The World’s Worst Boxing Blog - Dec 2019 - by Colin Gawel

We have been looking for a scribe to cover the fight game but until we fill that position I’ll be taking a small break from my duties as editor-in-chief to handle things myself. Honestly, the hardest part of this job is spelling Vasyl Lomanchenko consistently. Anyway, there are two fights in the month of December that deserve your attention.

Andy Ruiz Jr. vs Anthony Joshua for most of the heavyweight championship of the world. Saturday December 7th. ETA 4:30 EST on DAZN

Billed as the “Clash on the Dunes” because it is being held in Saudia Arabia, for a rumored site fee of 41 million dollars, Joshua will be trying to avenge his shocking loss to the “Mexican Homer Simpson” and reclaim his piece of the world title. Being a boxing fan, I subscribe to DAZN and have seen many good fights without having to fork over $80 for a pay per view. That is the model of this streaming service. For $10 a month you will get access to fights that would have cost much more.

When 9-1 underdog Ruiz got off the mat and knocked Joshua out last June, it looked like a disaster for the fledgling DAZN, as they were trying to secure Joshua v Wilder for the undisputed heavyweight championship sometime in 2020. However, when the overweight, Snickers-eating Ruiz crashed the party, DAZN suddenly had the biggest mainstream boxing story in years and exclusive rights to the rematch.

Can the flabby Ruiz stop the chiseled Brit again or is he Buster Douglas 2.0? Those questions will be answered Saturday December 7th with an estimated walk time of 4pm EST. Click here to visit DAZN.

The following weekend on ESPN, Terrence “Bud” Crawford is going to demolish some tomato can to make his case for P4P champion of the world. However, the can’t miss fight is on the undercard when Richard Commey defends his IBF Lightweight title against 2018 prospect of the year Teofimo Lopez. Both these fighters love to mix it up and the winner has the inside track to a big time unification bout against Vasyyll Limoachunko in 2020. That would be a banger.

A couple other fights of note to wrap up 2019 are:

Dec 20th: Daniel Jacobs vs Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr (DAZN).

Tony Harrison vs Jermell Charlo rematch for Harrison’s Jr. Middleweight title. (FOX)

My personal Top Ten Favorite Fighters to watch right now:

1) Andy Ruiz Jr 2) Vasylli Lumochunko 3) Nayou Inoue Watch This! 4) GGG 5) Artur Beterbiev 6) Canelo Alverez 7) Jose Ramirez 8) Shakur Stevenson 9) Gervonta Davis 10) Manny Pacquiao

If you want some actual boxing news check out the SI Boxing Podcast with Chris Mannix. It is posted every Friday and I listen religiously.

That’s it from Colin’s Coffee. Thanks for reading Pencilstorm. See you at the fights! - Colin Gawel

Uploaded by rob martin on 2019-01-19.

Relive a sensational round 3 of June 1's Heavyweight encounter between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz in New York! Champion Ruiz and Challenger Joshua rematch on December 7 in Saudi Arabia!

Teofimo Lopez all career knockouts including Magdaleno fight.

Uploaded by Oscar Taylor on 2019-02-03.

If someone wants to cover boxing for Pencilstorm, please contact us at pencilstormstory@gmail.com. I’m a big fight fan but we haven’t had any luck filling the position so I am going to knock something out. I’m as ready as I’ll never be. Please forgive the typos I’m doing this in between customers at Colin’s Coffee.

Let me start by saying that SI Boxing with Chris Mannix is essential listening every Friday. This podcast is my go-to on trying to keep up with the different fights, different platforms and upcoming fighters. Actually I am listening to an interview with Shawn Porter as I write this. I didn’t know he is originally from Northeast Ohio and he was Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partner in his prime. Porter takes on the great Errol Spence in a PPV in October. Guess what, now I am really excited for this fight. It goes to show that to truly enjoy boxing, you have to actively follow the sport. Also, on Twitter I follow Chris Mannix, Dan Rafeal, and Max Kellerman.

Upcoming fights of note:

Sergey Kovalev vs Anthony Yarde for Light Heavyweight Title. Saturday August 24th 4pm ESPN +

Kovalev literally killed a man in the ring. Then won the title. Then lost two fights to the great Andre Ward before hiring a new trainer and regaining the belt following Ward’s retirement. Experts seem to think Yarde will be a pushover but he is undefeated and looks like a handful to me.

If Kovalev wins he could be in line for a megafight against Canelo Alverez. This would be a very interesting fight as Canelo would have to jump two weight classes to try and get the belt in that weight class.

In fact, Canelo was hoping to have Kovalev on Mexican Independence day, September 14th, but his drunken (allegedly) manager Oscar DeLa Hoya botched the deal and now their our serious legal troubles brewing between the two parties.

You can’t talk about Canelo without GGG. DAZN has signed both fighters to big $ contracts in hopes of promoting their 3rd fight on the new streaming service. I subscribe to DAZN and I love it. The model is that for a monthly subscription of $10 a month you get numerous pay-per-view quality fights without the expense of plopping down $80 a fight

Gennady Golovkin fights Derevyanchenko (I literally cut and pasted that name in) on DAZN on Oct 5th at MSG for some sort of title belt.

The best thing that has happened to DAZN is the Mexican Homer Simpson, Andy Ruiz, knocking out the pride of Britain, Anthony Joshua for the heavyweight championship of the world. I watched this live on DAZN and was jaw agape watching Ruiz get off the mat to pummel the undefeated champ into submission. The rematch is essential viewing on Dec 7th from… Saudia Arabia?

Who is the best P4P fighter in the world? Many would say it’s Vasyl Lomachenko and he is fighting Luke Campbell on August 31st on ESPN +.

Ok, that’s it for now. Back to coffee customers. Thanks for reading the world’s worst boxing blog. - Colin G.