Monday’s Weekend Round-Up

Let me get it out of the way quickly.  The 5 fights I Picked were 5 winners.  Increasing my record to 7-1!  With bigger fights on the horizon, I will be breaking down some betting odds and giving you some bets if you are interested in making a little extra cash on the side.

Brandon Rios failed to make weight again.  Rios and team fooled themselves into thinking they can get down to 135 again.  He looked sick before and he looked sick again.  This time it affected him in the ring with a crafty Abril opposing him.  I had Abril winning the fight 7 rounds to 5 and I felt I was generous to Rios with that scoring.  Abril used a clutching method to limit Rios output and then shot a nice jab down the middle to control the fight.  Rios had the visual effect going, but with little substance behind his punches.  He never really hurt Abril as he did to his former opponents.  According to most on press row, Rios was granted a gift decision.  Bob Arum can stop sweating now his bout between Rios and Marquez can continue.  Abril based on what was perceived to be an unfavorable decision gets to keep his interim belt and will get another shot at the real title.

In the Friday bout Felix Sturm put on a clinic against Sebastian Zbik.  Sturm’s jab was on point.  It reminded me of when he lost a decision to Oscar De La Hoya back in 2004.  Zbik had some success in the first couple of rounds, but Sturm quickly turned the tide and cruised to a victory in when Zbik’s corner through in the towel in the 9^th.  Sturm is a legit middleweight champion; I just wish he would come back to America to fight.  His future plans include a possible showdown with highly regarded Dmitry Pirog.  In my eyes both Pirog and Sturm would provide division kingpin Sergio Martinez the two toughest tests at middleweight.

Mike Alvarado is my winner of the week.  Mike puts on a show every time he steps in the ring.  He has beat two tough fighters back to back and stretched his record to 33-0-0.  If anyone deserves the bout with Marquez at Cowboys stadium it is Alvarado.  This fight started off as a brawl with both Herrera and Alvarado landing some nice hard shots.  As the fight wore on Alvarado started to impose his will and clearly land the harder cleaner shots.  Mike deserved this victory and some kind of title shot.

Mercito Gesta and Juan Manuel Marquez both rolled to victories as expected.

News Notes:

*Sergio Martinez continued his verbal assault on Chavez Jr.  He claimed Chavez Jr. is afraid to get in the ring without random drug testing and that he would be even more scared if they did testing.  Martinez wants Olympic style testing if he were to fight Chavez Jr. in the fall due to Chavez Jr.’s large weight jump post weigh-in.

*Trainer Robert Garcia spoke about Rios’s win.  He blames Rios sub-par performance on the weight issues and that at 140 lbs. Rios will prove his worth against Juan Manuel Marquez.  He gave a bit of credit to Abril for having an awkward style, but felt he held too much. 

*Kelly Pavlik pleaded guilty to lesser charges stemming back from a DUI arrest in his hometown of Youngstown, OH.  Pavlik was fined $300 on top of having to pay for $2000 worth of property damage he caused.

*Mercito Gesta was hanging out with countryman Nonito Donaire.  There have been small rumblings that Gesta has played his way into the Marquez bout in July as well.

*Fight Alert – For you across the pond boxing fans.  Paul McCoskey has signed on to face veteran gatekeeper Chop Chop Corley.

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Friday the 13th Prediction Time

I will be picking 5 fights!

Felix Sturm (36-2-2) vs. Sebastian Zbik (30-1-0) At Cologne, Germany 4/13/2012

WBA Middleweight Title Fight

This is fight is not on American Television, but it is a good solid middleweight fight with Sturm’s title on the line.  Here’s the major problem for Zbik, the fight is in Germany.  I don’t think anyone beats Sturm in Germany.  Sturm who has not had an official lost since 2006 has been a bit busier in the previous year fighting three times.  Sturm is a tough fighter that presents a challenge for anyone at middleweight.  He has not had the big fights because of his refusal to leave Germany.  In fact he has not fought in the States since he felt he was robbed against Oscar De La Hoya back in 2004.  Zbik has one loss to another middleweight belt holder in Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr.  Their fight was very competitive with each fighter willing to trade shots.  Zbik has quite the chin as it was clear Julio did not respect the power Zbik brought and ultimately walked Zbik down to landed the harder shots.  Zbik had success when he decided to box.  I think this is a very good fight that will feature both a bit of boxing and a bit of brawling at times.  I believe Sturm’s experience and the fact that Zbik does not possess the power to KO Sturm to be the difference.  Winner – Felix Sturm

Brandon Rios (29-0-1) vs. Richard Abril (17-2-1) At Las Vegas, Nevada

WBA Lightweight Title Fight

What was supposed to be an awesome fight between two young hungry undefeated fighters looks to have turned into a bit of mismatch.  I do not blame Rios for taking this fight at all as Abril forced his way into this fight by publicly challenging Rios multiple times.  When the Gamboa fight failed Abril received the offer.  Abril does not bring anything special to the table.  He has a bit of pop, decent boxing ability, but when it comes down to it, he fails against legit contenders.  He received his ranking due to beating an overrated Miguel Acosta.  Abril’s two losses have come against notable fighters I have mentioned recently, Hank Lundy and Breidis Prescott.  Rios is on a very hot streak stopping 9 of his last 10 opponents.  The one he didn’t stop happens to be Anthony Peterson who got DQ’ed after repeated low blows.  Watching that fight Rios was landing at will.  Abril seems to have pissed of Rios who vows to Batter and stop Abril.  Rios has had the tougher competition, the better trainer, and more incentive to win. (Possible Marquez Bout)  Betting I would take Rios by stoppage before the 9^th round.  Winner – Brandon Rios

Juan Manuel Marquez (53-6-1) vs. Sergey Fedchenko (30-1-0) At Mexico City, Mexico      Interim WBO Junior Welterweight Title

Fedchenko has a fancy record, but the most notable name is an aged Chop Chop Corley.  Make no mistake about it this is a tune-up fight for Marquez to shake the cobwebs and get ready for a big event at Cowboys Stadium in July.  It’s also nice for Marquez to fight in his homeland one more time.  Marquez will put some work in early, but as the fight continues Marquez will have his timing down and will easily pull away.  Winner – Juan Manuel Marquez

Mike Alvarado (32-0-0) vs. Mauricio Herrera (18-1-0) At Las Vegas, Nevada

Junior Welterweight Fight

Alvarado is coming off a huge come from behind win on an HBO PPV undercard which has caused his stock to rise.  He shared a card then with Rios and is sharing one again.  If Alvarado keeps winning a shot at Rios is coming.  Talk about a fan friendly style and matchup.    Herrera is coming off a good win against a nice fighter in Mike Dallas.  The scores were very close and it could have gone either way in my eyes.  Herrera is facing a different beast in Alvarado who will definitely bring the pain.  I believe the pressure that Alvarado applies will be the difference in this fight.  I expect a nice entertaining fight, but Alvarado pulling it off.  Winner – Mike Alvarado

Mercito Gesta (24-0-1) vs. Oscar Cuero (15-7-0) At Las Vegas, Nevada

Lightweight Fight

There is no doubt in my mind that Gesta cruises to a victory, but I wanted to bring his name up.  This is a stay busy fight for Gesta, as he is trying to put himself in a position to contend for a title.  Cuero will make Gesta work a bit, but Gesta talent will win him this fight quite easily.  Winner – Mercito Gesta

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Who is Amir Khan?

Is Amir Khan an elite fighter worthy of pound for pound status? Or is he a Golden Boy Promotion hype project with an excellent amateur pedigree?  I think the answer lies somewhere in between and here is why…

Amir Khan is only 25 years old, but seems to of had a very long career already.  Khan has held two alphabet titles at junior welterweight.  No doubt about it, Amir Khan is a world class fighter.  You have to respect the fact that Amir always seems willing to fight the best.  He has attempted to unify the titles at junior welterweight.  Most recently losing a split decision, but Khan will step back in the ring in an attempt to gain his titles back from Lamont Peterson.  More importantly Khan needs the win to stay in the Mayweather sweepstakes and chance at elite status or pound for pound recognition. 

Many people can get past the Breidis Prescott knockout loss.  Any numbers of factors look like they have contributed to that.  A weight drained body has a way to lower punch resistance.  Since moving up in weight Khan looks to have a solid chin, even walking through hell against Maidana to prove it.  It truly is time to dismiss the glass jaw theory when talking about Khan.  Even after the loss Khan was able to pick up Freddie Roach as his trainer and Alex Ariza as his strength and conditioning coach.  Both moves proved to be positive for his career.  From there Khan really went on to prove his worth as a professional, reeling off 9 straight victories before agreeing to face Lamont Peterson in his hometown.  You have to respect a champion willing to fight in his opponent’s hometown.  It means they are confident.  Unfortunately things didn’t going as expected for Khan.  As mention Khan is only 25, with a rematch victory over Peterson and a planned move to welterweight, it should allow the opportunity for Khan to take his career to the next level.  Whether he does it is on him, but in my opinion he is never going to be a top 5 pound for pound fighter.  Here’s why…

1)      Power - At this stage of Khan’s career and at this weight Khan doesn’t have the power that is needed for opponents to respect him.  Some will say guys like Andre Ward, Floyd Mayweather, Timothy Bradley does not have it either. True, but as I will explain they are better than Khan in many other areas.

2)      Stamina – I think Khan has good stamina.  Not elite.  The difference between some guys and others are the way they go about taking breaks.  Every fighter needs to take time off during a fight; the difference between elite fighters and good fighters is that they don’t loose rounds over it.  This may be a Freddie Roach thing or Khan copying Manny, but Khan tends to lie on the ropes with his hands in high guard.  Manny will do this, but he does not do it for long periods of time and his opponents have more respect.  They know going gun-ho, all out poses a risk because of Manny’s power.  Khan lies on the ropes catching a breather while former opponents like Peterson and Maidana went after Khan’s body.

3)      Style – I might be in the minority but watching Khan fight, I feel he is still trying to score points as if he was an amateur.  He has awesome speed, but it’s like he is flicking his punches out there for visual effects instead of physical damage.  He also has a very bad habit of throwing punches forward without moving his feet.  He tends to look off balance and the threat of being timed and placed on your rear-end because of balance is out there.  If Khan sat down on his punches a bit more, I think he would improve his balance and power.

4)      Intangibles – These vary from trainer, manager, family.  It seems like the family issues have toned down, but it was quite public when Amir’s father was involved in a dispute around strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.  Freddie Roach is an awesome trainer, but as long as Manny is still fighting, Amir becomes second in line.  If Amir can stick it out, I have full faith that when Manny retires Amir becomes Freddie’s prized pupil.  I do not have full faith in Golden Boy Promotions ability to match Amir with the proper opponent or situation to allow him to get to the pound for pound equation. 

GBP will make Amir a lot of money, but will it be long lived to the point of recognizing Amir as truly a great fighter.  Or will it be cashing him out against Mayweather when everyone knows he will never be on that level?  Time will definitely tell.  I wish Amir Khan the best as he always gives it his all and puts on some fantastic fights.  As a fan that’s all I can ask for.

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