June Heat makes Science Sweet

June 3

Little Caesars Arena, Detroit

Claressa Shield UD Maricela Cornejo (Und)

The GWOAT continues to be a victim of her own success. The opponent that was lined up for this slot before Cornejo wasn’t really all that much better, and this was the best they could get on short notice. It’s an unfortunate circumstance of women’s boxing, not a fault of Claressa. The promoters and matchmakers put the best opponents they can in front of her and she can’t help being a tier above. Another easy and relatively boring dub for Shields. At this point, she won’t lose until she’s like 20 years older and red-hot contender comes along and even then I doubt Claressa loses easily.

Ardreal Holmes TD8 Wendy Toussaint

Not too much to mention here: first, I was high on Holmes coming into this. Saw him on ShoBox a few times and he seemed like he had potential. Unfortunately, Toussaint got in the way. Second thing: a nasty cut forced a doctor stoppage with the technical decision going to Holmes, but I don’t really agree with it. I hope Toussaint gets more chances in the limelight to show what he’s capable of and I hope Holmes takes this gift back to the drawing board and cleans his game up.

June 10

MSG Theater, New York

Teofimo Lopez UD Josh Taylor (WBO)

Is Teo back? It seemed he was; then he wasn’t. Then he was; then he wasn’t. As it stands, Lopez has taken back the WBO title he relinquished not long after beating Josh Taylor. It’s not secret that Lopez’s life is marred with family trouble, so it remains to be seen if he will be able to maintain this kind of standard for his performances.

But don’t just take it from me, read more here.

Toyota Arena, Ontario, California

Jaime Munguia UD Sergiy Derevyanchenko

I’m going to give a critique sandwich: Munguia was tough, definitely showed that he has the kind of grit it takes to hang at the higher levels. Derevenyanchenko was a career middleweight not exactly known for his power who had been through several hard fights against a who’s who and Munguia still struggled with him. Munguia still has room to grow as the higher level dudes start aging off or moving up and there are plenty of good fights to make with guys that are at or around his level.

Wembley Arena

Sunny Edwards UD Andres Campos (IBF)

Admittedly I had never seen Sunny fight before and admittedly I was impressed with his performance and skill. Hearing him talk, however, was like grinding gears. It’s very obvious he hangs out with Billy Joe Saunders the way he works the mic. While I hope his fellow champions will end the shenanigans, the only one I’d hold my breath for is Bam. JC Martinez and Dalakian definitely aren’t on the same level as the other two.

June 17

Smoothie King Center, New Orleans

Regis Prograis SD Danielito Zorrilla (WBC)

This fight was on my birthday. I was excited thinking Prograis was about to put on a show in his hometown and first fight on DAZN with Matchroom. It was a stinker, unfortunately. Not entirely Prograis’ fault, but he didn’t do himself any favors with the outing. Zorrilla definitely scored that knockdown in the opening round that wasn’t called. If it had been, would Regis have retained his title? Something to think about. The silver lining here is that because Prograis looked less than the usually heavy-handed guy we’re used to, this may make unification fights more appealing for the other champions. I would strongly advise against Subriel Matias and Teofimo Lopez (see above about maintaining), while Rolando Romero can eat shit. Was the theft of the title his fault? Not entirely. But as the beneficiary of one of the very few genuine robberies I’ve seen, I would like for Regis (or one of the other two) to take the belt.

June 24

MSG Theater, New York

Edgar Berlanga UD Jason Quigley

Shrey’s work definitely gives you a better picture than I could here.

The Armory, Minnesota

Carlos Adames KO9 Julian Williams (iWBC)

Okay, so we know that J-Rock has been on a bit of a skid, but Adames has been taking care of business as he gets better opposition in front of him. Adames has a double-edged sword in his hands: middleweight is a weak division; the best fighters have all flocked up to super middleweight hoping for the money fight. It’s still unclear if Golovkin is going to continue fighting (I don’t think he should), Liam Smith and Chris Eubank are going to do it again. The WBC champion, Jermall Charlo, is still out of action for the foreseeable; Adames will have to continue rockin’ the interim which is pretty much the full title at this point for all intents and purposes. I expect if/when Charlo returns, he’ll be at super middleweight. This would leave Adames to rule over the division with the Smith-Eubank 2 winner (probably Smith again) being the biggest fish to fry.