Good heavyweight fights have been few and far between for...about as long as you want to go back in this century. Every once in a while though the stars align and ranked contenders go against their inclinations and fight each other, and sometimes this occurs multiple times on a single card. Such is the case in the TrillerVerz IV card on Thursday, December 2, and the Fox Sports PPV event on January 1st, 2022.
The Triller event isn't quite as stacked but considering it's happening tomorrow it's safe to say its slate of fights is more likely to remain stable. Its fights include Michael Hunter vs. Jerry Forrest, George Arias vs. Cassius Chaney, and Mike Balogun vs. Trey Lippe
- #13 Michael Hunter (20-1-1) vs. #88 Jerry Forrest (26-4-1)
Hunter has slipped out of the top ten due to inactivity but remains a top contender boasting a 6-1-1 record in significant fights; his best win is over current #28 Martin Bakole and he fought #7 Alex Povetkin to a draw. His sole loss is to #2 Oleksandr Usyk in a cruiserweight bout.
Forrest was declining after losses to Jermaine Franklin and Carlos Takam but managed a draw against #50 Zhilei Zhang which propelled him back into the top 100. So ironically both fighters are best known for their performance in a fight that ended in a draw. Let's hope this one doesn't end in a draw.
The two fighters have met before, in June of 2014 where Hunter took a unanimous 80-72 decision over 8 rounds. It was Hunter's fifth pro fight, just before he dropped down to campaign at Cruiserweight for a few years prior to his heavyweight return in 2018. Following that loss Forrest won 18 fights in a row against low-level competition, lost twice more, and then had the draw with Zhang. Needless to say, Hunter is a huge favorite to repeat his performance against Forrest. - #30 George Arias (16-0-0) vs. #43 Cassius Chaney (21-0-0)
This is a big fight—someone's "O" has got to go. Neither fighter has faced a very impressive slate however, so this will be a proving ground for both. Arias has a couple of rated wins over Keith Barr and Joe Caudle, while Chaney has also defeated Caudle along with three other rated wins including Shawndell Winters and Nick Jones who are still ranked. The winner will move closer to contender status near the top 20. - #49 Mike Balogun (17-0-0) vs. #186 Trey Lippe (18-0-0)
Another battle of undefeated fighters, but this one is a bit less impactful. In their combined 35 fights they have 4 noteable wins, with Balogun beating Mike Bissett and Keith Barr, and Lippe besting Richard Dawson and Ty Cobb. I'm sure you know all four of those guys. Lippe doesn't have a solid win in nearly five years where he's fought just 5 times, which gives the advantage to Balogun. Balogun needs a win to keep his momentum going while Lippe needs one to revive his stalled career. Balogun is more famous as an ex-college football player than a boxer, while Lippe is most famous for being one of Tommy Morrison's sons. This fight is a small step toward one of them making his name in the ring.
The Fox PPV has five fights all between rated fighters, with three intra-top 100 contests scheduled:
- #6 Frank Sanchez (19-0-0) vs. #100 Carlos Negron (25-3-0)
- #58 Luis Ortiz (32-2-0) vs. #80 Charles Martin (28-2-1)
- #59 Jonathan Rice (14-6-1) vs. #63 Michael Polite Coffie (12-1-0)
- #38 Victor Faust Vykhryst (8-0-0) vs. #154 Iago Kiladze (27-5-1)
- #67 Ali Demirezen (14-1-0) vs. #126 Gerald Washington (20-4-1)
We'll preview those fights later in the month in case more fights are added (or more likely, cancelled).
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