This Friday night sees two fighters coming back from long breaks as former Super Six contenders Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell co-headline a card at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California to be aired live on Showtime. Taylor, not having fought for more than two years, wins the prize for longest inactivity but Dirrell himself hasn’t stepped between the ropes for 21 months so both will be hoping for a smooth transition back into the sport. Luckily for them opponents Jessie Nicklow and Darryl Cunningham appear hand-picked for the occasion.

Dirrell (19-1, 13KO’s) has the tougher test of the two, and that’s to be expected. Although a head injury has kept him out of the ring after suffering a concussion when taking an illegal blow in his winning fight with Arthur Abraham in March 2010, big things are still expected of the Flint, Michigan fighter.

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Khan (left) isn't worried about conceding hometown advantage to Peterson

When Lamont Peterson (29-1-1, 15KO’s) steps into the ring on Saturday night at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C to challenge England’s WBA/IBF light-welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18KO’s) he will do so in front of his own fans in his own city, but will hometown advantage be enough for him to do the unexpected and defeat Khan? The short answer is no, not likely.

Bernard Hopkins has this week been speaking about the benefit of boxing at home, and it is true that having an entire crowd in the corner during a fight can uplift a fighter when he needs it most, but the truth is, the crowd can only do so much. They can’t step into the ring and trade blows with Khan, they can’t lift Peterson up off the canvas when he needs to beat the count, but one thing they can, and often do, is influence the scoring judges at ringside.

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If this weekend’s double-header of rematches had a theme it would be Justice vs. Redemption

If this weekend’s double-header of rematches had a theme it would be Justice vs. Redemption.

Both pairings feature fighters in search of justice for what they feel were unfair losses against opponents who seek to clear their names with definitive victories.

The Golden Child of Golden Boy, Abner Mares (22-0-1, 13 KOs) is the first fighter that the powerhouse promotional firm has led from professional debut to world title win. However, what should have been his crowning moment of glory, was instead shrouded in controversy as his IBF title win over Joseph King Kong Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) featured literally dozens of unpenalized low-blows.

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Arce (right) is ready to win a title at a fifth different weight

The always exciting Jorge ‘Travieso’ Arce (58-6-2, 45KO’s) will make history and become the first Mexican to win a World title in five weight divisions should he defeat Indonesian opponent Angky Angkotta (25-5, 14KO’s) in their bout for the vacant WBO bantamweight title in the headliner of a card being held at the Plaza de Toros Rea in Sinaloa, Mexico this Saturday night.

Arce, who vacated his WBO super-bantamweight title to drop down in weight, has already defeated Angkotta once, via a seventh-round technical decision in Jan 2010, after Angkotta suffered a cut to his right eye following a head clash. Arce was outraged when questions were raised over whether he deserved the decision, especially when they came from Angkotta’s camp, and seems ready to make amends.

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Alvarez (left) faces possibly his best opponent to date in Cintron

Flame-haired Mexican WBC light-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (38-0-1, 21KO’s) is, at just 21, one of the youngest champions in the sport today and this weekend faces possibly the toughest test of his career to date. Looking to upset the party and take Alvarez’s record will be Puerto Rican former two-time welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (33-4-1, 28KO’s) when the pair clash at a bull ring in Mexico City on Saturday night.

Even though he’s only 21 this will be Alvarez’s 40th fight so you couldn’t call him inexperienced, but the youngster has not yet faced the kind of names you’d associate with a World champion who’s pushing for pound-for-pound honors. The fact that he’s held in such high regard says more about how he’s beaten his foes than who he has beaten. Although Alvarez has a few recognizable names on the record, such as Carlos Baldomir and Alfonso Gomez, it’s the way he fights that gets people so excited.

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Chavez Jr (left) and Manfredo pose for the cameras at the final press conference

Newly crowned WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1, 30KO’s) has promised to put on a great show against Peter Manfredo (37-6, 20KO’s) on Saturday night at the Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas and in truth will be expected to. Having won his title against Germany’s Sebastian Zbik last time out, this will be Chavez’s coming out party and Manfredo looks highly unlikely to spoil it.

“Once you become world champion, you accept the responsibility of training hard and getting better,” Chavez said.

“I want to be champion for a long time. I’ve never trained this hard for a fight. I want to give the people of Houston a great fight.”

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Fury (right) and Pajkic at today's weigh-in in Manchester

It’s the most often repeated mistake in boxing. Fighter’s who are on a roll tend to look past certain fights if they have their eyes on bigger things, and many of them have paid dearly for it. 6’9″ British heavyweight Tyson Fury (16-0, 11KO’s) is already talking about facing the Klitschko’s before he has even fought Canada’s undefeated Neven Pajkic (16-0, 5KO’s) on Saturday in Manchester, and the up’n'coming prospect should be careful not to fall into the same trap. Fortunately for him the only thing impressive about Pajkic is his record.

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Pacquiao (left) and Marquez will complete a famous trilogy on Saturday

Five-time, three-weight World champion Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39KO’s) could be forgiven for resting on his laurels and looking back at a career well done, but instead, this Saturday, faces the biggest test of his boxing life to date, against the great Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38KO’s), a man he has already fought twice before.

This trilogy will be remembered in the same vain as the great ones and is a fitting occasion following the death of Joe Frazier earlier this week, who of course delivered us possibly the greatest trilogy of all time against Muhammad Ali.

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Bradley (pictured at yesterday's final presser) had plenty to say for himself

Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11KO’s) was all fired up as he faced reporters in the final press conference ahead of defending his WBO junior-welterweight title on Saturday in the chief-supporting bout to Pacquiao-Marquez III in Las Vegas. Opponent, Cuban veteran Joel Casamayor (38-5-1, 22KO’s), wasn’t exactly helping matters either.

As Bradley began to speak Casamayor began shouting “Shut up!” every time the Californian opened his mouth. It didn’t take long for matters to take a turn for the worse and a slanging match ensued, with both men needing to be dragged away. The only effect it seemed to have on Bradley was to whip him into a frenzy, and he showed us a hunger that maybe we haven’t seen from him before.

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Burns (left) and Katsidis

Australia’s Michael ‘The Great’ Katsidis (28-4, 23KO’s) has never done things the easy way, and once again travels half way around the World to fight, this time to face Scotland’s Ricky Burns (32-2, 9KO’s) at the Wembley Arena in London on Saturday night in a bout to decide the WBO interim lightweight championship.

Katsidis has already challenged for the title twice in his last three fights, and despite losing in both finds himself once again with an opportunity to take home the title he has already held twice before. The problem with Katsidis is that when he comes up against the very best he usually comes out on the losing side, often gallantly.

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Bute (left) and Johnson will put aside their friendship for twelve rounds on Saturday

Undefeated Canadian IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24KO’s) has been a World champion for four years now with eight successive title defences under his belt, but the Quebec fighter has yet to truly make his name on the international stage, despite his obvious talents.

On Saturday night at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City Bute will face arguably the biggest name opponent of his career to date, defending his title against former light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35KO’s). Ironically the pair have sparred regularly for the past two years and have become good friends, but as Johnson points out, sparring and fighting are not the same thing.

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Erik Morales couldn't honor his retirement and fights yet again tonight

Former three-weight World champion and sure-fire future hall of famer Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales (50-6, 35KO’s) returns to the ring tonight in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico for his third fight following his comeback from retirement. In the other corner stands Dominican tough guy Francisco Lorenzo (35-8, 16KO’s), and represents the most difficult challenge Morales has faced since losing for the lightweight title to David Diaz in 2007.

That loss to Diaz was Morales’ fourth consecutive defeat and was the reason he retired, but almost three years later Morales returned to the ring, unable to resist the call of the crowd one more time. Morales is only 34, which although for a lighter weight fighter is fairly old seems much younger than Morales should be. The reason being of course is that Morales has been fighting at the very top level since he was 20 years old.

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Huck (right) and Lebedev at the weigh-in

Saturday night at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany comes a card promoted by Sauerland Event and the depth of talent on display is impressive. In the main event WBO cruiserweight champion and German favourite Marco ‘Kaptn’ Huck (30-1, 23KO’s) faces a potentially stern test against undefeated mandatory challenger Denis Lebedeev (21-0, 16KO’s) of Russia.

For Huck this could be his toughest fight since his first and only loss to Steve Cunningham (TKO12) in 2007. Huck bounced back well from the defeat, his first challenge for a World title, by picking up the European title then taking the WBO version with a twelve-round decision over then champion Victor Emilio Ramirez. Four successful defences later, including a unanimous decision over Ola Afolabi, Huck has redeemed himself as a genuine World level operator but against Lebedeev could be facing his toughest opponent since Cunningham, although Huck does acknowledge this.

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Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs) will attempt to defy father time once again tomorrow night as he challenges Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KOs) for his WBC/IBO light heavyweight titles.

Hopkins became the IBO light heavyweight champion in 2006 when he defeated Antonio Tarver by unanimous decision. The fight was lopsided and was one of the best of Hopkins’ career – a career that spans over two decades and more than 20 title defenses.

Hopkins ability to not only just compete but in some instances dominate current champions and world-class opposition is staggering and just when you count him out he proves you wrong, it’s what he does best. Hopkins has said before that without the naysayers he wouldn’t be where he was today, that and extreme hard work and dedication to his craft has made Hopkins one of the greatest fighters of his generation.

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IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud

Until August of this year, many people said that Tavoris Cloud 21-0 (18) had yet to be tested despite being the IBF light heavyweight champion and beating the veterans Julio Cesar Gonzalez and Clinton Woods.

However when he outpointed Glen Johnson in his last fight, Cloud proved he can fight and could possibly be the best light heavyweight in the World. Tomorrow night in Miami, he defends his title for the second time against the Columbian Fulgencio Zuniga 24-4-1 (21) in what looks like a routine defence.

Zuniga is like many Columbians in that he can punch very hard but is crude. He started off his career down at middleweight but a fourth round stoppage loss to Lucian Bute in an IBF super middleweight challenge does not bode well for his chin against a big puncher like Cloud at light heavyweight.

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