his Delhi Gold

This weekend sees some huge fights at the top of the bills in Britain, with Ricky Burns v Kevin Mitchell in Scotland and Carl Frampton v Steve Molitor in Belfast. At the Odyssey Arena, Eddie Hearn has put together a stacked card, which includes some tremendous prospects. Martin J Ward, Khalid Yafai and Scott Cardle are three talented guys on show, but one making his debut and not attracting too much interest at the moment is 2010 Commonwealth Gold Medallist Paddy Gallagher.

The 23 year old from Belfast performed brilliantly two years ago in Delhi, beating Callum Smith 11-5 in the final as he claimed Gold for Northern Ireland. He joins fellow Delhi Gold Medallist Eamon O'Kane in fighting on this bill. Following that Gallagher went on to participate in the World Series of Boxing, having two fights, going 1-1, but he did suffer some disappointment last year in the Ulster Championships as he lost to the talented William McLaughlin.

Gallagher in my opinion is better suited to the pros, and it was way back in May when he signed with Belfast based manager John Rooney, becoming one of several Northern Irish amateurs to have gone pro. The intention of Eddie Hearn seems to be get more big shows in Belfast, they are a great Boxing crowd, and Rooney will be able to get Gallagher on these shows if he impresses.

Hopefully we'll get some highlights of this fight on Saturday night, or on Ringside in the coming weeks, but I believe "Patman" is definitely a good addition to the very competitive domestic 147lbs division. There's no doubt he should win, but his opponent William Warburton is a real tough kid and has been stopped in just two of his 44 fights, expect Gallagher to be keen to put on a real show, that's the key in Boxing nowadays.

In form Selby can shine in Belfast

Selby reigns the Commonwealth and in Britain

One of the biggest tests in Boxing is when you have to go into an opponent's backyard and face a partisan welcome from his adoring fans, and that's something talented Welshman Lee Selby (13-1, 5 KO's) will have to face this coming weekend on the big Sky Sports bill at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

Selby is a fighter many people won't have heard too much about a year or so ago, but on the 17th of September 2011, he produced a fantastic performance by winning in Liverpool against Stephen Smith, stopping "Swifty" in the 8th round of a great scrap. That won him the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles, and following that he produced arguably the most impressive display of his career so far, stopping the incredibly tough Scot John Simpson, in five rounds, where Selby showed his impressive array of shots, including heavy ones to Simpson's body.

In May he had a Commonwealth title defence against unknown Ghanaian Patrick Okine, and did what he had to do by stopping him in five rounds, but the acid test comes this Saturday night. The experience of fighting in Liverpool against Smith will stand Selby in good stead, but going to Belfast will be on another level. The Odyssey is a big arena, the fans will be packed in there because of so much home interest, and Selby will have very few fans, this is a fantastic test for one of the most talented boxers in Britain at the moment.

Selby's manager and corner man Chris Sanigar has said this should be his last fight at domestic level, if he comes through this fight with Lindsay, then the best in Britain will have been beaten, and you can't deny that the 25 year old from Barry has looked unbelievably impressive in his title fights. 

Lindsay will have the home support

This has the makings of an awesome bout though, Lindsay is 19-1 with 7 KO's, but hits much harder than his record suggests and his only loss was against John Simpson, who to his credit came to Belfast and put on a real Boxing masterclass. I think we'll see a different, hungrier, Lindsay this weekend though. He's waited patiently for another title chance, Eddie Hearn won the purse bids and got him this opportunity on home soil, which provides a little off-point, credit has to go to the board for putting this fight out to purse bids and things have been done the right way, we need more of these bouts at British, Commonwealth and European level, promoters have had their chances to make fights, but many have fallen by the way side!

Credit to the aforementioned Hearn for putting on another very good show, he's certainly keeping the bar high, but his charge could be in for a defeat here. I'm delighted Selby is Welsh, he along with Nathan Cleverly could be real standard bearers for Boxing in the principality for the next two or three years, both have huge amounts of potential and can flourish with the right matches. Selby has been sparring at the Mayweather Gym in recent months and that kind of experience will no doubt improve him as a fighter. His power has developed so much in the last 12 months, at the start of his career he did struggle to make a mark in the game and no big promoter really got involved, but now with Frank Warren's backing, things are definitely happening for Lee.

Miskirtchian lies in wait for Selby

Selby has a very fluid Boxing style, from a technical standpoint he's a pleasure to watch, but he's also the type of fighter who's perfect for Hearn's show on Saturday night, he comes to fight and now with that improved power I've talked about, he delivers big knockouts. I fancy him in this fight, Lindsay's tough, but I'll be having a few quid on another knockout win. That should set up a European title fight against champion Belgian based Georgian Alex Miskirtchian, which I'm confident would take place in Britain, but also ending up in a Selby win, considering the champion has lost to Paul Truscott in the past. The featherweight division is packed with exciting fighters and Wales has it's own pocket rocket.

Mack ready for another world title attack

Macklin after his win over Alcine

This past Saturday night Matthew Macklin was handed an opportunity on the Martinez v Chavez undercard because of his deal with Martinez's promoter Lou DiBella, as he faced off against Montreal based Haitian Joachim Alcine. Boxing News had predicted a tricky night for Matt saying "Macklin should be able to withstand some anxious moments to take a decision", however he stunned the slow starting Alcine by landing a huge right hand in the first round, which had pretty much finished the fight, although he had to put him down once again and put on a lot of heat to get the job done.

I did expect Alcine to be the kind of fighter to make Macklin look pretty spectacular, he has left himself open in the past and it was only two years ago that Alfredo Angulo had destroyed him in a round. However he was on a good run of form having beaten David Lemieux, and the win has really brought Macklin back into the world title picture.

Twice Macklin has been left disappointed in world title tilts, the decision over in Germany against Felix Sturm was disgusting, and then he put a really brave performance against Sergio Martinez, who came on strong to stop him in 11 rounds. With Macklin it could be a case that he's really unlucky that the middleweight division is the most competitive in world Boxing at the moment. Martinez, Geale and Golovkin are three standout names in my eyes, but behind them is the likes of Hassan N'Jikam, Dmitry Pirog and Peter Quillin, while the UK scene is incredibly strong at the top with Martin Murray, the injury ravaged Darren Barker, and Billy Joe Saunders, who had a great win over Jarrod Fletcher on Friday night.

McGirt (second from right) could be the man to lead Mack to world title glory

Macklin has the tools to become a world champion though, he's incredibly fit, has fantastic power, and with no disrespect to Joe Gallagher, who I'm a huge fan of, moving over to train with Buddy McGirt is probably the best thing he's done. The added time of working with McGirt seemed to really benefit him ahead of this fight, and what I saw from them at the end of Saturday's fight was there's a real strong relationship between the two. For this fight Macklin trained in his new gym over in Marbella, which not only benefits himself, but also local disadvantaged children.

Macklin looks settled now, he has been in between trainers and promoters in the past, I've always been a fan of his, but I think he became frustrated in the UK with promoters. He appeared on Frank Warren and Ricky Hatton shows in his last few UK bouts, but many big fights, including one with Khoren Gevor on the Khan v McCloskey undercard fell through late on. Now that he has a deal with DiBella, Macklin seems to have the opportunity of regular fights, although I'm unsure when his next bout would be.

An all Irish fight with Lee appeals

I've always been someone who's called for Macklin to face Barker, but that one looks very unlikely now with Barker's injury problems, the Barnet man will need at least two fights in preparation for someone of Macklin's level. If he was to fight for a world title, from a fan's perspective I would love to see him face Golovkin or Pirog. Those two fights have war written all over it and all three guys have solid names over in the US. The other fight that makes obvious appeal is an all Irish bout with Andy Lee, who lost to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in his last fight, but showed plenty of quality in the first few rounds. Lee has long been established in the US, and the battle in the ring is intriguing, as well as the the battle outside the ring between famed trainers McGirt and Manny Stewart. I would love to see Macklin out before Christmas, not much energy will have been used in the first round blowout, but it's all about where DiBella stands with getting a TV date.

Another Mexican Star is Born

Santa Cruz landing one of his vicious body shots

Last night's Boxing action promised much beforehand, both Golden Boy and Top Rank put together two fantastic bills. There's no doubt that the Martinez v Chavez Jr fight will be one that lives long in the memory of most Boxing fans, mostly because of the big onslaught from the Mexican in the final round. Matthew Macklin had a superb win and Martinez v Beltran was a great Puerto Rico v Mexico war at the Thomas & Mack Centre.

At the MGM Grand, the dominant stoppage for Canelo Alvarez, that many had predicted came to fruition, Daniel Ponce de Leon became a world champion in a second weight class, while Maidana v Soto Karass delivered what I expected, that had great, fan friendly fight written all over it. 

And still IBF champ

The guy that really impressed me on this awesome night for pugilists the world over was unbeaten Mexican bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz. "Teremoto" won the IBF title with a wide 12 round decision over South Africa's Vusi Malinga in June, and that left a little to be doubted about his power. However last night he completely destroyed the very experienced Eric Morel in five rounds, targeting the 36 year old's somewhat fragile body, landing 89 shots to the mid-rift in the first four rounds.

I've seen one or two articles of late, which have followed the lack of American success at the Olympics, that Mexico is starting to become the dominant force in Boxing. Mexico have always been a nation with a fantastic tradition in Boxing, but we are now starting to see them get champions at the bigger weights, whilst a lot of these smaller guys keep coming through.

Santa Cruz from Huetamo, Michoacan de Ocampo, has risen up the #3 in boxrec's bantamweight rankings after this win, which has to go down as a huge win. Morel is a faded force and is much longer in the tooth than Leo, but Abner Mares couldn't stop him in their catchweight 120lbs fight in April, and it certainly makes a case for a massive all Mexican clash in the next 12-18 months between the two Golden Boy promoted fighters, this if Mares gets the past the uber-talented Panamanian boxer Anselmo Moreno  in November.

Moreno currently tops the bantamweight rankings, and a fight with him even if he loses to Mares, would definitely be a great seller and make for a fantastic clash of styles, Mares v Moreno looks like it will be a bit of a chess match, with both guys such excellent boxers. Just ahead of Santa Cruz in the rankings is Shinsuke Yamanaka from Japan, unbeaten in 16 fights and the current WBC champion. Both guys turned pros in 2006 and I believe that's a fantastic match up, judged on last night Santa Cruz is one who is going to progress quickly and become another huge Mexican star.