It's another double dip televised boxing day today, which is almost good enough to make a guy forget the gale force winds howling outside right now. Almost.

Anyway, assuming Mother Nature doesn't score a knockout over Xfinity in the next few hours, I'm going to be watching the Alexander Povetkin-Marco Huck fight on Epix, the network that is trying oh so hard to make us care about the heavyweight division again. Plucky, for sure.

Later on HBO, Marcos Maidana and Devon Alexander will square off in a bout that could be really exciting or a weird mesh of styles that doesn't come together well. The only way to now for sure is to watch.

And if you can't watch? Well, that sucks, friend. But I'll tell you what: Because we like you, we're going to do live round by round blog posts for both of these fights, and you can follow along from the internet-enabled device of your choice so you're not left out in the cold. And wind, don't forget that.

Povetkin-Huck is scheduled for 4 pm Eastern time, while Maidana-Alexander is part of a two-fight card (that also includes Adrien Broner) beginning at 10 pm Eastern. Check out our home page shortly after those times, and unless Gaea decides it just isn't meant to be, we'll have your updates. 

Dover Downs may be better known for NASCAR racing on the Monster Mile, but its hotel and casino are playing host to tonight's Friday Night Fights broadcast. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas are on hand to bring us a card featuring a 130-pound battle between developing talent Juan Carlos Burgos and veteran Cristobal Cruz.

Atlas breaks down the battle between Burgos' left hook and Cruz's right hand while doing his usual run of analogies. Bernardo Osuna is in the studio with Timothy Bradley, who will be facing Manny Pacquiao on June 9. Bradley says he's ready for the huge spotlight because he's been preparing for this moment for his whole life. He's excited and ready to give Pacquiao a big fight.

Osuna points out the obvious by saying the two of them are very respectful to each other, and Bradley says it's because both of them are humble and classy. He assures viewers that it will be a war once the bell rings.

To live action we go, with a scheduled 10-rounder between junior welterweights Edgar Santana and Manuel Perez. Santana is 26-3 and owns his own barber shop, while the younger Perez is just 16-7 as a pro. no comments

I generally try to keep posts on this blog limited to what's going on inside the ring, what fights might be coming down the road and things related to those two themes. But the war of words between all of the people named in this post title has now reached the point that it's too ridiculous not to mention.

First, Floyd Mayweather felt the need to mention NBA sensation Jeremy Lin on Twitter. Suffice it to say, though, that Money has not been overcome by Linsanity. Instead, he said this: no comments

Nobuhiro Ishida may be a little wary for the main event of tonight's edition of Showtime Championship Boxing after seeing Gabriel Campillo get the shaft from the American judges in the co-feature. Despite that, he'll look to continue the recent misery of former top 10 pound-for-pound boxer Paul Williams, who really needs a win here to get his career back on track.

Jimmy Lennon Jr. asks the fans on hand in Corpus Christi to rise and observe a memorial 10-count for the late Angelo Dundee. Very nice, and the crowd applauds appropriately.

Ishida comes out first, making just his second appearance in a U.S. ring. He shot to prominence with his stunning first-round stoppage of James Kirkland last April, and he's won once since then to take his pro record to 24-6-2.

Williams makes his ring walk with a focused look in his eyes. The lanky lefty is 40-2 with 27 KOs but has seen his reputation take a hit over the past three years with a big KO loss to Sergio Martinez and several questionable decision victories.

All three judges for this one are from Texas. Jon Schorle is the referee in charge of the action. Lennon introduces both fighters and we are ready for a scheduled 12 rounds of boxing in the super welterweight division.


Round 1

Ishida throws some big right hands trying to time Williams lunging in. Williams lands a left in the corner. Ishida looks more comfortable as the counter-puncher. Williams literally hops forward to land a left to the head and a right to the body. Ishida tries a flurry but gets tied up. He lands a counter right and manages to escape trouble in the corner again.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Williams

It's time for Showtime Championship Boxing, coming to us tonight from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Paul Williams and Nobuhiro Ishida will collide in the main event, but before we get to that, IBF light heavyweight titleholder puts his gold up for grabs against Gabriel Campillo.

Gus Johnson, Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver are on hand to call the action, and Tarver has special insight into the light heavyweight division after spending so much time campaigning there. The Magic Man believes Cloud still needs one defining fight against a compelling opponent to really become a household name. Until then, all he can do is keep winning and trying his best to look good doing it.

Campillo comes to the ring first as the challenger. He's a former WBA titleholder looking to capture his second world championship belt. Hailing from Spain, Campillo is 21-3-1 but just 2-1-1 in his last four bouts.

Cloud makes his ring walk to some old school music, namely "Can't Truss It" by Public Enemy. His professional record is a perfect 23-0 with 19 KOs.

Two judges are from Texas and the third is from Minnestoa. The referee for this bout is Mark Nelson. Jimmy Lennon Jr. handles the formal fighter introductions, getting us prepared for a scheduled 12 rounds of boxing for Cloud's IBF strap.


Round 1

Cloud flicks some jabs right out of the gate. Campillo circles and remains cautious. Cloud throws the right to the body. Both men jab away with Cloud landing more. Campillo keeps moving but gets hit with a two-punch combo to the face. Cloud sets up a huge right hand that sends Campillo straight down to the canvas. He beats the count but still has 1:06 to try to survive. Cloud closes in and smashes Campillo into the ropes. The ref calls that a knockdown too since the ropes held him up. Now Campillo has just over 40 seconds to make it out of the round. He does it, but that was a great first round for the champ.

Tylwalk: 10-7 Cloud

We're almost set for Vitali Klitschko to defend his WBC heavyweight title in Germany against Dereck Chisora. Epix is covering this one with Chris Mannix live on location and Dan Rafael and Freddie Roach back in the studio helping set the scene.

Mannix gets a word with Wladimir Klitschko who says that Chisora was causing some sort of stir during the hand wrapping process, calling his antics "unacceptable."

Burce Beck calls Chisora entertaining thanks to his tendency to run his mouth. We get a video package of the British heavyweight fooling around in the snow earlier this week. Rafael agrees that Chisora is good at creating drama and drumming up interest for the fight but doubts it will make Klitschko any more motivated than usual. They show the slap at the weigh-in, and Roach laughs about payback being a you-know-what and that you should protect yourself at all times.

Roach also breaks down the keys to victory. For Chisora, he says it will be important to stay low a la Mike Tyson and work the body. For Klitschko, Roach feels using his jab, staying patient and throwing his right hand efficiently will be the most effective tactics.

Both Rafael and Roach think Chisora has a chance to pull off the upset. Beck asks Roach if the challenger can fight inside and dictate the pace, which he was able to do in his last fight against Robert Helenius. 

The tale of the tape shows that Klitschko has a big height advantage, as he often does. The weight of the two fighters is actually fairly close, and Chisora is 12 years younger than the 40-year-old titleholder.

It's a gorgeous day here in Central Pennsylvania. And of course, I'm planning on spending quite a bit of it inside watching boxing.

But that's what happens with televised cards at two different times today. First up, Dereck Chisora hopes to make his weigh-in slap the start of something bigger when he takes on Vitali Klitschko in Germany. That bout is on Epix, and if you don't get that channel, you can sign up for a free trial and watch the fight online at EpixHd.com.

Later tonight, Showtime brings us a pair of bouts from Texas. Paul Williams attempts to bounce back from a tough couple of outings when he faces Nobuhiro Ishida. Also in action is IBF light heavyweight titleholder Tavoris Cloud, defending his belt against Gabriel Campillo.

If you'd rather spend the time outdoors, you can still follow the action with live round-by-round blog posts for all three fights right here on our main page. You can thank us later.

The heavyweight battle starts around 4:30 pm Eastern time, and the Showtime broadcast kicks off at 10 Eastern. Join us back here at either or both times and we'll keep you up to speed.  Oh, and wear a sweatshirt out there. It's still February.

Mike Dallas Jr. and Miguel Gonzalez are set to do battle in the main event of tonight's edition of Friday Night Fights. The venue is the new College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, and Joe Tessitore is joined by Teddy Atlas as usual. Teddy likes the match-up, mentioning that Dallas has lost two fights in a row and should be desperate, while Gonzalez is the stronger guy but has some lingering injury issues.

Former WWE announcer Todd Grisham is in the studio tonight, filling in for Bernardo Osuna. He teases a look at the Dereck Chisora slap of Vitali Klitschko and tomorrow's showdown between Paul Williams and Nobuhiro Ishida.

Our first live fight almost fell apart because former Olympian Shawn Estrada had so much trouble making weight. His original contract called for him to come in at 172 pounds, but his management renegotiated terms for his opponent Terrance Woods to come in at 177 because Texas allows for a 15-pound buffer. As it turns out, Estrada needed all of it, weighing in at 196 yesterday, then making a second effort later and tipping the scales at 192. Estrada has been rehabbing a torn meniscus, but this is still 20-plus pounds more than he has weighed for a pro fight thus far. no comments

It's a common refrain in many aspects of life that perception is more important than reality. It's certainly true in boxing today.

That's why it really shouldn't have surprised me when Dan Rafael broke up a string of tweets about a fairly boring edition of Friday Night Fights last night with the announcement that a deal was finalized to have Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and "Sugar" Shane Mosley meet on May 5as the co-feature for the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto pay-per-view. In terms of the current state of boxing, where name recognition is the key to generating big PPV numbers and mainstream interest, this bout actually makes perfect sense. To the casual fan, this is going to sound like a huge deal.

We're joining Friday Night Fights in progress here at BW headquarters, already in Round 2 of the co-feature. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas are on hand as usual, discussing the big victory for my school in a certain college hoops game earlier this week.

The opening bout pits 17-0 Raymond "Tito" Serrano, a Philly native, against Kenny Abril, a leftie from Rochester who comes in with an 11-4-1 pro record. Tito is the aggressor as we move into Round 3, backing Abril up with a pair of good right hands. This is only his third fight at junior welterweight after starting out at welterweight. Abril smacks him with a counter in the final minute of Round 3, and Serrano goes down. He finishes out the round, but there could be some drama in the upcoming rounds. 

Serrano backs Abril into a corner, but Abril looks like he has more confidence now, even in that position. Atlas thinks Serrano is still a bit crude: Too wide open, not very effective or consistent setting up power shots with his jab. One thing that is a noticeable positive is his commitment to landing left hooks to the body.

Abril goes down with roughly 35 seconds to go in Round 5, but it's ruled a slip. Serrano is hunting mostly for chances to throw hooks to the head or body without a lot of variation to his attacks. Abril lures Serrano into standing and trading in the final minute or so of Round 6, leading to the best sustained action of the fight so far.

It looks like Serrano may win this one simply by being busier in the second half of the fight. He is jabbing more and continuing to take the lead, which Abril has been more than willing to let him do. Atlas has Serrano up by three points with two rounds to go.

Abril's face is starting to show some definite wear and tear as we approach the final round. He's never been past eight rounds before, so this is new territory for him. We go down the stretch pretty much the same way we've been going since Round 7 or so, and you'd expect that Serrano will take this one on the judges' cards.

The judges see it 97-92 twice and 95-94, and Serrano wins by unanimous decision.

Bernardo Osuna and Atlas go back through last weekend's big fights, including Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. successfully fending off Marco Antonio Rubio at the Alamodome. Rubio says in an interview clip that it wasn't JCC Jr.'s power but his size that bothered him. Remember the tagline from the Matthew Broderick version of Godzilla: Size does matter.

Osuna offers the suggestion that JCC Jr. isn't as good as his supporters think nor as bad as his detractors believe. Atlas thinks that Junior is not as talented as his dad but has a true fighter's heart. He thinks Junior really needs to continue to be matched carefully.

They also examine the Nonito Donaire-Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. fight. Atlas blames Donaire a bit for making the fight closer by dropping his hands and showboating instead of focusing on the task at hand. He questions the Filipino Flash's defense, but not as badly as he blasts the judge who scored the bout in favor of Vazquez.

Delvin Rodriguez joins Osuna to talk about his second meeting with Pawel Wolak. That was undoubtedly a great fight, and Rodriguez credits his uppercut as the punch that Wolak could not answer. Asked about his upcoming plans, he smiles and says he can't say exactly what's next, but he promises something big is about to happen.

It's time for the main event, and former U.S. Olympian Demetrius Andrade is on his way to the ring. He's in somewhat of a no-win situation tonight, as opponent Angel Hernandez was the third choice after two other fighters dropped out and took the bout on just a few days' notice. Atlas has already stated that Andrade needs to get rid of Hernandez quickly.

Andrade is 15-0 with 10 KOs, while Hernandez is 30-10. Looks like we are all set for a scheduled 10 rounds of boxing in the junior middleweight division.

Hernandez had to go through extra tests during the week to be allowed to fight due to questions about his health. He passed them all, but he may wish he hadn't since Andrade towers over him.  He's certainly giving it his all early on, swinging for the fences and actually landing a few power shots late in Round 1.

Andrade starts ripping hooks with both hands in Round 2, and Hernandez goes down from accumulated shots a little more than a minute into Round 2. He gets back up, but a nasty left hand followed by a body shot put Hernandez down again, and that's it for this one. Andrade wins by KO at 1:39 of Round 2.

Despite the chaos surrounding this card, Andrade says he wanted to fight no matter who the opponent was, and he felt good. Asked about the top guys in his division, he mentions Canelo but says he believes that idea was shot down by Alvarez's people. He offers to go up to 160 to fight JCC Jr., but Atlas laughs back at the announce table, saying Andrade is about 20 pounds south of the younger Chavez. Real talk!

Since the main event was so brief, Emmanuel Gonzalez and Jesus Bayron get their swing bout on TV. At 9-0, Gonzalez is the A-side here.

While the fight is going on, Tessitore announces what Dan Rafael has already been telling the boxing world on Twitter: Canelo Alvarez will face Sugar Shane Mosley on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto pay-per-view on May 5. Atlas says he isn't running out to buy tickets, as he doesn't expect Cotto or Mosley to really be competitive.

I haven't talked much about this fight because there wasn't all that much to discuss. It goes to the cards after four rounds, and though Bayron gave a good effort, the judges score it 40-36 and 39-37 twice, and Gonzalez wins by unanimous decision.

That's it for this week. Next Friday, the scene shifts to the Dallas-Fort Worth Area for Mike Dallas Jr. and Miguel Gonzalez.