The weekly recap

Before I begin I will preface that most Sundays from now on barring travel, life, depression or something unforeseen I will put together my thoughts on boxing, not unlike what we do on the podcast, but in written form. Be sure to interact with my Twitter at @LukieBoxing and tell me what you think of this and/or send me questions.

Jeff Horn wins meaningless fight, seemingly hell-bent on avoiding Terence Crawford

On a Thursday in Australia, Jeff Horn, the man who won the WBO welterweight title over Manny Pacquiao in his native, Australia earlier this year defeated lesser-known Gary Corcoran by way of 11th round stoppage. Not surprisingly and smartly on Horn’s part, he seemingly wanted to bypass two-division world champion, Terence Crawford, as he wants to fight Anthony Mundine, an Australian fighter who has seen better days, and to be fair isn’t a bad fighter, but may not be a world class fighter at this point in his career.

Crawford, who is hardly ever vocal, whether it is on video, social media or at a press conference voiced his displeasure below especially with Horn’s claim that Crawford is not a draw.

??he said I can't sell no tickets but they only sold 6thousand tickets in @jeffhornboxer last fight cut it out y'all know what time it is??

— Terence Crawford (@budcrawford402) December 16, 2017

Regardless, Terence Crawford at welterweight is a 2018 reality that many in the division are not excited to face as one of the most dominant fighters of his generation, is proving to be such a talent that world champions are not eager to face him. Horn, an underrated champion who doesn’t get the respect he deserves, will look bad publically for this since he ought to defend his title against a fighter on the same promotional side of the fence as himself in Terence Crawford.

FS1 cards continue to impress

Premier Boxing Champions returned on Friday night in Lancaster, CA with a very entertaining card that was highlighted by John Molina Jr. getting off the deck in the second round to stop Ivan Redkach in the fourth round. Molina, who is putting together a stellar boxing career for a limited amateur run, was matched well with Ivan Redkach who was moving up in weight to face Molina. Though both fighters ceilings might not be much beyond this type of boxing show, there is nothing wrong with that at all. Molina continues to be must watch TV when matched accordingly with fighters just a level below the very elite in the world.

Jamal James returned to stop internet favorite Diego Chaves in the third round. James, who two fights ago lost Yordenis Ugas, essentially the most avoided junior welterweight, put on a clinic on an aging veteran in Chaves who has spent his whole career fighting out of the wrong corner and making a good showing of himself.

Also of note on the undercard, 2016 U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas continued his winning ways and Fresno, CA’s Marcos “Madman” Hernandez picked up a first-round KO, this is his second straight win with Henry Ramirez as his head coach.

Jessie Vargas vs. Keith Thurman?

In the main event, Jessie Vargas knocked the rust off after a year-long layoff as he faced Aaron Herrera, whom he went 10 rounds with. Vargas, a perennial top 10 fighter, now the question is, what lured Jessie Vargas away from Top Rank to sign with Al Haymon and be a part of the Premier Boxing Champions staple of boxing. This reporter has an uneducated guess and that is, Keith Thurman. Thurman is in need of a fight prior to the inevitable Errol Spence Jr fight and Jessie Vargas seems to be the fighter who fits the bill as a high profile fighter with a low knockout ratio.

To me, it is less about if and rather when will Jessie Vargas fight Keith Thurman.

A-sides lose in three straight fights on HBO

A tough night for Golden Boy Promotions as the promoter of Canelo Alvarez and Jorge Linares saw one of their highly touted middleweights David Lemieux get thoroughly outclassed by Billy Joe Saunders. Lemieux who has life-changing power, looked lost as Saunders never stood still long enough to get hit with a massive shot that would relieve him of senses. After the fight, neither man made a great showing as Saunders continued his hatable as he came off as snide as every, whereas Lemieux basically said Saunders ran from him. Saunders called out Canelo after the fight as well.

In the co-main event, a friend of the website, Antoine Douglas tasted his second defeat as Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan applied pressure before handing Douglas his second career stoppage loss by way of seventh round TKO. Douglas, a former U.S. amateur standout will have to take a lot of time off from the sport seeing as he has suffered two brutal KO losses in 2 years. O’ Sullivan, a game tough guy at middleweight, will more than likely parlay this win into a big fight, like say a Billy Joe Saunders rematch, or something of that nature, but the story was more so about the misstep of the career of Antoine Douglas.

The opening bout on the televised portion saw Yves Ulysse Jr beating Cletus Seldin up battle en route a lopsided decision win. Seldin, who had won last month by KO, returned quickly in hopes of climbing the junior welterweight ladder and ascending to the top of the division in 2018. Instead, he ran into a skilled fighter who dropped him three times, once per round in the first three rounds. Seldin, no longer is unbeaten and will have to fix holes in his game, not unlike Lemieux as Ulysse used finesse to put Seldin away.