ESPN2 SERVES UP CRUISERWEIGHT CLASH By George Elsasser

Tonite, ESPN2 offers up a Wayne Braithwaite - Ravea Springs squabble for the WBC cruiserweight bauble currently held by Braithwaite - and please, don’t ask me what I know about either gladiator … I haven’t a clue.

Fact is, when I hear cruiserweights, two names comes to mind … Vassiliy Jirov and James Toney … as in IBF champ Jirov and number one rated contender Toney - and ask me if they are the only two guys doing biz at 190 I’d have to cop a plea in the form of a "probably."

I mean, truth be known, when first hearing about this one, I thought it concerned a German dish of sauerbraten in some resort town of Ravea Springs … and of course, I was wrong.

So what we get is Braithwaite at 18-0 with fifteen via the knockout route and challenger Springs at 25-2 with 19 whacks … and on paper it sure translates to bombs away - a blind stab in the dark says we just may witness another one of them "upsets" - right or wrong, we should get a read on both guys when the night's work is finished.

A brief bit of research on cruiserweights circa 2003 revealed one other "champion" … French fighter named Jean-Marc Mormeck as WBA leader of the pack … resumé reads 28 wins, 20 knockouts and two surrenders.

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