By Sean Waisglass: Junior welterweight Herman Ngoudjo's run on the fast track is getting pushed into an even higher gear Saturday when he takes a gigantic leap up in class to face perennial gatekeeper/fringe contender Emanuel Augustus, 31-24-6 at the Montreal Casino, in Quebec.

By Sean Waisglass: You likely haven't read much mention of Roy Jones Jr. in James Toney's interviews leading up to his Saturday night bout with Dominic Guinn.

By By Sean Waisglass: The parallels between former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko are eerie. The two men, similar in size, style and stature, each won Super Heavyweight Gold medals as amateurs, and came up in the pro ranks as quietly confident multi-homed foreigners trying to make a name for themselves in a division that favours Americans.

By Sean Waisglass: There's much talk about how the winner of tonight's marquee heavyweight bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter will claim the title of "Heavyweight Hope" - a man 200 pounds-plus who'll pull the sport's most glamorous division out of the muddle and back into the spotlight.

By Sean Waisglass: There's a new super middleweight in town...

ALCINE KNOCKING ON JR MIDDLE'S TOP TEN DOOR
By Sean Waisglass: While the rest of the upper tier of the 154 pounders have been getting their fistic talents showcased on high profile U.S.-based broadcasts by the likes of HBO, Showtime and ESPN over the past couple of years, dark horse candidate Joachim Alcine has been quietly galloping along on the outside, plying his trade on French Canadian television.

By Sean Waisglass: It's tough securing quality matches when you're a southpaw. The same goes for when you're undefeated. But when you're an undefeated southpaw from Canada with little name recognition, it can be downright miserable.

By Sean Waisglass: Shamed Canadian heavyweight contender Kirk Johnson returns to the ring tonight (Thursday) to try once more to erase the memory of a high profile failure.

Cruiserweight "Cowboy" Dale Brown, 33-3-1 (21), will attempt to cross the threshold tonight on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights (broadcast from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida) and finally win a world title.

Exclusive interview by Sean Waisglass: Heavyweight contender Joe Mesi will go in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission today (Monday) and plead the case that he should be allowed to continue boxing despite suffering bleeding on the brain in his last fight.