By Kurt Ward

Stephen Espinoza, head of boxing at Showtime, was not very happy at the start of the week after seeing Mexican star Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, 44-1-1 (31 KOs), depart Showtime and cross the street to rival network HBO. Canelo's rumoured first fight back on HBO after a two year absence will be Joshua Clottey.

In speaking to Rick Reeno of krikya360.com, Espinoza said: "We didn't view Clottey as a credible opponent."

This is the man who green lit mismatches like Danny Garcia-Rod Salka, Lamont Peterson-Edgar Santana, Danny Jacobs-Jarrod Fletcher, Andre Berto-Steve Upsher Chambers, Leo Santa Cruz-Manuel Roman and Peter Quillin-Lukas Konecny. Would anyone view these fighters as credible opponents? In fact, did the opponents win a round combined?

Simply put, there isn't much quality control under Espinoza at Showtime, I find it comical that Joshua Clottey wouldn't be viewed as a credible opponent. I mean, take a look at next week, for example, where we have the boxing extravaganza that is Chad Dawson taking on Tommy Karpency.

I wonder if Clottey would be viewed as a credible opponent if the red-haired Mexican star had signed with Al Haymon?

After the fight being announced and tickets being sold, a press conference was scheduled for Billy Joe Saunders, 20-0 (11) and Chris Eubank Jr., 17-0 (12 early). Sadly for fans, Eubank never showed and promoter Frank Warren revealed that Eubank hadn’t actually signed the contract for the fight [Editor’s note: But there are rumblings that it will be signed off in the coming week].

The card from the ExCel Arena in London is still a very good card—it is headlined by the rematch between Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora—but fans shouldn't be feeling like they have been lied to.

Paul Smith, 35-4 (20), put up a wonderful performance against Arthur Abraham, 41-4 (28), in Germany on Saturday. It was an entertaining scrap which has sadly been marred by the terrible judging in the fight. Fernando Laguna, of Spain, only gave Smith one round in a fight many saw as close. I personally had Abraham shading it 115-113.

Interesting news came from Mexico in the last few days where the presidents of the WBA, IBF AND WBC met. According to the WBA website, the meeting was for: '[t]he well-being of boxing, a commitment to make things better.'

One issue discussed was the commitment in 2015 in having a single champion in each division. The WBA currently recognises 39 men (Yes, thirty-nine) fighters as holding either a 'Super,' 'Regular,' or 'Interim' version of their title. A single world champion in each division? Yeah, good luck with that.

Will anyone fight Guillermo Rigondeaux, 14-0 (9)? Chris Avalos, 24-2 (18), is the latest in a long line of men who don't want to step inside the ring with the brilliant Cuban. To make matters worse, Avalos was mandatory challenger for one of Rigondeaux's titles. It's a sad state of affairs when boxers don't want to face the best. But, as mentioned earlier in this article, with the amount of 'world titles' on offer, you no longer need to face the best to call yourself a champion.

2009 world amateur boxing champion Artur Beterbiev, 6-0 (6 by KO) only turned pro last year but he is getting some serious attention from boxing fans the world over after his latest impressive demolition. The Russian amateur star, now residing in Montreal, had only gone 11 rounds in his previous five bouts due to his explosive power, before his handlers decided to throw him in deep with former title-holder Tavoris Cloud, 24-3 (19).

This was expected to be a big test for the Russian against a man coming off losing efforts with Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson. It turned out to be a test of the easiest kind as Cloud was dropped four times in two brutal, one-sided rounds. Beterbiev looks a future star and is an excellent addition to the light heavyweight division.

Catch Kurt and his fellow panellists live on the Nuthouse boxing podcast every Sunday at 8.30pm BST/3.30pm EST 

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