Brad Foster, Hamzah Sheeraz and Mark Chamberlain impress on Britain’s return to boxing.

Frank Warren and BT Sport deserve a lot of a credit for staging the first boxing show in the UK since lock down began. It seemed like a lot of precautions were taken and the night of boxing went smoothly though with them only being allowed five fights there was a significant break between each bout.

Mark Chamberlain was first up and made short work of Stu Greener which was impressive seeing as Greener has upset a few prospects in the past. Chamberlain dropped Greener early in the first round and after a barrage of punches with Greener almost going down again the fight was waved off. I think Chamberlain is ready for some sort of area title in either his next fight or the one after.

Hamzah Sheeraz was very calm as he systematically broke Paul Keen down in 6 rounds. Kean was rightly pulled out by his corner as he had lost every round and was starting to take a beating. I think Sheeraz looks to be one of the better prospects in the UK and I was very impressed by how patient he was especially considering hes only 21. Both his defense and offense are very solid which is a good sign for prospects as normally they are lacking a bit in one department. This was his first defense of his WBO European Super Welterweight title and should get him ranked in the top 15 if not top 10 of the sanctioning body. I think he should continue to defend his title versus similar competition.

Brad Foster won the British title outright after a competitive fight where he was the clear winner. He worked well on the inside and was targeting Beech’s body all fight which finally made a dent in Beech in the 12th round where he was seriously hurt by a body shot. Foster didn’t look as good as he did in his last fight but that’s to be expected to an extent with the lock down and Beech having fought all the way up at Super Featherweight. I thought Foster came on strong late so it is perhaps believable when he says he feels like he didn’t wake up until the 7th round. I was surprised the commentary team had it so close and felt they took every excuse to give Beech rounds. I think Foster should start looking at the European title as hes effectively conquered British level at this point. Beech was better than I expected and he can certainly come back and potentially win the British title if Foster chooses to vacate it.

What’s next for Carlos Takam, Jerry Forrest plus card

The first fight of the night was between Peter Cortez and Corey Champion. This fight had four knockdowns and a double knockdown which was great. Neither have a high ceiling but they can be in some fun fights on undercards.

Donte Stubbs came back for his second fight in two weeks and this time came away with a win. He clearly looked much better in this fight and dropped his opponent multiple times. I want him to keep active and keep fighting good competition. Fred Wilson Jr clearly has a good skill set but hes too easy to hit and hasn’t been active enough. I think if he gets more active he could do some good things.

Joshafat Ortiz and Joshua Orta put on a good fight and while Ortiz won both can go on to have more good fights.

Carlos Castro looked very good when he stopped Cesar Juarez in 4 rounds. I think he can get a title fight within his next few fights. Cesar Juarez wasn’t competitive and should step down a level in my opinion.

The main event between Carlos Takam and Jerry Forrest was uninspiring to say the least. Takam did enough to win most of the rounds but looks like a loss waiting to happen for me. I think he should go on to his fight with Oscar Rivas which he was supposed to have next week. Jerry Forrest needs to let his hands go more as he could have won this fight. I think fights versus Frank Sanchez or Joey Dawejko would be good.

Carlos Castro versus Cesar Juarez breakdown

This is a good opponent for Carlos Castro before he goes for a title shot in 2021. Cesar Juarez has fought a lot of good fighters and while he’s mostly come up short and may be on the decline this should still be a good fight.

Carlos Castro has a good consistent jab that he will sometimes launch combinations off of as he steps into the inside. He has good lateral movement and decent defense in general though I have seen him get caught when he admires his punches after he finishes a combination. The glaring negative with Castro is that he doesn’t seem to have a huge amount of power in his punches and at the top level this could hurt him.

Cesar Juarez is a pressure fighter that has good power unlike Castro. He doesn’t have the greatest defense and should be open to the jab throughout the fight. He can be quite physical on the inside and should use that to make Castro uncomfortable.

I think Carlos Castro should win this fight by decision in a relatively one sided fight as I think Juarez is on the slide and will struggle to consistently get past Castro’s jab. I look forward too seeing Castro face the elite of the division soon.

Carlos Takam versus Jerry Forrest

This is essentially a crossroad’s fight at it’s finest. If Takam loses then he’ll never get near a world title again and is unlikely to get big fights afterwards while if Forrest loses then he just becomes a gatekeeper for American heavyweights.

Carlos Takam is an experienced veteran who has faced many of the divisions elite over the last 10 years. He has a good jab which he uses to set up his right hand which he seems to love to throw. He tries to get on the inside and go to work with hooks to the body and uppercuts. He isn’t the fastest fighter in the world and at 39 doesn’t have the gas tank that he used too. His power seems to be on the decline as well as while he was clearly hurting Fabio Maldonado he couldn’t KO him even when it seemed Fabio didn’t really want to be there.

Jerry Forrest isn’t the most active puncher I’ve seen but he has a good jab and his left hand seems to have real power in it. He’s not scared to get into exchanges though I think he prefers being the skillful boxer in his match ups. I think at this point in their careers he has a better gas tank than Takam though it is debatable. His defense isn’t bad and he has a weird rythem to it where opponents struggle to time him which will certainly benefit him in this fight.

Jerry Forrest

I think this fight will be close as Takam will really push the pace until he starts to tire and Forrest takes over late on. I believe it’ll be a fight of two halves so i’m going to predict a draw or a tight Takam win with some of the scorecards being debatable because recently the judges have been awful.

Jared Anderson fight cancelled (9/7/20)

Jared Anderson was supposed to be fighting Hector Perez (7-2) but unfortunately the fight has been called off due to Perez falling ill. The illness isn’t related to Corona Virus but other than that no more information has been releashed.

Anderson has said that his fight has been post-poned until the 21st of July so he’ll still be able to have two fights in Top Ranks bubble series. I like that he wants to be active as I think thats greatly beneficial for young fighters and also its great as a fan to see him fight so often.

What’s next for Jose Zepeda, Kendo Castaneda plus card

I thought this was an okay card but the main event left a lot to be desired and the co-main left a bad taste in my mouth.

Gabriel Muratalla looked good in beating Sergio Lopez and should continue fighting at this level but be moved up to 6 rounds. Lopez is a journeyman at this point so he should continue being that.

I was impressed by Andres Cortes as outside of the questionable knockdown I thought he dominated the fight. I think Top Rank will likely sign him and try to bring him to a title now. Alejandro Salinas has good power but lacks a jab which is one of the main reasons he lost this fight. If he can develop a better jab he can spring some upsets as a B-side.

Andy Vences versus Luis Alberto Lopez was a close fight but one where I thought Vence’s won by a round or two. He clearly won the last four rounds and took a few of the early ones as well. Eric Cheek somehow had Lopez winning 3 of the last four rounds and honestly shouldn’t judge again. I don’t know where Vence’s goes from here however if he can get a rematch with Lopez he should take it. If I was Lopez I would be asking Top Rank for another of their top Super Featherweights to fight as he has some decent momentum behind him now.

Jose Zepeda spent most of his fight in cruise control where he was clearly winning but never made a huge effort to get Castaneda out of there. I’d like too see him get a title shot or fight Ivan Baranchyk next. Kendo Castaneda didn’t do badly he just needed to start earlier and at 26 years of age he has time to work on his game. He should keep fighting at a good level of competition.

Clay Collard to return July 14th on ESPN.

Clay Collard has become a bit of a cult figure in boxing due to him beating unbeaten prospect after unbeaten prospect. He picked up a win versus David Kaminsky a few weeks ago in the Top Rank bubble and now he’s been invited back but this time hes the A-side.

He’ll be facing Lorawnt T Nelson who currently boasts a 5-3 record but has a good kick boxing background. I presume the fight will be contested over either 6 or 8 rounds. I’m happy Collard has been brought back as hes willing to face anyone and always gives it his all so its good too see him get a few paydays. I don’t know if Top Rank plan on working with him in the future but It wouldn’t surprise me if they use him as a B-side versus another one of their good prospects or even contenders coming off a loss.

Billy Joe Saunders versus Callum Smith is the fight to make.

Now that both Saunders and Callum Smith won’t be getting the Canelo fight next the obvious fight to make is one between them. It would be a Super Middleweight unification between two Brits and could easily headline the 02 Arena and be put on PPV. It’s a very competitive fight and can certainly be seen as a 50/50 though I think I would slightly favour Callum Smith.

I know both are at the stage of their careers where they want the biggest fights and also the biggest pay days so this makes a lot of sense. While Saunders was going to get the Canelo fight I’d be very surprised if Golden Boy sent him another offer now that he’s said he isn’t fit enough to fight Canelo in September.

I am a bit surprised at how both Smith and Saunders declined offers to fight Canelo like they have many other options. If they beat Canelo they would also become a massive name in the sport and likely make more than 10-12 million in a rematch. I think both will take tune up fights next and hopefully we can get a unification between them either late this year or early next year.

Ryan Garcia agrees to fight Luke Campbell next

Lance Pugmire has reported that people have informed him that Ryan Garcia has agreed to fight Luke Campbell for the interim WBC title. The winner of this fight will be the second mandatory to Devin Haney’s WBC title with the first mandatory being the winner of Jorge Linares and Javier Fortuna.

I think this is a very good step up for Ryan Garcia as Luke Campbell has mixed it with the best in the world and while he’s fallen short of getting a world title hes always held his own at world level.

As of right now negotiations have only just begun so there isn’t a fight date or venue set but that can be expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Ryan Garcia is a big draw in the USA so I presume it will happen there and perhaps late in the year once crowds can start coming back as this sort of fight may need a crowd revenue wise.

A lot of people will be picking Luke Campbell to win due to his experience but I feel this will be a breakout fight for Garcia who seems to have improved massively under Eddy Reynoso. I think the fight will likely go to a decision and Garcia will win an 8-4 or 7-5 fight where he scores a knockdown due to catching Campbell with his speed. If Garcia can win then he’s well on his way to becoming a future superstar in the sport and people may stop saying hes just a social media hype job.

Jose Zepeda versus Kendo Castanedo

Jose Zepeda is close to a title shot after beating Jose Pedraza last year. He was supposed to fight Ivan Baranchyk but Ivan pulled out of the fight due to a rib injury. Kendo Castaneda has come in on short notice after suffering his first defeat early this year.

Jose Zepeda is a southpaw who has twice fought for a world title and many feel he was unlucky not to get the decision versus Jose Carlos Ramirez. Zepeda has a good jab which he uses both to damage his opponent and also set his others shots up.

I like both his left hook and straight left hand to the body the latter of which his opponents don’t seem to expect. He has good defense though this is mostly based on his foot work and not necessarily his head movement in my opinion. His counter left hands in the Pedraza fight were also impressive. He’s not the most active fighter in the world but that’s because he picks his shots well rather than just trying to overwhelm his opponents.

Kendo Castaneda is a pressure fighter who marches forwards before throwing wide hooks that are relatively easy to see coming. His jab isn’t bad when he remembers to use it but unfortunately he mostly just walks in behind a high guard while trying to land big shots. I will say he seems to have decent power and when he does land his shots on people it bothers them. Fighters can certainly make him miss and time him though if he implements a jab and stops telegraphing his wide right hooks it would be harder to do either to him.

He has a good gas tank and this showed in his last fight where he came on late but unfortunately ran out of time. Early on in his fight with Yomar Alamo he wasn’t hitting much but air however as time went on Alamo tired from the constant pressure and Castaneda was landing good blows and clearly winning some latter rounds.

I think Jose Zepeda will likely win by decision because I think he has the perfect style to beat Castaneda. He’ll be able to counter him all fight long and he has a much better jab than Castaneda in my opinion. Castaneda may be able to come on late though with how dominant I see Zepeda being early on i’m not sure he’ll be that tired. Castaneda is also taking this fight on short notice so you don’t know how fit he really is.