Jason Karp brings you this week's edition of One More Round.

Last Saturday's edition of HBO Championship Boxing was modern pugilism at its most presentable; indeed, stripped of its as-of-late requisite levels of corruption, incompetence, and shortsightedness, the card represented boxing's strongest attempt of the year at disguising itself as a properly functioning sport.

Marquez - Katsidis

Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis anchored the evening with a contest that, while not quite deserving of the label of classic, nonetheless easily placed it amongst 2010's top offerings.

While the bout more than made the grade in most of the token categories deemed necessary for what might be considered a great fight – frantic exchanges, shifts in momentum, an exciting conclusion – the affair was weighed down by a sense of inevitability, a sense that, in the end, proved itself to be well founded.

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Dave Oakes takes a look at all the action coming your way this weekend.

In this edition of One More Round I’m going to start by taking a look at the two main world title fights that are happening this weekend - Carl Froch v Arthur Abraham and Juan Manuel Marquez v Michael Katsidis, plus a quick look at three more title fights –, Andre Berto v Freddy Hernandez, Andre Ward v Sakio Bika and Miguel Vasquez v Ricardo Dominguez.

Carl Froch vs Arthur Abraham

Froch v Abraham is taking place at the Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland - both fighters not wanting to fight in the others backyard, especially Froch who claims hometown judging in his fight against Mikkel Kessler cost him his title and undefeated record last time out.

I disagree with Froch’s statement about the Kesser decision. I thought the fight was closer than the judges scored it but still thought Kessler had done enough to get the decision. I do believe Froch’s preparations were far from ideal though - the way he uncharacteristically ran out of steam in the later rounds providing evidence to that theory.

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Mark Lyons is back with this week's edition of One More Round.

It's been quite a while since my last column. I've had some personal stuff to attend to and let's face it... there really hasn't been much to talk about lately. That all changes this month in what has the potential to be a November to remember for boxing fans. There are big time fights every weekend and while they won't all be thrilling, it sure is nice to be excited about what's on tap after such a dull October.

I'll be taking a look at what's coming up over the next two weekends in this edition, before moving on to the final two November weekends in next week's OMR.

I'll start with my thoughts on next Saturday's Pacquiao vs Margarito PPV show, before getting to this weekend's Showtime and HBO cards.  As always, drop me an e-mail or comment if you want to debate any of this...

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Dave Oakes of The Boxing Bulletin's British Scene brings you this week's edition of One More Round.

Rendall Munroe left the Ryogoku Kokugikan in tears on Saturday night after losing a wide points decision to Toshiaki Nishioka. Munroe shouldn’t feel too downhearted though; he put in a courageous effort and impressed everyone watching by battling all the way to the final bell despite taking some vicious shots to both body and head.

The boxing binman still has plenty to offer, he’s a fresh 30 year old who has proven he deserves another crack at a world title. A fight against Steve Molitor would undoubtedly provide him with the greatest opportunity of winning a world title. Molitor, despite being the same age as Munroe, looks to be a fighter in decline and has struggled to recapture his best form since losing to Celestino Caballero a couple of years ago. He’s there for the taking and I hope Munroe gets the chance before another top super-bantam does.

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Dave Oakes of The Boxing Bulletin's British Scene brings you this week's edition of One More Round.

After the lacklustre Prizefighter tournament last Saturday, which was won by Michael Sprott, I’ve begun to wonder whether we’ve seen the best of the innovative show.

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the Prizefighter tournament. I’ve never considered the tournament to be a true reflection of what championship boxing is like, but my initial scepticism was subsided by the exciting nature of the first tournament – which was won by Martin Rogan.

That first tournament made me appreciate Prizefighter for what was rather than what it isn’t. The noise in the York Hall was electric, the fans were on their feet by the end and everyone agreed that the event was a major success.

The tournament has undoubtedly brought new fans / potential fans to the sport, and that can only be a good thing, but just recently the tournament has had more boring fights than exciting ones - the only exception being June’s super-middleweight tournament, which was fun to watch until a rather tepid final.

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Dave Oakes of The Boxing Bulletin's British Scene brings you this week's edition of One More Round.

Good things come to those who wait – and Stephen Foster Jnr must surely agree with that. The Salford super-feather claimed the European title last Saturday after stopping Armenian knockout artist Leva Kirakosyan in the third round.

Foster started cautiously before picking up the pace in the second and heavily dropping the champion in the third – a beautifully timed left hook sending Kirakosyan crashing to the canvas. The referee waved the fight over with Kirakosyan on unsteady legs and in no fit state to carry on.

The win will give Foster’s career a much needed boost. He’s suffered through inactivity in the past, hopefully he’ll be able to make a few defences of his European title in the next twelve months, and if everything goes to plan, chase a world title shortly afterwards. Although, I’m sure he’d jump at the chance of an immediate fight with Ricky Burns for the Scotsman’s WBO belt.

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Michael Nelson brings you this week's edition of One More round.

Despite boxing's struggles in 2010, the last three weeks have been quietly excellent. We had Giovanni Segura's dramatic knockout victory over pound-for-pound stalwart Ivan Calderon on August 28th, a fight of the year candidate between Ricky Burns and Roman Martinez the following Saturday, and a very solid HBO Boxing After Dark card last Saturday.

Problem is, those outside of the hardcore contingent probably haven't seen any of those fights. Instead, they're seeing frequent ESPN news flashes about Floyd Mayweather's antics outside of the ring. How's that campaign to clean up boxing going, Floyd?

Nevertheless, if they tuned in Saturday night, they got a taste of what makes the sport great. Brandon Rios likely earned more HBO dates by beating the favored Anthony Peterson into submission in an exciting affair. Peterson - consciously or subconsciously - called it a day by turning into Andrew Golota as he wilted under an avalanche of uppercuts and body blows. Fortunately, referee Russel Mora recognized quickly that the young man wanted out of the fight, and didn't let his torrent of low blows continue past a few rounds.

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Jason Karp brings you this week's edition of One More Round.

While many commentators have stopped short of condoning Top Rank's decision to grant Antonio Margarito a date with one of the sport's two most lucrative names, they have nonetheless called for restraint over what has, up until now, been widespread condemnation of the November 13 fight. Their reasons are varied: the double standard that is the public's closed-book judgement of Margarito, compared to its white-washing forgiveness of other boxers with records of cheating, such as Shane Mosley; the common practice of granting fighters opportunities they don't necessarily deserve; and the inability of fans to come to terms with an officially binding, if not altogether satisfying, decision on the part of the Texas Athletic Commission.

Where these arguments fall short is in their inability to view the fight, not merely in the context of boxing's economy or the sport's record of standard practice, but in the context of one of the sport's last remaining sources of integrity – its history. Arguments can be made either way regarding the morality or lack-thereof of granting Margarito a fight with Manny Pacquiao. What can't be argued, however, is that Pacquiao, based on his current resume and standard of performance, is on the verge of breaking into territory occupied only by the giants of the sport's past.

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