Wladimir Klitschko looks to cement his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweight champions of All-Time when he battles undefeated Tyson Fury on Saturday in Germany.

The Dominant Heavyweight of His Generation

The reigning WBO, WBA, IBF and Lineal Heavyweight champion is the most dominant heavyweight of his generation. Klitschko’s current reign is the second longest in heavyweight boxing history while his total 23 title defenses ranks second overall, behind only Joe Louis’ 25 and ahead of Larry Holmes (20) and Muhammad Ali (19).He is currently tied with Louis for the most heavyweight title fights at 27 and against Fury on Saturday, he will break that record. Should he beat Fury, it will be his 19th consecutive title defense, a streak only bettered by Louis (25) and Holmes (20).

The Smaller Man

But if Klitschko has dominated the past decade with his size, he will be in an unfamiliar situation on Saturday. Tyson Fury at 6-9 is three inches taller than him and holds a 4 inch reach advantage. Not only is Fury the bigger man, he is also younger by 12 years at only 27.

Fury also is a powerful puncher, having knocked out 18 of his 24 opponents. Although he hasn’t fought the level of competition Klitschko has over the years, Fury owns solid victories over Steve Cunningham, Joey Abell and Dereck Chisora. Ranked #3 by The Ring, Fury hopes to become the first British Heavyweight Boxing Champion since David Haye was WBA champion in 2009.

Home Court Advantage

One crucial factor in the fight is the venue because while Klitschko is Ukrainian, he has made Germany his primary fighting hometown, fighting all but 15 of his 67 total fights there. Saturday’s bout will be held at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, where Klitschko has fought twice before and where Fury makes his first appearance on German soil. With the crowd expected to cheer its adopted son, Fury must make a definitive impact in the fight.

Who Takes This?

Given his physical advantages, Fury has every puncher’s chance of knocking out Wladimir, who has been knocked out thrice in the early stages of his career. But the thing with Fury is that he leans forward when he attacks and that could be a mistake against a machine like Dr. Steelhammer.

Fury also had problems with a technical boxer like Steve Cunningham so he should his hands full against Wladimir whose skills were honed by the late Emmanuel Steward. Klitschko isn’t at all flashy but he uses great movement and a stiff jab that sets up a very powerful right hand. He doesn’t force the KOs and has been content to win on points.

This fight though may not go the distance with Fury’s best shot at beating Klitschko is to knock him out. He has the length to fight from the outside but Wlad has the experience to box to victory.  Fury should take the fight to him without getting nailed. That is easier said than done.

Fury is a -375 underdog so if he wins, it will be a major upset. Experts are predicting a Klitschko win by KO within 6 rounds because an aggressive and bullying fighter like Fury is what the doctor ordered for Dr. Steelhammer. Unless he can land a big shot early to rattle the -500 favorite, this should be another step to greatness for Klitschko.

Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino will fight again on January 16th, 2016, according to Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp. Although a weight class wasn’t mentioned, Cyborg is likely to face Cindy Dandois in the event, which will take place in Costa Mesa, California.

No Longer Moving Down

Cris Justino was working to making a 140-pound debut at the end of the year, hoping to prove that she could make 135 pounds and set up a mega bout with former UFC women’s bantamweight Ronda Rousey in 2016.  But after Rousey’s stunning loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 earlier this month, Justino reportedly is no longer interested in doing the weight cut. According to her manager George Prajin, Cyborg was already having a hard time making 140 pounds, let alone 135. And now that the mega bout is dead, she is more interested in cementing her legacy as the 145-pound staple in women’s MMA.

Disappointed With Rogan

Prajin also added that Justino was disappointed with UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s ugly remarks about her during a podcast, saying that Rogan’s actions were irresponsible considering that he is a UFC employee and could be calling her next fight if she fights in the UFC soon. Rogan’s comments, coupled with Ronda Rousey’s defeat, have made Justino reconsider moving down in weight and even fighting in the UFC, according to Prajin.

Chasing The Rousey Fight

Justino is the former Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight champion and the fighter to retire Gina Carano, the acknowledged original face of Women’s MMA, in 2009 with a first round KO. She is 14-1, 1 no-contest  in the cage with 12 KOs. She has not been beaten since losing her MMA debut in Brazil at Show Fight 2 in 2005. She was regarded as the only remaining legitimate threat to Ronda Rousey’s dominant reign as champion although a fight between the two was never really made because they were fighting in different weight classes. The UFC had always insisted that if such fight were to be made, it had to be at 135 pounds since the promotion doesn’t have a women’s featherweight class.

Justino’s next opponent, Dandois, is a featherweight at Invicta. She has a record of 6-2 with four finishes and is coming off a second round submission win over Megan Anderson last September. The 31-year old Belgian is known as “The Battlecat” and fights for Perfect Team.

Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez meet on Saturday in what has been dubbed as the true Pay Per View event of the year. While Mayweather-Pacquiao broke all of boxing’s revenue records, it was a fight that should have happened five years ago. #CottoCanelo is a bout of two fighters who are almost evenly matched up and are still on top of their games.

Middleweight or Catchweight

Miguel Cotto has an impressive resume, having won the WBC and lineal middleweight titles by dethroning long-time champion Sergio Martinez via 10th round TKO in June of 2014. Cotto, who also won a world title as a light welterweight, welterweight and super welterweight, is coming off a 4th round knockout of Daniel Geale last May. But although he is recognized as middleweight king, Cotto has been criticized as the new catchweight king for fighting his last two bouts at a catchweight. This one is no different as Cotto and Alvarez have agreed to meet at 155 pounds on Saturday, November 21st in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Golden Child

The 25-year old Saul Alvarez is a former WBC, WBA and Ring Light Middleweight title holder. Alvarez beat the likes of Shane Mosley, Carlos Baldomir, Kermit Cintron and Austin Trout en route to being undefeated in his first 43 bouts. Canelo ran into Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013 and lost via majority decision. But he’s rebounded with impressive wins over Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland to set up this fight. However, Golden Boy’s top fighter has a lot on his shoulders after the promotion’s other top draws in Lucas Matthysse and David Lemieux suffered KO losses last month. Oscar De La Hoya hopes his Golden Child will deliver the big win that keep GBP afloat.

Who Takes This?

Canelo is naturally the bigger man between the two. He is also younger and is widely considered to have the bigger punch. With all the physical advantages, Alvarez must utilize them against the much older Cotto and show him the 10-year age difference. He must cut-off the ring and land his trademark combinations to stop Cotto from circling around him. Cotto meanwhile, is expected to fight away from harm’s way. Cotto’s main weapon is his left hook and he must find a way to land it. Look for Cotto to jab his way from the outside most of the time but he will have to engage the young Alvarez in order to let him feel his power punches. Cotto will probably mix his attack in and out because he can’t afford to stand in the pocket with Canelo for a long time.

Alvarez is a -300 favorite in this one while Cotto is at +225. However, the fight could be tougher than what Canelo is expecting. Cotto has found a second wind with Freddie Roach and with the master tactician plotting his strategy, expect Cotto to maximize whatever is left of his skills. He should dictate the fight early but if Alvarez weathers the early storm and settle down, he is likely to win a long and grinding bout. A late stoppage by Alvarez is expected by fight experts.

Following her loss in the biggest upset in MMA history, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is expected to get a rematch against her tormentor Holly Holm.

Biggest Underdog

Holm knocked out Rousey in the 2nd round of their title bout at the main event of UFC 193 last Saturday at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia before the largest crowd in UFC history at 56,214. In beating Rousey, Holm became the biggest underdog to score an upset. At -800, she was a bigger underdog when T.J. Dillashaw (+575 ) upset Renan Barao last year for the men’s bantamweight title. In beating Rousey, Holm also became the first athlete – man or woman – to win major world titles in both boxing and MMA.

Immediate Rematch

UFC President Dana White spoke to reporters after the fight and said that while they “don’t book fights immediately after one”, a rematch between the two “makes a lot of sense”. White is correct because prior to her loss, Rousey was considered as the most dominant combat sports champion of All-Time, having stopped all of her first 12 opponents with only one going past round one. Rousey’s last three title defenses lasted less than two minutes in total fight time and she had already virtually cleaned up her weight class before running into Holm on Saturday night.  Holm also acknowledged that she has to fight Rousey again and she is cool with that. As a former champion boxer, she said that she also experienced painful losses in the past which she wanted to avenge via rematch.

Taking Time Off

Prior to the fight, Rousey was already considering taking time off from the Octagon. Saturday’s bout was her third in nine months and it was one that was supposed to be on January 2nd but was moved forward after UFC welterweight king Robbie Lawler suffered an injury. Rousey has also been busy with movies and TV appearances in the last few months and she has had to juggle her busy schedule with her fight career. If indeed she takes some serious time away from the Octagon, we could see the rematch between the middle to late of 2016 as Rousey has a movie with Mark Wahlberg coming out in the first quarter of next year.

Rousey was taken to the hospital after the fight to have her lip sewn and for precautionary measures. A loss like hers will lead to mandatory injury suspension and she should be ready to fight in July. Having said that, it will be interesting to see what happens when the two square off again. Holm exposed a lot of holes in Rousey’s striking game and instead of taking Holm to the ground and grappling with her, Rousey made a mistake of boxing with a former world champion. She paid dearly for her mistake.

UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey makes the 8th defense of her title when she squares off against the UFC’s #7 ranked contender Holly Holm on November 14th, 2015 at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

Breaking Records

Rousey and Holm were supposed to headline the UFC’s year end event at UFC 195 on January 2nd, 2016. But after an injury to UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, the fight was moved forward to UFC 193 where the UFC hopes to break its All-Time attendance record in Australia’s 56,000 seater stadium. The All-Time attendance record in the UFC is 55,724 when Georges St. Pierre fought Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto’s Roger Centre. With the additional seats to be placed in the playing field where the Octagon will sit, UFC 193 could easily beat that record especially since it’s Rousey now headlining the event.

Most Dominant Fighter

Rousey is hailed as the most dominant MMA champion, regardless of gender, in the history of the sport. She is ranked the #1 Womens’ Pound for Pound Fighter in the sport today and of all-time. She is also #4 in the UFC’s list of Pound for Pound fighters, the only female fighter to make the list, and rightfully so. Rousey has been so dominant that only one opponent has gone more than one round with her in 12 MMA bouts. She’s won all 12 bouts by stoppage: 3 by KO and 9 by submission. Her last four title defenses have lasted a total of 130 seconds including a 14-second submission of Cat Zingano at UFC 184.

Champion Boxer

Although undefeated in 9 MMA bouts, Holly Holm will not be the best MMA fighter that Ronda Rousey has ever faced. However, Holm is a former world boxing champion with a record of 33-3-1 with 9 KOs and is widely considered as the best striker Rousey will have ever faced. Holm is 2-0 in the UFC, beating Raquel Pennington by split decision in her debut and then Marion Reneau by unanimous decision last July.

Who Takes This?

Rousey’s never been an underdog before and this one’s not any different. She opened as a -1250 favorite and is currently a bigger -2000 favorite against Holm who is a +1000. While Holm may be an elite striker owed to her world class boxing background, Rousey’s striking has vastly improved in the past two years where she’s won by KO in three of her last four bouts. However, once Rousey takes the fight to the ground, Holm will be in instant trouble due to her inexperience. On the other hand, Rousey’s a submission expert who owns the best armbar submission in the sport. Pundits are picking Rousey to win this fight in the opening round, whether she knocks out Holm or submits her via armbar. Rousey’s just too dominant to lose and if that happens, it will be the biggest upset in the sport’s history.

WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder has been granted another optional title defense by the WBC last week after his mandatory challenger, Alexander Povetkin won’t be ready to fight until spring. The 36 year old Povetkin suffered a cut over his left eye during his 12th round KO win over Mariusz Wach last November 4 and won’t be available for Wilder’s next scheduled bout in January 2016.

A Busy Year

According to Showtime, which will cover Wilder’s third title defense, the bout will be held at the Barclays Center in New York, against an opponent to be determined. That bout will be the fourth in a busy one year period for Wilder. He defeated Bermane Stiverne by a lopsided decision to win the WBC title in January 17, 2014 and defended it on June 13 with a 9th round KO of Eric Molina. Wilder returned last September 26 to make a second title defense, knocking out Johann Duhaupas in 11 rounds to improve his record to 35-0 with 34 KOs.

Bronze Bomber

Wilder is the first American Heavyweight champion in nearly a decade. His knockout rate of 97.1% is one of the highest current KO rates in the sport. Wilder represented the United States in the 2008 Olympics, reaching the semifinals and winning a bronze medal-hence the nickname “Bronze Bomber”. Although he started boxing relatively late, Wilder has been a fast learner and with his size, mobility and power, he has risen among the elites in boxing’s premier weight class.

A Pressure Fighter

A fight against Povetkin will be Wilder’s biggest test to date as the former WBA Heavyweight champion and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist is a pressure fighter who has an impressive record of 30-1 with 22 KOs. Povetkin has won four fights in a row, all by knockout, since losing his heavyweight title to current unified champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2013. Povetkin went the full 12 round route with Klitschko although he was knocked down a total of four times during their fight. Povetkin holds notable victories over former world champions Chris Byrd, Marco Huck, Ruslan Chagaev and Hashim Rahman.

Quality of Opposition

Boxing pundits have been critical of Wilder’s choice of opposition, especially in his first two title defenses. Although he beat a solid fighter in Stiverne to win the title, he hasn’t fought anyone of the same caliber in his career. Instead, Wilder’s been busy fighting as much as he can in the past year, but against handpicked foes who were chosen to make him look good. In most probability, Wilder’s camp will choose a similar foe for January 16. But once that fight with Povetkin is booked later this year, we’ll finally see what kind of stuff The Bronze Bomber is truly made of.

Timothy Bradley hopes to return to the 147 Pound elites as he defends his WBO welterweight title against an equally determined Brandon Rios on November 7th at the Thomas & Mack Center is Las Vegas, Nevada.

Returning To The Top

Both men are known to be two of the fiercest welterweights in the game. Both have been in tough wars and have figures in Fight of The Year winners. Both of them too are two of the few to have faced Manny Pacquiao in a PPV bout. But with their careers derailed by Pacman, each look to return to the top of the heap with a win over the other on Saturday night.

Worst Nightmare

Timothy Bradley’s biggest triumph turned out to be his worst nightmare. After beating Manny Pacquiao in 2011, Bradley’s career spiraled downwards instead of shooting up to the stars because of the controversial nature of the victory. But he’s picked up the pieces with big wins over Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez. Just last June, Bradley reclaimed the WBO welterweight championship with a 12-round UD win over Jessie Vargas.

No Power in Punches

On the other hand, Rios is coming off a third round KO win over rival Mike Alvarado in their grudge match last January. Since losing to Pacquiao via shutout in 2013, Rios has won two in a row and is looking to extend that to three against Bradley whom he considers easy to beat because of the lack of punching power. But Rios may be wrong because while Bradley doesn’t have the power of Pacquiao or Alvarado, he has a work rate better than both.

Who Takes This?

Contrary to Rios’ claims, Bradley is a -500 favorite over the +333 Rios. Bradley’s recent move to Teddy Atlas’ camp has been seen as a big positive in the career of Desert Storm. While he admittedly doesn’t have the power in his punches, Bradley’s speed and volume are a killer. Rios may have the bigger punch, but his come-forward style of fighting may be tailor made for a volume puncher like Bradley who can score at will against a steady target. Rios doesn’t have elite defense and prefers to fight fire with fire. That may be disastrous against a well-conditioned athlete like Bradley who can go all-out for 12 rounds. Experts are predicting a punching clinic from Bradley and that he will come out victorious after 12 rounds by a wide UD.

The UFC’s #3 ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov withdrew from his high-profile fight against Tony Ferguson on December 11th after sustaining a rib injury in training. The Sambo master made the announcement via social media late Thursday night.

“I want to apologize to my fans. I broke my rib and again I am out of the fight. I really wanted to come back. I’m not sure if I will ever come back”, wrote Nurmagomedov on his Twitter account.

Nurmagomedov was scheduled to fight The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner Tony Ferguson in a crucial lightweight bout at the finale of the current Ultimate Fighter show, TUF 22, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The finale will be headlined by a bout between featherweights Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar.

Another Setback

It was another setback for Nurmagomedov, who hasn’t fought since defeating current UFC Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos in April of 2014. Nurmagomedov was linked to a title eliminator bout against fellow top rated lightweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone earlier this year but he pulled out of that bout with a knee injury.

The unbeaten Nurmagomedov was on the cusp of a title shot after shooting up to the #1 in the UFC Lightweight rankings. He is 6-0 in the UFC and 22-0 overall. The 27-year old Nurmagomedov is a two-time Combat Sambo World Champion. Aside from Dos Anjos, he holds victories over Pat Healy, Abel Trujillo and Thiago Tavares.

A Mean Streak

Tapped to replace Nurmagomedov on December 11th is Edson Barboza. The Brazilian striker is coming off a big win over Paul Felder at UFC on Fox 16 last July. Overall, Barboza has won three of four and has a 16-3 record. But Tony Ferguson is even on a meaner streak, winning his last six bouts including four by stoppage and three post-fight bonuses. Ferguson recorded a unanimous decision win over Josh Thompson in his most recent bout last July. The former TUF winner is 19-3 overall and is looking for a win that will push him to title contention.

A win over Nurmagomedov would have helped that but a win over Barboza would give him a longer winning streak.  Ferguson was a +250 underdog against Nurmagomedov but is expected to be favored over Barboza. Ferguson and Barboza are almost even in striking, but Ferguson’s grappling and submission skills are seen as his advantages over Barboza in this contest.

Undefeated middleweight contender Jermell Charlo looks to move one step closer to a title fight as he faces a tough former champion who may be on the tail end of a once glorious career.

Charlo headlines a PBC card in his hometown when he faces former light middleweight champion Joachim Alcine in a 10-round 154-pound main event bout at the NRG Arena in Houston, Texas.

Ready for The Taking?

Last month, Jermell’s twin brother Jermall won the IBF light middleweight title by battering Cornelius Bundrage to four knockdowns en route to a convincing 3rd round TKO win. The Charlo twins dream to become the first twin brothers in boxing history to hold world titles at the same time. Jermell’s journey begins on October 31st against an opponent who may be his for the taking.

Joachim Alcine won the WBA light middleweight title in 2007 but only has two wins in his last eight bouts. The 39-year old Haitian-Canadian hasn’t fought since May of 2014 when he fought Delvin Rodriguez to a split draw. Prior to 2014, Alcine suffered five consecutive losses from 2012-2013 which began with KO losses to Matthew Macklin and Brian Rose. Alcine’s last big win was a 12-round MD win over David Lemieux in December of 2011.

One Win Away

After his proposed December 2014 WBO light middleweight title bout with Demetrius Andrade was cancelled, Jermell Charlo went on to fight top contender Vanes Martirosyan last March. The bout turned out to be the biggest win of his career as Charlo beat Martirosyan via UD to improve his record to 26-0 with 11 KOs. Currently, Jermell is ranked #2 by both the IBF and WBC in their 154-pound rankings. With brother Jermall owning the IBF strap, the target is now the WBC version of the titles which is currently vacant. A win over Alcine should lead to that WBC title bout.

Who Takes This?

Charlo has everything going for him against Alcine. He is nearing his prime at 25 and is fighting a fading former world champion in his backyard. But having said that, the pressure to win has never been higher especially since his twin brother Jermall already has a world title belt wrapped around his waist. Jermell doesn’t really have the KO power of his twin brother  but his overall skills should be enough to beat Alcine who is looking for a big upset. Charlo is a -3300 favorite to beat Alcine, a +1200 underdog in most books. We’re picking Charlo to pick up an easy 12 round UD win and go on to fight for the WBC title next year.

After pulling out of UFC Fight Night 76, #3 ranked heavyweight Stipe Miocic has been booked to a fight with Andrei Arlovski at UFC 195 on January 2nd, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Miocic was supposed to face Ben Rothwell last weekend in Dublin but withdrew from the event with an undisclosed injury. A week later, he has been booked to fight the UFC’s 4th ranked heavyweight in a bout that has title implications written all over it.

Co-Main Event

The UFC confirmed the bout on Wednesday after it was previously reported by the L.A. Times. Miocic-Arlovski thus becomes the co-main event of UFC 195, which will be headlined by the welterweight title bout between champion Robbie Lawler and challenger Carlos Condit.

Miocic has won four of his last five UFC bouts and is coming off a one-sided 5th round TKO victory over former title challenger Mark Hunt last May. Miocic’s only loss since 2012 has been a competitive 5-round unanimous decision defeat to former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos in December of 2014.

A Second Shot

On the other hand, the 36-year old Arlovski has found a second lease of life following a six fight winning streak that has vaulted him back to the top of the UFC rankings. Given up for dead after four consecutive losses from 2008-2011, the former UFC heavyweight champion has won 10 of his last 12 bouts with his only loss a controversial one to Anthony Johnson at WSOF 2 in 2013. Arlovski is 4-0 in his second stint with the UFC and has posted victories over Brandon Schaub, Antonio Silva, Travis Browne and recently Frank Mir.

Who Takes This?

Miocic opened as a -265 favorite over Arlovski when the betting lines opened. Arlovski isn’t too much of an underdog though at +185. Miocic’s last defeat came at the hands of a supreme striker/boxer in Junior Dos Santos and Arlovski has the same set of skills on his feet. Arlovski showed that with his KO wins over Travis Browne and Big Foot Silva but he also struggled with a good wrestler like Frank Mir during his last outing. But Miocic has the better overall skills and is more well-rounded at this point of their careers. Miocic is clearly in his peak but with the UFC landscape changing, Arlovski has a shot at winning this, especially with the kind of power he carries along.