Novice fighter Jon-Lewis Dickinson (23) has won Prizefighter: The Cruiserweights 2. Dickinson scored a decision over Leon Williams in the quarter finals, and then went on to knock out Mark Krence and Nick Okoth in the semis and final respectively.

The tournament was being sold very much as the Herbie Hide show. Hide, a two time former WBO heavyweight champion, was the biggest star to ever compete in the series and was a runaway favourite with the bookmakers. However, he was cut by a clash of heads during his quarter final with Wayne Brooks. Hide went on to win the bout, and was cleared by doctors to continue on in the next round, but felt it wise to remove himself from the competition. It’s a decision which no doubt raised the ire of many gamblers, but it was probably the right move from a buisness perspective. Hide is highly ranked by the WBC (whose title is currently vacant) and didn’t want to put that position in jeopardy by fighting on injured. He was replaced by journeyman Nick Okoth. It marked the first time in Prizefighter history that an alternate had to be brought in to the tournament.
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It’s a fight that’s been years in the making. It’s also a fight that was put together because the “bigger fight” wasn’t. But just because Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather couldn’t agree on drug testing issues, doesn’t mean that Mayweather and Mosley is a second rate fight. In fact, it’s a grade A fight. And it will probably do the biggest buyrate of any MMA, pro wrestling, or boxing event this year.

We have a great panel of boxing writers and fans who have given me their predictions to publish in our preview.

Here is the panel:

Bill Dwyre – Bill is a columnist for the LA Times and a great boxing writer. You can read him at the LA Times.
Kevin Iole – Kevin writes for Yahoo! Sports and is one of the few writers who writes as equally well about boxing as he does about MMA. Read him by clicking his Yahoo! Sports page. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @KevinI as well.
Steve Bunce – Steve is the UK’s best known boxing correspondent and host of BBC London’s boxing hour radio show. He has also just released an excellent boxing based novel titled “The Fixer” which is available for purchase at Amazon UK.
Tim Starks – Tim writes the fantastic boxing blog The Queensberry Rules.
Mike Sempervive – Mike is the co-host of both “The Adam And Mike Show” and “Wrestling Observer Live” which are Internet radio shows on F4W/Wrestling Observer.
Kaelan Hollon – Kaelan is a female boxer whose words hit just as hard as her fists. Read her A Girl’s Guide To Violence blog and follow her on Twitter @hillbillyboxer.
Jake Emen – Jake is a self described boxing fanatic who is the editor of Pro Boxing Fans.
Rob Kelly – Rob is a rap artist and lifetime boxing fan. He has performed the ring walk music for several of Ireland’s top pro fighters. You can read him here.
Peter H. – Peter H. is our favorite Canadian and contributor to AngryMarks. You can also follow him on Twitter @peterh1.
Duan Greally – Duan is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
Alan Counihan – Alan is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
Cactus Jim – Jim is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
Robert Lashley – Rob (aka Brotherman) is a writer for Fight Game Blog.
GG – That would be me, editor of Fight Game Blog.

Bill Dwyre – Mosley by 10th round TKO
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Kaelan Hollon, friend of FGB, has given me permission to publish her poetic words.

Here’s her preview of this weekend’s super fight, Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley:

Physically, it’s merely a larger mallet on the club which separates the two fighters. Both Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather mirror each other in nearly every measurement; identically toned, a matching wingspan, perhaps a half inch of difference in the shape of one’s bicep, another’s thigh. Until you glance down and realize that Sugar has strapped on a side of beef to his wrists which results in an extra 6” total of girth over Mayweather’s comparatively kittenish maws. And does it matter? It would make for a glorious knockout, and those powerful hands are a testament to Mosley’s fighting style. In terms of physics, the force of Mosley’s punch will be spread over a greater surface – consider a pin hammer hitting you with the same force of a sledgehammer, and you’ll get my drift. But those great ham hocks strapped into pristine leather gloves will first have to find what is proving to be one of the hardest targets in boxing.

But will those hands, that unbroken record, matter? Has the pressure of remaining unbeaten started to eat at Mayweather, as he enters the august of his career? Has Mosley’s time off and personal battles been irreparable? Will the fight go to decision as nearly everyone with a fighting man’s brain cell suggests, or will we sit through those twelve rounds waiting like children for a great Santa Claus of a knockout, for the burst of a great man falling against the mat?

Both applause and curtsies are due to HBO for rejuvenating the hyperbole and drama surrounding boxing, for of late no MMA title matches can compare to Mayweather’s commanding PPV presence. And while Mayweather is nearly universally agreed upon to be a better boxer, Mosley has within him a motivation unlike his rival. In the words of Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, “I wanted to destroy something beautiful I’d never have.” For Mosely, that would be Mayweather’s perfect record. And that’s a powerful motivation, indeed.

I’ll go with Bert Sugar’s prediction for Mosley by decision.

This should be pretty damn good.

In the first major bout of a huge weekend for Boxing, the worlds number one bantamweight Hozumi Hasegawa (28-3) was just stopped in the forth round by Mexico’s Fernando Montiel (41-2-2).

Hasegawa started out strong, and was dominating the fight up until getting caught with a couple of huge hooks in the forth. He slumped back against the ropes, and Montiel was quick to follow up unloading with shot after shot until the ref called a halt to the action awarding him the TKO. Montiel now adds Hasegawa’s WBC belt to his own WBO title.
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Minority Report is trying to figure out who could be the wild card. With Rich’s spot open and the one wild card spot open they’re looking at two guys who already lost to take those spots.

Tito looks like a mastermind picking the next fight. Well, a mastermind with a humongous head. He chooses Kris McCray vs. Josh Bryant. He wanted to choose a fight in which he thought his guy could shut the other guy down.

Josh says he’s 11-0. Chuck says he’s an interesting guy, but he’s tough. He said Josh was happy cutting weight and he’s never seen someone like that before while cutting weight.

Kris says he’s 5-0 in a pro and his last few fights ended in 39 seconds.

Clayton McKinney had to have surgery on his shoulder, so it doesn’t look like he was BSing. And why did his doctor tell him it was a bone bruise?

Chuck’s going to miss the fight again. Josh says he isn’t nervous and thinks the fight is very winnable.

Josh Bryant vs. Kris McCray

McCray says not to change the channel. That means this is going to be boring.

It was a slow motion grappling match early on. Bryant looks tired and maybe it’s from his weight cutting. He was dead-weighting McCray on his takedown attempts so even when he did get him down, it was in slow motion. Bryant turned him over on one and tried to get a rear naked choke. Mostly McCray’s round.

Bryant won this round easily. He was first with the strikes and hit McCray well a few times. But like McCray, his grappling was pretty pedestrian. He worked off his back for a lot of the second half of the round and held his own, but it was mostly because McCray didn’t try to do anything. He hung out in Bryant’s loose guard and just threw punches, but in doing so, was getting hit even more. Weird strategy.

There will be a third round. For the first three minutes, it was pathetic. Just two tired guys against the cage. One guy trying half-heartedly to take the other guy down. The other guy just not moving so he doesn’t get taken down. Then, McCray tries another takedown, gets stuffed, and Bryant ends up on top. He manuevers him into a sick rear naked where he pulls McCray down with him on his back and McCray’s legs are pinned underneath the both of him, like he’s stretching out both quads. If both guys aren’t sweaty, Bryant secures it and it’s over. But he can’t get it. Right as the round ends, he’s about to secure an armbar. McCray is saved by the bell.

Bryant’s fight all the way.

Winner: Josh Bryant by way of unanimous decision

Tito says that Chuck’s lucky. Next week, Chuck and Tito play dodge ball.