MAKING HISTORY; UFC VS. BOXING REVIEW

Unfortunately, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said that a Gamboa-Lopez fight may not take place any time soon. Instead, Arum intends on having the boxers face other opponents and collect more paychecks before finally facing each other in what could be a major event.

This could be the same route that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are taking. Rather than face each other right now, it appears that they will take on other opponents first in attempt to build up their names more. Then, when they finally do face each other, their event could be even bigger than it would be if it took place now.

Although it can be very frustrating to wait for these spectacular match-ups to take place, the plan may work after all. These events could be even bigger if a little more time is taken to promote these boxers. In that case, it could be a very interesting year for the sport of boxing, and possibly the best year the sport has had in quite some time.

The UFC will be looking for more success this year as well. With the return of heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar this summer, the big bucks will once again come pouring in. In addition, the Mir-Carwin fight along with the Machida-Shogun rematch can make for some very entertaining fights. Plus, if Georges St. Pierre gets past Dan Hardy in March, then he may move up to middleweight, and this could create even more potential super fights such as St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva. Indeed, this could make for one of the UFC’s greatest years.  

As for January, the year did not start off with much of a bang.

In the world of boxing, other than the Gamboa-Lopez doubleheader, it was a relatively slow month. There were plenty of televised bouts on ESPN2 and Fox Sports Net, but not so many on HBO or Showtime. Some fights included Roman Karmazin earning a come-from-behind stoppage of Dionisio Miranda, Juan Carlos Burgos stopping Juan Carlos Martinez, and a razor-thin decision between Kassim Ouma and the victor, Vanes Martirosyan. Last Friday, there were some fireworks in Jesse Brinkley’s domination of Curtis Stevens while Chris Avalos remained undefeated with his stoppage of Jose Nieves, but nothing spectacular enough to write home about.

Some fight fans expected that January would be a slow month for the UFC. With so many cancellations, UFC 108 was not looking like a pay-per-view worthy event. To the delight of many, it actually produced fireworks as Junior dos Santos stopped Gilbert Yvel and Paul Daley stopped Dustin Hazelett. In the main event, Rashad Evans earned a unanimous decision over Thiago Silva.

Then, a little over a week later, UFC Fight Night 20 tried its luck on a Monday evening. It was successful, scoring a 1.2 rating and earned an audience of 1.7 million viewers as Nate Diaz dropped a split decision to Gray Maynard. It was the second most viewed program that evening only behind WWE Raw.

So what will February bring us? There will be two UFC pay-per-view events. On February 6th, UFC 109 features Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman as well as Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago, Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg and Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen. Then, on February 21st, UFC 110 will feature Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria vs. Cain Velasquez, Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping and Mirko Filipovic vs. Ben Rothwell.  

Boxing is looking for an action-packed month beginning with an IBF eliminator in ESPN2 involving Glen Johnson and Yusaf Mack on February 5th. February 6th, on Showtime, Edwin Valero defends his lightweight title against Antonio DeMarco. Then, on pay-per-view February 13th, Nonito Donaire, Fernando Montiel and Gerry Penalosa all see action. There will be another pay-per-view card on February 27th featuring Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. against Marvin Sonsona. Also on February 27th, undefeated Mike Jones faces Henry Bruseles on Fox Sports Net.

Definitely check the schedule every weekend since this month and the upcoming months will be stacked with televised fights in both boxing and the UFC. Although January failed to be an exceptional month for fight cards, the upcoming months will only get bigger and greater. 

As always, you can go to www.konews.net for updates, reviews, and of course, the KOnews.net fight schedule on the home page.

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