Anthony Dirrell vs. Renan St. Juste- Anthony Dirrell by KO
Chris Avalos vs. Jhonatan Romero- Chris Avalos by KO
Alexander Povetkin vs. Cedric Boswell- Alexander Povetkin by KO
Robert Helenius vs. Dereck Chisora- Robert Helenius by KO
Ryo Akaho vs. Toyoto Shiraishi- Ryo Akaho by KO
Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Roinet Caballero- Jhonny Gonzalez by KO
Prince Arron vs. Brian Rose- Prince Arron by KO
Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko II- Abner Mares by SD
Anselmo Moreno vs. Vic Darchinyan- Vic Darchinyan by KO
Antonio Margarito vs Miguel Cotto II- Antonio Margarito by KO
Brandon Rios vs. John Murray- Brandon Rios by KO
Mike Jones vs. Sebastian Andres Lujan- Mike Jones by UD
Pawel Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez II- Delvin Rodriguez by UD
The biggest and best weekend of boxing this year. This weekend is a great way to close out the year. Just a terrific night of fights from all around the world. I’m a bit pressed for time, I can’t get to all the fights, just the big ones, so let’s get to it.
ShoBox on Friday, Anthony Dirrell, has looked great against the opposition he has faced. His opposition has been very, very poor though. But, he is fast, powerful, and he does have looks, the goods you look for in a prospect. His chin and heart are still in question, we really don’t know if he can take a punch well, and he hasn’t been pushed to the limit, yet. Hopefully, we’ll get an answer this Friday as his toughest test yet against Renan St. Juste. He’s an overlooked fighter because people look at his age of 39, and he’s in the same area as Lucian Bute. St. Juste is a live dog here, he’s much more experience, been in much better, and one of his two losses against Marcus Upshaw was quite controversial. St. Renan is tricky, expect a good fight and if it isn’t and Dirrell blows St. Renan out of the water, well, the 168 division is looking a bit stronger. I’m looking for a tough fight, a fight that Dirrell controls most of the way, though. Late rounds I expect St. Renan to start winning a couple here and there to make it close, but not enough.
Also, on the card is Chris Avalos and Jhonathan Romero. Avalos has been matched pretty well, was up ended last year, but has bounced back winning 3 straight. Romero is undefeated, but he has been matched very soft and doesn’t have the tools of a blue chip prospect, like what Dirrell is. Avalos will make it a tougher fight than what it is, because that’s in his DNA, but I like Avalos to stop Romero in a fun little mini type war.
Alexander Povetkin gets a soft defense of his “world title” in Cedric Boswell. This is nothing more than a tuneup fight really. Just a stay busy, look good type fight. Boswell is nothing more than a journeyman fighter, and if Povetkin is as good as what people think he is or hope he is, he should make pretty quick work out of Boswell.
Robert Helenius-Dereck Chisora is a good, interesting fight. If Chisora comes in, in shape, he’ll give Helenius a run for his money. Helenius quite a raw, uncoordinated fighter, but that power is very much for real. That is some raw, heavy duty power. If he lands an uppercut, BOOM! It’s pretty much game over. Chisora is a small heavyweight and the uppercut will be there for Helenius. I’d expect over the course of 12 rounds that Helenius will land that bomb and Chisora will be done. You know, Chisora does have some decent skills. He’s got a nice jab, good tool set, just a bit small and not enough pop in his punches. Chisora is a solid heavyweight, but I think Helenius is too big and that power is a killer. So, Helenius via stoppage.
Just quickly touch on all the other fights. Prospect Ryo Akaho, good prospect. Looking forward to watching that fight, I think he wins by stoppage. Jhonny Gonzalez-Roinet Caballero is an underground, fun fight of the weekend. You may take a quick look at boxrec and think Caballero will get stopped, and he might, but he’s not a chinny guy. He went the distance with Ponce De Leon, and most of his stoppages were when he was a teen. I think this has the potential to be a classic. Both can bang, I think Gonzalez wins though, he’s been on a roll, but I think it’s a much tougher fight than anticipated. And Prince Arron has turned into a solid boxer. A long, tall fighter with a stick for a jab. I’ll take him via late stoppage.
Now, it’s the 5 star fights of the weekend. Well, Vic Darchinyan-Anselmo Moreno might not be a 5 star fight, but it’s a pretty good fight nonetheless. I liek Darchinyan in this fight. I think Moreno is a good boxer, but his style isn’t crowd pleasing, and I don’t think it’s a style the judges will like. Darchinyan is a crowd pleaser, he comes to fight, and the judges like that. That’s definitely a factor, not only does Moreno not hit hard, but at his own game, I don’t think he can win. Moreno is a tall southpaw, and I think that Darchinyan left hand will land time and time again. So, I definitely like Darchinyan in this fight, either by stoppage or by decision. I like Darchinyan by stoppage though.
The main event is the highly controversial Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko. And last time I picked Mares by decision because I thought he would be able to control Agbeko with the jab. Agbeko has trouble getting passed the jab. Mares was doing that for the first round, but that knockdown really took him off his game and he really stopped throwing it from then on. He didn’t use it on a consistent basis. Agbeko, meanwhile, came in with the wrong gameplan. He tried to establish a left hook, negating his best punch, the straight right hand. It wasn’t until later he started to throw a little more frequently and had success. I think smart money is on a draw. I think both fighters will have their moments, no knockdowns, no controversy, and I think the judges will be influenced to may’be not completely screw over Agbeko, and at the same time not screw over Mares as well. I think were about due for a draw, but I guess other than that I’ll go with Mares by SD.
The PPV undercard is worth 60 bucks alone, the main event is just the cherry on top. The only real blow out on paper is Brandon Rios and John Murray. If Murray decides to come after Rios, it’ll look like Rios-Antillon all over again. If he plays it safe, which is sort of what he’s implied, then I guess he’ll get stopped a bit later in rounds 6, 7. And back to the Rios-Antillon fight, this fight pretty much is like that fight on paper. Everything Murray does, Rios does it better. This fight is pretty easy to call, I think, but hey, that’s why they fight in the ring and not on paper. May’be Murray will pull over a massive upset, but I’m not touching that. Rios by stoppage.
Delvin Rodriguez-Pawel Wolak waged in what probably is the Fight of the Year for this year. 30 minutes of action, and a big-massive lump on Wolak’s dome. What more could you have asked for? Well, I guess two more rounds, and well, we’ll get it this time. The rematch is scheduled for 12 rounds, and usually rematches aren’t as good as the first fight and I am leaning that this will be the case as well, but I think it still will be great. Wolak has said he’s going to be smarter about putting on the pressure, but what he did in the first fight is how he has to fight this fight. Rodriguez is bigger, taller, and just better boxing wise. If Wolak isn’t putting the pressure on and standing on the outside he’ll get picked apart for 12 rounds…or for a ton of rounds and then gets stopped in the late rounds. So, Wolak will have to put the pressure on for all 36 minutes. Either way though, Rodriguez wasn’t hurt in the first fight, I think in this fight the two extra rounds benefits Rodriguez and this go around he gets the decision this time. Keep in mind though, D-Rod has had stamina problems in the past, but he was looked to be in great shape against Wolak. Also, he was a bit rusty coming into the fight. He had a long layoff and I think that is part of the reason why he did start off slow-ish. And finally, he has been robbed in the past. Close fights, for some reason, he doesn’t get them. This go around though, I think the judges will do the right thing and give the win to the rightful winner. In this prediction, I think Rodriguez gets in done, a close, but clear Unanimous Decision.
Mike Jones is in for a tough, tough fight. Sebastian Lujan is a very game fighter. Mike Jones had issues with his first big step up fight against Jesus Soto-Karass. I think he has problems in another big step up fight against Lujan. Lujan is quite a frustrating fighter. He has his hands down, very relaxed, just bobs his head a round and he’s there to be hit, but he is quite tricky. Mike Jones I think has chin issues as well. He seems to be a fighter that has average punch resistance. Lujan will be testing that theory as well. Lujan will get some good shots in and we’ll see how Jones reacts. His stamina seems good, I don’t know of any fighter that would last the distance after throwing a 300 punch combo. And his heart was tested against Soto-Karass as well and he managed to survive. In those departments he is solid in, and skill wise he looks good. In the rematch with Soto-Karass he stayed on the outside and boxed the hell out of Soto-Karass. Good tools, good skill set, nice jab, good power. Very, very interested to seeing how this fight plays out though. If it goes the distance, which it probably will, and if it does Mike Jones will get the decision. So, I’ve got Mike Jones by UD, but I really hope he earns it and it isn’t a gift. I have a feeling though the judges will have to bail him out to keep his ‘0’. I think for 12 rounds it’ll be a fight where it could go either way, but Jones gets the nod.
The main event, everybody knows what it is. If you can’t get up for this fight, you need to go watch swimming or another sport. This is Mexico-Puerto Rico, Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto…the rematch. The first fight definitely was a “modern boxing CLASSIC!” But, over the years, a cloud as rolled by, and everybody knows what that’s about. No need to go into details about that, but these two have been through a lot over the past 3 years. Cotto has had a two wars with Joshua Clottey and Manny Pacquiao. Antonio Margarito had two beat downs against Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao. In those two fights he may have won a total of 3 rounds between the two fights. He was thrashed, in both fights getting knocked the (fill in the blank) out, and getting his face caved in. And that eye will be interesting, if he gets a bit of damage the ringside doctor may say “no mas,” it is very possible, and it’s one of the many questions to be answered on Saturday night. Steve Smoger is the ref though, he was teh same ref who let Wolak continue on with a massive boulder on his dome, and Smoger is definitely one of the best refs and an action packed ref. He let’s the fighters fight and gives them the opportunity to fight out of it. It’s too bad there weren’t more Steve Smoger’s around, especially, in the U.K. home of the “British stoppages,” Anyway, back to Margarito-Cotto, about a month ago I was going with Miguel Cotto by decision, but now, and I don’t let the shows sway my prediction, but Cotto was so brutally honest on “Face Off” that I think when the going does get tough he will just say “no mas,” I think the loss of his Dad changed him a lot. He doesn’t have that fire and passion that he once had. I sort of think this will be like the Segura-Calderon rematch. Calderon just wanted one last big paycheck, and I think Cotto is headed in that same direction. Cotto just wants to get one big check to be there for his family. Cotto’s only hope, I think is bashing in Margarito’s eye, otherwise I think Margarito comes in and stops Cotto once again. Even though, Margarito definitely doesn’t hit as hard as he does, for obvious reasons, still, he is a pretty hard puncher. I’ll be rooting for Cotto, I usually don’t really have a rooting interest, but I want to see redemption and justice and I do hope Cotto wins, but my head picks Margarito by stoppage and that’s what I’m rolling with.
{SQUARE} {SQUARE1} {SQUARE2}
{loadposition SQUARE3}
