Welcome to UndercarDVR, where we review what you need to see from this week in combat sports. We go fight by fight to see whether it needs to be watched, saved, deleted, or watched in fast forward.
This week was all about boxing. From Wednesday on through to Saturday, there were title fights aplenty all over the world. Let’s help you get a handle on them.
Get your remote ready.
Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN (Wednesday, November 25)
- WBA/IBO World Junior Middleweight Championship: Erislandy Lara (c) vs. Jan Zaveck: A Lara fight that isn’t a struggle for a viewer to stay interested in is a rarity. Lara made this one quick and painless after making fight fans endure some excruciatingly boring fights. Verdict: Save
Premier Boxing Champions on NBC (Saturday, November 28)
- Welterweight Bout: Ken Alvarez vs. Ryan Karl: The swing fight featured another prospect who is still in the early stages of establishing himself in another showcase that turned competitive. Karl is always exciting and makes these fights against enhancement talent worth the six rounds or less they last. Verdict: Save
- Junior Middleweight Bout: Alexis Camacho vs. Erickson Lubin: An impressive knockout to kick off the card and Lubin getting exposure as he looks to be ready to take the next step in his budding career. Verdict: Save
- IBF World Junior Middleweight Championship: Jermall Charlo (c) vs. Wilky Campfort: Though a thoroughly impressive performance for Charlo, not competitive enough to warrant the full watch. Be ready to stop your fast forward for a few worthwhile sequences however in this relatively short fight. Verdict: Fast Forward
- Welterweight Bout: Alejandro Barrera vs. Errol Spence Jr.: What was supposed to be a showcase fight turned out to be a fight with some good back and forth, though decidedly one-sided. Spence is a fighter to watch from here on out with his technique and power. Verdict: Save
HBO Championship Boxing (Saturday, November 28)
WBA/IBO/IBF/WBO Heavyweight Championship: Wladimir Klitschko (c) vs. Tyson Fury: Nothing could really live up to the theatrics before the fight from Fury in the press conferences and the pre-fight complaints about the ring and the wraps. This fight certainty succeeded and then some in failing to live up to expectation. It was more tentative and plodding than any Klitschko fight before it. Despite it being one of the biggest upsets in boxing, it was quite a chore to watch. Fast forward if you want a taste of the masterful gameplan from Fury, but otherwise, just read a write-up or watch some highlights. Verdict: Delete
Showtime Championship Boxing (Saturday, November 28)
WBC Light Heavyweight Championship Eliminator: Eleider Alvarez vs. Issac Chilemba: This is watchable if you’re patient enough and a razor close fight with solid back and forth. With all the fighting this weekend though, it isn’t worth too thorough of an examination. Fast forward a few rounds in and be prepared to use it once in a while. Verdict: Fast Forward
IBF Super Middleweight Championship: James DeGale (c) vs. Lucian Bute: DeGale wanted to end this early, but this turned out to be a lot more competitive than anticipated. Both men went punch for punch with bad intentions on every thrown strike. Bute seemed to be spurred on by the hometown crowd as the fight wore on and proved that he is still a big player in the division. Though he didn’t complete the underdog story, Bute almost taking a fight he had no business being competitive in with his hometown crowd electrified around him provided a dark horse fight of the year candidate and proved that a hometown underdog giving it his all in front of his city is one of the best things in all of sport. Verdict: Save
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