There’s worldwide boxing action to look forward to this weekend and our focus is on the cards from Dubai and Las Vegas.
Top of the bill in the Middle East on Friday is Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov against Kenichi Ogawa before in the early hours of Sunday, Manny Pacquiao takes on Yordenis Ugas.
Rakhimov to Demonstrate his Power
There’s a fight card in Dubai on Friday night with Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov stepping into the ring with Kenichi Ogawa.
Rakhimov challenged Joseph Diaz for the vacant IBF world super-featherweight title last time out but the Russian had to settle for a draw against the American.
Diaz decided to step up to lightweight and he made a successful transition when beating Javier Fortuna last month. That cleared the way for Rakhimov to have another shot at the belt this time around against Ogawa.
Shere Khan is yet to taste defeat in a 16-fight professional career and his victory over Azinga Fuzile, who dismantled Britain’s Martin J Ward last time out, is probably the best win on the Russian’s card.
Trouble for Ogawa?
Rakhimov can bang too, with 12 of his 15 wins coming via stoppage and it will be interesting to see if Ogawa can handle the power.
Ogawa beat Tevin Farmer when challenging for this title in 2017, only to be stripped of the victory after testing positive for a banned substance, and the Japanese puncher wasn’t back in the ring until 2019.
The 33-year-old hasn’t fought outside of his homeland since his tussle with Farmer and he had to settle for a draw against Joe Noynay at the end of 2019.
Rakhimov shouldn’t make any mistake in his second challenge for the IBF belt and he can win this fight by knockout.
Dangerous Replacement for Pacquiao
Fight fans were expecting to be thrilled by Errol Spence Jr defending his IBF and WBC welterweight title against Manny Pacquiao this weekend but things haven’t quite gone to plan.
Any eye injury has forced Spence out of the fight and instead, Pacquiao will take aim at Yordenis Ugas’ WBA welterweight belt.
Pac Man held this title after beating Keith Thurman back in July 2019, but the governing body later stripped him of the belt and Ugas was elevated to champion.
The Filipino has claimed that 54 Milagros was gifted his belt, but Pacquiao may be about to find out that the Cuban is a deserved champion and he could well trump his fight odds of 13/5.
Get Set for 12 Rounds in Nevada
Pacquiao is an amazing boxer and it’s staggering that the 42-year-old is still mixing it at an elite-level. This will be the Filipino’s 72nd professional contest and he is a seven-division world champion.
However, age catches up with everyone and this fight could be closer than the prices suggest.
Ugas has lost just one of his last 12 fights and that single defeat came against the top-class Shawn Porter.
Just one of Pacquiao’s last 12 wins have come via stoppage and the Cuban should be the fresher and possibly the sharper boxer. Backing the fight to go the distance at 20/39 looks a value wager.
*All odds correct at time of writing.