B.A.D. Indeed

Very nice card tomorrow night on Boxing After Dark, featuring two of Brooklyn's finest and a Haitian on the verge of storming the nation. Three bouts I'm very excited to see - Large is all a twitter:


Andre Berto v. Norberto Bravo
Don't come to this card late, because arguably the biggest name on it is fighting first. Yeah, Paulie Walnuts has some legit name value these days, but Andre Berto is a potential star on a level that I don't think the Magic Man will ever quite aspire to. Though he was born in Miami, Berto fought in the 2004 Olympics for Haiti. Despite the fact that he didn't win a medal, he was one of the most courted boxers by promoters coming out of those Games. When you see him fight, you'll know why. He has the whole package - speed, power, charisma. He was last seen on HBO on the undercard of the Ouma/Jermain fight pulverizing an overmatched Miguel Figueroa (check out what I had to say about that fight here) and is back again in primetime, matched up against Norberto Bravo from season two of The Contender. Trust me, you don't want to miss this kid. He's 16-0 with 14 KO's and for me he's already generating a little of that Tyson-like excitement - I want to see all of his fights, no matter how lopsided, because he decimates motherfuckers.

Sechew Powell v. Ishe Smith
Speaking of Kassim Ouma, speaking of The Contender, and speaking of Tyson... Brownsville's own Sechew Powell is back in action tomorrow night for the first time since he got caught up in the human threshing machine that is Kassim the Dream (click here for my original post on that fight). It was the first loss for Sechew (pronounced seh-Q) and not one that truly diminished anyone's expectations of him. Ouma is a difficult chess problem in the ring - how do you compete with a guy with a chin of steel who throws 100 punches a round and never gets tired? Sechew was baffled by that situation early, but late in the fight he seemed to be working it out, which bodes well for him moving forward. Tomorrow night he fights Ishe Smith from the first season of The Contender. As is his wont, Smith has been trash-talking the shit out of Powell. In general he seems to be trying to make a name for himself with his mouth. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite have the fists to back it up. Mark my words - Sechew will knock his ass out.

Paulie Malignaggi v. Edner Cherry
Count me among the many who went into the Malignaggi/Cotto fight wanting to see Paulie Walnuts get sand-blasted, and then after it happened (and oh, did it happen), found myself a newly converted fan of the Magic Man. He took one hell of a beating, and he took it like a man, a very VERY tough man. The fact that his comeback bout from that Cotto smackdown is Edner Cherry (Bomb) and not some washed-up punching bag only furthers my newfound respect for the kid - you have to believe that other fighters getting back into the ring after a fight that basically destroyed their entire face would take an easy warm-up bout first. Not Paulie. This I-talian Scallion truly believes he is destined for greatness. I'm not sure I believe that myself, but I'm rooting for him now, and I definitely don't want to miss any of his fights.