A Look Into The Month of September in Boxing – Steve Waters takes a look at some of the bigger fights in September and makes his picks.
In a month where boxing loses a lot of its casual fans to the new NFL season, there aren’t too many fights for fans to get excited about, especially in the later stage of the month but the saving grace is that long reigning pound for pound king Floyd “Money” Mayweather is once again in at action, which always creates a lot of interest and often controversy.
September 6
Adrien Broner vs. Emmanuel Taylor
TV – Showtime
Venue – U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Co-feature Lucas Matthysse vs. Roberto Ortiz
Adrien Broner (22-1, 22 KOs) will be looking to win his second fight on the bounce when he takes on 23 year-old Emmanuel Taylor (18-2, 12 KOs) in Cincinnati. This is a must win fight for “The Problem” if he wants to remain one of the sports biggest names. Victory would mean more lucrative pay-days in the future, including the possibility of a mouth-watering fight with the hard hitting Argentinian Lucas Matthysse (35-3, 33 KOs) who fights on the same card against undefeated Mexican Roberto Ortiz (31-0-1, 24 KOs).
Picks – Broner to win on points before predictably saying something controversial and Matthysse to win via stoppage.
September 13
Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana
TV – Showtime PPV
Venue – MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas, Nevada
Co-feature Leo Santa Cruz vs. Manuel Roman
This is only the second time in his career that Floyd Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs) has granted someone a rematch, that should give you an indication on how close the first fight was and also how displeased “Money” was with his own performance. His one sided rematch with Castillo back in 2002 looked nothing like their first (very close) one. Is Floyd capable of doing something similar against Marcos Maidana (35-4 31 KOs) almost 12 years later, or at 37, has father time finally caught up with him? We will find out soon. In the co-feature Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15 KOs) fights in a mismatch that rivals Danny Garcia vs Rob Salka when he takes on fellow Mexican Manuel Roman (17-2-3, 6 KOs).
Picks – Despite how uncomfortable Mayweather looked early on the first time around, he did eventually adapt well and I’m always going to pick Mayweather to win on points until I see something to make me think otherwise. Expect him to try to make it a more boring fight this time, using his legs a lot more to keep him off the ropes and at distance, periodically using his superior reflexes and hand speed to pot shot his way to a wide points victory and Santa Cruz to win inside the distance.
September 27
Arthur Abraham vs. Paul Smith
TV – ARD
Venue – Keil, Shleswig-Holstein, Germany
Liverpudlian Paul Smith (34-3, 19 KOs) will hope to repeat fellow countryman Kell Brook’s recent success and win a world title on the road when he takes on experienced Armenian born German based Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KOs) in his back yard. Smith is looking to be the second Brit to defeat Abraham who lost to Carl Froch in 2010.
Pick – It’s always tough fighting in Germany and even tougher to get a decision on the cards, I’m picking Abraham to win a disputed decision.
Last months picks 4-1
