Views From The Couch With Marquis: Fisticuffs Edition

After a bye week this past weekend, boxing in April is here. With it comes the big names in boxing as we are finally starting to get contests with fighters a lot more fans have heard of than not starting this weekend. It's refreshing and is coming off the heels of March, which didn't stink in the ring either.

(Sandor Martin fought last week and looked good, but you didn't come for that breakdown. Nor Savanah Marshall, who was beating up Femke Hermans. I can't wait for that Marshall-Claressa Shields fight, though.)

Speaking of contests, boxing odds man Jim Karas has a contest going, where the winner gets a 1910 Mecca Sam Langford card! If you're on Twitter, click the thread and shoot your shot.

Giveaway Contest Point system

Pick winner = 1 point
Pick method of victory (KO or Decision) = 1 point
Draw = 5 points

Main events points are doubled.
Winner = 2 points
Outcome = 2 points
Draw = 10 points

*Can only get the method point if you correctly predict the fight winner

— Jim Karas (@JimKarasBoxing) April 6, 2022

The Late Late Show with Gennadiy Golovkin

Get to bed early Friday evening as your Saturday morning starts with a middleweight unification bout between Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin and Ryota Murata coming from Japan. Check out what we wrote on what we're keeping an eye on from Golovkin in the ring. Still, I wanted to explain why you should interrupt your sleep cycle to check this card out live on DAZN starting around 5:10 a.m. ET.

This card is an interesting co-main event between Shuichiro Yoshino (14-0, 11 KOs) and former WBO champion Masayuki Ito (27-3-1, 15 KOs). I'm interested in seeing if Yoshino can land that quick left on Ito. That punch is his bread and butter. Or if Ito will be able to dictate the fight with the jab, which didn't happen when he lost the title to Jamel Herring in 2019. Also on the card is WBO Flyweight champ Junto Nakatani (22-0, 17 KOs) in action against Ryota Yamauchi (8-1, 7 KOs). As a reminder, if Golovkin wins, we are one step closer to that third fight between him and Canelo Alvarez later this year. Sorry if you haven't heard that by now.

What about the fights where you live, like in America?

Saturday across the United States is even better this weekend. We got Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) back in action for the first time since retiring Luke Campbell to kick off boxing back in 2021. He faces Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) in San Antonio live on DAZN.

“Nobody is expecting me to win this fight but mark my words; there is an upset on the cards in San Antonio this weekend,” stated Tagoe in a press release about signing a co-promotion deal with Probellum.

Garcia's fights have been intermittent over various issues and injuries; that's all-old news. Alongside the new trainer, Joe Goosen wants to remind everyone why his last five fights have ended in a stoppage. If Tagoe comes thru on his promise, this will be the biggest upset in 2021 that just had Jeremiah Nakathila wipe out Miguel Berchelt last week. The rest of this card was slated to have Glen Tapia on it. Thankfully, he's not, but the undercard has Marlen Esparza in a unification bout against Naoko Fujioka. Suppose you favor Esparza for short-term investment purposes. In that case, many sportsbooks have that at a decent number as of this writing.

In Costa Mesa, California, The Hanger has a Top Rank card and features unified super-featherweight champion Mikaela Mayer taking on former IBF champion Jennifer Han in the main event. While the rest of the card on paper isn't strong, it does feature the return of both Andrew and Jason Moloney twins in action and current prospect crusher Luis Alberto Lopez. For those who forgot, Lopez is why we all started to question prospect Gabriel Flores and his father in that one-sided contest. Mayer is one to look out for and has been vocal lately about how she's been avoided for unification bouts. If you haven't seen Mayer in action, Han's matchup will look to be a reminder.

🔥 HOT OUT THE OVEN. Before @MikaelaMayer1 takes on Jennifer Han this weekend in Orange County, she joined the #BWBSP to discuss that fight & says @alyciambaum @HyunMiChoi7 are freezing her out of a unification bout. #boxing #MayerHan https://t.co/NiwjW0ulrR pic.twitter.com/GfUkW65O0f

— Best Womens Boxing Show (@BestWomensBSP) April 6, 2022

Lastly, out of Vegas, Showtime has a super welterweight fight card that consists of crossroads fights. The one that will close out the show is Erickson Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs), taking on Sebastian Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KOs). Bet you're tired of hearing how it's an intriguing matchup, aren't you? I'll admit that Fundora, who is at 6'5 1/2, will always be saddled that label with him. However, it is because even Boxrec knows that this is a matchup of Top 5 guys at 154 pounds, with the winner getting a future crack at the title currently held by Jermell Charlo.

A real good weekend of fights that only get better from here. With Errol Spence taking Yordenis Ugas the week after, Tyson Fury faces Dillian Whyte. At the end of the month, Katie Taylor faces Amanda Serrano. This is just the beginning of some outstanding fights coming down the road. I've been joking during the pandemic that we would see more tune-up fights than Firestone.

For the time being, it looks like the auto shop is closed. Let's go!

You can follow Marquis Johns on Twitter @weaksauceradio .