- Last week was another one that boxing fans were eagerly anticipating. The main reason for that was because after Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido turned in the leader for the 2016 Fight of the Year the week before, this time around it was Ruslan Provodnikov and John Molina who would do battle on Showtime. Both men have been involved in fantastic fights in previous years so many fans were hoping for another Fight of the Year contender. The fight was an exciting one but it wasn't as brutal as some had hoped. The reason for that was the boxing of Molina. Instead of sitting in the pocket and going to war Molina picked his spots to engage and spent the rest of the time jabbing and landing the straight right hand, both to great success. Provodnikov was down late but finished very strongly, but not strongly enough as Molina was awarded the unanimous decision. After the fight Provodnikov made comments that seemed to hint at retirement, but as every boxing fans knows by know you can't take a fighter for his word following a loss.
- Also on that Showtime card was a bout between two talented junior middleweights, Demetrius Andrade and Willie Nelson. Andrade has exceptional skills but has frustrated fans in recent years due to the infrequency in which he fights. However, on Saturday night Andrade showed absolutely no ring rust. His offensive skills were as sharp as ever and he attacked Nelson relentlessly with an uppercut that couldn't miss. At times Andrade seemed to be toying with Nelson because he was able to do whatever he wanted, which included dropping Nelson four times. The first of those knockdowns came in the opening round and it wasn't until round 11 that Andrade dropped Nelson again. Finally in the final round Andrade dropped Nelson twice, the second leading the referee to call a halt to the fight, which kept Andrade's record a perfect one.
- Saturday's Showtime card was actually a tripleheader. The opening bout of that card was a title fight between Dejan Zlaticanin and Franklin Mamani. Zlaticanin who holds a perfect career record wasted no time in dispatching Mamani. After early success Zlaticanin dropped, and finished Mamani in just the third round.
- There was a lot of action for fans to choose from on Saturday night because HBO also aired a card. That card was headlined by a bout between Vasyl Lomachenko and Roman "Rocky" Martinez. Lomachenko was moving up in weight for this fight to take on the naturally bigger Martinez but that size difference bared no outcome on the fight. Lomachenko started off quickly and seemed to be sitting down on his punches more than usual. In the fifth round having seemingly won every previous round Lomachenko really went to work on Martinez. The Ukrainian fighter landed to flush left hands and moments later caught him on the chin with a left uppercut and picture perfect right hook that sent Martinez to the canvas and ended the fight. Not only was it an impressive victory for Lomachenko who may now look to enact revenge on Orlando Salido, the man who handed him his lone loss, but it is also the current front runner for Big Time Boxing's 2016 Knockout of the Year.
- Also on that HBO card was Felix Verdejo, who has had a big push from the network yet has failed to impress on his two most recent fights. This time Verdejo would take on Juan Jose Martinez and the athletic boxer-puncher didn't disappoint. Verdejo was able to control the action for the entire fight and flashed his punching power, something he hadn't done much of recently. Ahead on the cards going into round five Verdejo closed the show with a stoppage win that kept his record perfect and brought him back to being viewed as a top tier prospect ont the verge of being a contender.
- While CBS Sports isn't exactly known for airing high level fights they struck gold on Friday night. The main event of that card on Friday was a bout between Desmond Brock and Jesus Gutierrez. Entering the fight Brock had a record of 11-3-1 with just four knockouts and Gutierrez's record was 14-0-1 also with just four knockouts. So many boxing fans were not exactly pumped for this fight. The one's who watched it though were treated with thrilling action for 10 rounds. Brock came away the winner via unanimous decision but both fighters will walk away winners because this fight will be a contender for Big Time Boxing's 2016 Fight of the Year and the sixth round of that fight will be in contention for Round of the Year.
WEEKLY RECORD: 4-2
MONTHLY RECORD: 8-3-1
OVERALL RECORD: 709-201-30
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