Views From The Couch With Marquis: ProBox, Janibek, Lemieux & More

It’s been a moment since I had a chance to be stationery to watch some fights and had this whole weekend to catch what I thought was a lot of business as usual fights across the board. Like the present, there is no time to walk back and run down what happened in the sweet science.

Did You Check Out ProBox TV?

This past Friday was the start of the subscription launch of ProBox TV, which has been airing cards out of Plant City, FL. The cost behind these cards is $1.99 or $18 yearly pay-wall, and this is the card that had the best action on it over the weekend from the boxing that I’ve watched. That isn’t saying much cause, well, the action this past weekend was pretty substandard for the most part. The main event of this ProBox card had Jean Pascal back in the ring and victorious over former title challenger Fanlong Meng by unanimous decision after an over two-plus year layoff.

KO SHOW!! 🔥📺@KendoTremendo Castaneda steals the show last night with a knockout of the year contender 🥊

Tremendous moves on to the semi finals in our last chance tournament where he will face Joe Fernandez 👊#probox #mengpascal #boxeo #boxeomexicano #boxeoprofesional pic.twitter.com/9g7ocnAxHA

— ProBox TV (@ProBox_TV) May 21, 2022

The broadcast, despite calling Plant City “Tampa, Florida,” at least moved along quickly as the periods of non-boxing action were quicker than most. Is it because they want to get out of Plant City for fear of the Wolfman or “Florida Woman” emerging at night? I don’t care as long as it keeps these shows moving. They promise to provide “2 to 3 live events per month including 1 Last Chance Tournament event” and “each week our founders will come to the ProBox TV studios where they’ll produce a variety of original content including podcasts, talk shows, and in the gym content.” The Last Chance Tournament started on this broadcast and has an exciting quarterfinal set up down the line of 50-50 matchups.

ROY JONES JR DISCUSSES BOXINGS SANCTIONING BODIES 🌎🌎🌎🌎

Head over to https://t.co/6khI6MTfm5 to see full breakdowns on Gilberto Ramirez vs Dimitry Bivol and the fall out on Canelo Bivol presented by boxing legends @RealRoyJonesJr @AntonioTarver & @PaulMalignaggi pic.twitter.com/k0DC7P4Rga

— ProBox TV (@ProBox_TV) May 22, 2022

If you like the takes of Roy Jones Jr, Juan Manuel Marquez, Antonio Tarver, and Paul Malignaggi, then this is for you. I just saved some loose change and didn’t “go large” at McDonald’s last week to sign for the service. This app wasn’t bad for eight quarters, but we’ll see who pays like anything else in boxing to keep it going.

Just stop calling Plant City, Tampa. Noone is that lost geographically in 2022.

Biggest Takeaway from this weekend’s fights? Time’s up.

Father Time may need a second look here despite not being in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, as he won the weekend for his work. We’ve written how David Lemieux should hang it up after getting outmatched Saturday night. Everyone saw this coming in, and it was only a matter of when not if, in the main event from Glendale against David Benavidez. Benavidez has faced Lemieux, Kyron Davis, and Ronald Ellis in his last three fights. Here’s to hoping he gets an opponent on his level next time out. His manager, Sampson Lewkowicz, hinted at the Top PBC names at 168 in Caleb Plant and David Morrell next time out for the “interim” WBC super-middleweight champion. Here’s hoping it is.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime

Another one that Father Time tapped was former WBO jr. lightweight champion Jamel Herring. Herring was looking to make one last run at lightweight but ran into Jamaine Ortiz, who had other plans, winning unanimously after ten rounds. At the end of the fight, Herring thanked everyone in the ring and posted on social that he was done shortly after. An excellent run for “Semper Fi,” who had that WBO belt for over two years before being stopped by Shakur Stevenson last October in Atlanta. On to the next phase for Herring, who has been making numerous broadcast appearances calling fights during this pandemic.

I love this sport, but I owe it to my family to quit putting them through these moments. Thank you all, whether you were with or against me, you made me who I am, but it’s time. Semper Fi, salute 🫡

— Jamel Herring (@JamelHerring) May 22, 2022

Chris Colbert Got What He Wanted…I think.

The last time we saw Chris Colbert in the ring was getting beaten by late-replacement Hector Luis Garcia back in February. But that was months ago, and Colbert decided to make a statement on social and advised Herring to “stick to his military service instead of boxing,” following Herring’s loss to Ortiz.

You need to stick to your military service instead of boxing @JamelHerring

— CHRIS “PrimeTime” Colbert (@_Primetime718) May 22, 2022

I’m not in the head of Colbert, but this was the best time to fire off something like this. The only problem with it, as he found out that the attention by telling a dedicated and well-liked Marine to “get out” is that cheap heel clap back comes at a minimum of getting “rato’d,” as the kids say. Well, that thread is full of it. I think Colbert just wanted the attention, and while not everyone likes Herring, the timing just made Colbert come off as an asshole, and to the shock of zero, no one likes an asshole. All eyes are on what Colbert does next in the ring. I hope it backs this up, but he picked his spot for sure Saturday night.

What I Like To See After This Past Weekend

There is lots of stay-busy action this weekend, so I don’t have my favorite fight of the weekend. I liked the punch that Janibek Alimkhanuly landed on outmatched Danny Dignum, ending the night out of Las Vegas. Dignum didn’t see it coming, but it begs to ask a real serious question as Alimkhanuly. Who is realistically next?

.@QazaqStyle had the ultimate walk-off last night 👏 pic.twitter.com/2Hr5suZJr0

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 22, 2022

As Alimkhanuly waits on Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade to drop the WBO belt, the list of opposition isn’t good, and Dignum was the highest-rated contender and didn’t win one step in this contest. Here’s to “Qazaq Style” getting a live body at 160. Maybe a moment for that.

Joshua Buatsi got by Craig Richards in a fight I thought he made harder than it had to be. I don’t think he’s ready for any of the top names at 175, but he’s almost there.

Alen Babic was in action on that card before Buatsi, and he’s a real-life video game. He starts off mashing buttons on turbo and knows a few moves. That’s about it, and that is what got him to survive his latest contest; Adam Balski. He captures the “Silver” WBC bridgerweight title with this win, and we now have a men’s weight class with thinner talent-wise than the women’s.

You can follow Marquis Johns on Twitter @weaksauceradio .