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In our boxing news update, we recap Oscar Valdez’s scintillating victory over Miguel Berchelt and discuss Canelo’s return to the ring. We also talk Clarissa Shields versus Marie-Eve Decaire and provide some thoughts on why Jake Paul versus Ben Askren has become the hottest boxing match of the year. Let’s jump right into action so you can continue making your bets against their Boxing odds.

Boxing News: Valdez Vs Berchelt Recap & Match Updates

Boxing Pound-for-Pound Top 10

Canelo Alvarez
Errol Spence Jr.
Terence Crawford
Naoya Inoue
Tyson Fury
Teofimo Lopez
Oscar Valdez
Vasiliy Lomachenko
Oleksander Usyk

After Win, Valdez Leaps into Top 10 Pound-for-Pound

Miguel Berchelt was a -280 favorite against Oscar Valdez. At times during their exciting fight last Saturday night, it looked as if Berchelt might live up to his favorite’s status.

Instead, Valdez executed one a thoughtful and strategic boxing plan. Berchelt usually overwhelms his opponents with power and aggressiveness. Knowing this, Valdez used his fantastic jab to keep Berchelt off balance all night.

As Berchelt went in to punch, Valdez stepped back, or to the side and through jabs. That type of boxing, countering based on your opponent’s movement, is what allowed Oscar to land the knockout punch.

Not only did Berchelt move straight forward when attacking, he also reached with his punches. Reaching with punches is a terrible habit. Why did Miguel do it so often on Saturday night? Frustration.

Berchelt became frustrated because Valdez made him ineffective. So as Berchelt reached with a one-two in the tenth, Oscar stepped back, set his feet, and landed one of the prettiest counter left hooks boxing fans will ever see.

Valdez’s performance impressed so much, we made him seventh on our pound-for-pound list right behind Teofimo Lopez. Shakur Stevenson is Valdez’s logical next opponent. Hopefully, that match happens because if it does, it will be great.

Canelo returns on Feb. 27 against mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim

If there is one thing Floyd Mayweather Jr. taught top boxers, it’s that they don’t require promotional companies like Top Rank or Golden Boy to make money in the ring. Canelo Alvarez, the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet, takes on Avni Yildirim not only as the champion but also as the promoter.

Alvarez no longer requires Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy. He broke away from De La Hoya before his last fight. On Saturday, Alvarez returns to the ring for his second bout since December.

The quick turnaround is by choice. On Dec. 19, Canelo beat a taller, bigger Callum Smith. We picked Alvarez in that fight simply because Smith has never, and didn’t on that night either, use his length to his advantage.

Canelo’s opponent on Saturday, Avni Yildirim, is 21-2 with 12 knockouts. Like most of Saul’s opponents, Yildirim is taller and has a longer reach. Also like all of Canelo’s opponents except Floyd, Yildirim shouldn’t last long.

Avni’s biggest problem? His best defense is holding his gloves up to his face. It’s an effective defense when you’re fighting boxers in the amateur ranks or, maybe, one of the Logan brothers, but it won’t be effective against Canelo.

To beat a fighter like Canelo, your defense must be your offense, which means Yildirim must learn to win angles and counter off his opponent’s punches. He won’t learn that skill in the 48 hours or so before his fight against Canelo.

Claressa Shields versus Marie-Eve Decaire headlines all women fight card on March 5

The best woman boxer on earth headlines a terrific boxing card on March 5. Claressa Shields takes on Marie-Eve Decaire in a bout that won’t be that competitive.

That’s okay. Shields is like the Floyd Mayweather Jr. version of women’s boxing. Going into a Floyd fight, everyone knew he’d likely dominate from beginning to end. They still showed up to watch Floyd fight.

To make the March 5 fight card even more entertaining, all under card bouts are matches between women boxers. As far as we know, it’s the first all-women pay-per-view boxing card ever.

FITE TV will show the matches. Check them out if you want to see great boxing at half the cost to watch the top men boxers fight.

Even without a venue, fight fans are excited about Jake Paul versus Ben Askren

The folks behind Paul vs. Askren have yet to choose a venue. No problem. Interest in Jake versus Ben has become so heated that some are predicting it’s the fifth most watched PPV boxing match in history.

The reason why people are so excited is obvious. Paul has beaten up a couple of non-combat sports professionals. Even though Askren is a wrestler and grappler, he’s got combat sport conditioning, can take a punch based on his MMA days, and can learn boxing much quicker than it took Paul to learn how to box.

That’s a lot of words to say people will pay to see Jake fall on his ass. Some of the disdain toward him is Paul’s fault. JP does have a big mouth.

In any case, the fight, which doesn’t happen in April, may be the biggest boxing draw of the year. Keep Paul versus Askren in the back of your mind as you watch Canelo knock out Yildirim on Saturday.

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