If you would like to cover boxing for Pencilstorm, please send an email to pencilstormstory@gmail.com. In the meantime, I’ll keep holding it down myself. It’s been a while since the Sweet Science was worth writing about but the month of April is shaping up to be a good one. I’ll give you a quick overview of what’s what, but for real coverage check out the podcast Boxing with Chris Mannix (every Friday) and follow @danrafael1 on twitter and subscribe to his newsletter on substack. 

April 9th from Japan on DAZN -  Gannadiy Golovkin vs Ryota Murata. There are a couple of titles at stake here, but what makes this interesting is that if GGG wins, he is slated for a third fight with his longtime rival Canelo Alvarez in September. GGG has looked flat the last couple of times out and will be turning 40 the day after this fight, but with revenge over Canelo finally on the horizon, will he turn it up a notch and put the world and Saul on notice he isn’t quite finished yet? This trilogy fight may have moved past its expiration date, but it is still a HUGE mainstream sporting event and boxing can surely use more of those these days. I subscribe to DAZN for $10 a month and get my money’s worth but be advised this fight is slated to start at 6:30am EST.  Below is a recap of GGG getting hosed in his first fight vs Canelo. Saul won a close and contested rematch. A third fight is needed to settle this once and for all.

Speaking of DAZN, later that night, wonderboy Ryan Garcia returns to the ring after an absence due to mental health and physical ailments to battle Emmanual Tagoe in front of a huge crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Ryan has more superstar potential than any fighter in boxing so let’s hope he can march forward towards an eventual matchup vs Gevonta Davis in what would be an enormous event. Assuming Davis is up to the challenge because to this point he has been feasting on a strict diet of tomato cans. His manager Money Mayweather loves the easy $$$, but even he knows that big fights define a legacy pay-off down the road. Undefeated records are overrated. Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran all fought each other and they all lost. And they are all legends. Just because you lose doesn't mean you lose.

Speaking of HUGE boxing events, we aren’t going to get Crawford v Spence anytime soon but Errol Spence Jr. will be taking on Yordenis Ugas for some straps on April 16th from Jerry World in Arlington, Texas. On a scale of 1-10 I’d give this matchup a 5. Ugas is coming off an upset of Manny Pacquiao vaulting him into this prime slot to establish his legacy. Unfortunately I don’t see a counter puncher like Ugas having much luck against a patient and talented Spence Jr. He isn’t just going to charge recklessly forward like the pac-man and run into right hands for 12 rounds. I expect this to go the distance and an easy Spence win. This is a PPV event on Showtime so I would save your money and follow the action on twitter. 

If you are hellbent on handing over your hard-earned cash to a PPV event, Tyson Fury vs Dillian White on April 23rd is your best bet. This clash for the heavyweight title is being held in a sold out Wembley Stadium and will be on at 5 pm walk time in the states. The spectacle alone will give you big bang for your bucks. Fury is the champ with both his fists and his trash talk. Fellow Brit White is a decided underdog but he is a legit contender who earned this opportunity fair & square. Someone is hitting the canvas in front of 100,000 people and It’s probably going to be Dillian. But with boys this big, one punch can change the whole course of a fight and a career.

And finally, on April 30th from Las Vegas, Shakur Stevenson vs Oscar Valdez in a championship junior lightweight matchup on ESPN. Stevenson is a major rising talent who has been drawing comparisons to the great Sugar Ray Leonard. Valdez is a flat-out dog who trains with Canelo and scored the KO of the year in his upset victory over the previously unbeaten Miguel Berchelt. Shakur has all the tools but Valdez will be his toughest test and will surely try to take Stevenson to a dark place to see if he can turn a light on. (As Teddy Atlas likes to say. His podcast is fun too.) This is a must watch for fight fans.

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