By Eric Thomas: #1 ranked WBC middleweight contender Marco Antonio Rubio (51-5-1, 44 KO’s) fights an easy stay busy fight tonight against Ghanian Mohammad Akrong (13-3, 10 KO’s) in a 12 round bout for the interim WBC Latino middleweight title at the Centro de Convenciones, San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Forget about the paper title, this is a mismatch.
Akrong, 28, is utterly inexperienced and has fought nothing but C level opponents his entire eight-year pro career. His last six opponents have had the following records: 0-3, 0-4, 2-4, 0-2, 0-2, and 0-3. That’s not a good sign if you’re a boxing fan hoping to see a competitive fight. Rubio is taking an easy fight while waiting to see if WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will decide to fight him or try and buy some more time by taking other bouts.
Chavez Jr. fights Peter Manfredo Jr., the #5 ranked WBC contender, next in November. After that, who knows? It should be Rubio but you and I know that’s probably not going to happen. Rubio is likely going to have to plan on fighting stay busy bouts for some time while he waits for a title shot, and he may never get a crack at Chavez Jr. if he gets beaten or decides to vacate the title. I personally don’t see Rubio ever fighting Chavez Jr. His promoter will likely put him in with Miguel Cotto in an in house fight, and that will be it for Chavez Jr. as a champion.
Rubio, 31, defeated the highly hyped Canadian David Lemieux last April by a 7th round TKO. That was a very important fight for Rubio, because a lot of boxing fans thought Lemieux would walk right through Rubio with ease. Instead, Rubio took Lemieux’s best shots for five rounds and then came on to hurt him in the 6th and then put him away in the 7th with power shots. Rubio’s experience and power showed in that fight. He followed that bout with a 3rd round TKO over Ricardo Marcelo Ramallo last June. That was an easy fight for Rubio, and not a worthy opponent for him. However, he’s in the standby mode right now, waiting to get a title shot. He’s not going to take any risky fights and potentially blow his title.
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