Fight Junkie

London Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Friday night London fight fans will be treated to a lightweight title fight when reigning WBO Inter-Continental lightweight champion of the world Kevin Mitchell, (30-0, 22KO’s) defends his title against Colombian Ignacio Mendoza, (27-5-2, 18KO’s) live from the Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, United Kingdom.

Mitchell opened the contest as the huge betting favorite and the line has remained pretty much stagnant with Mitchell resting at –1390 and Mendoza sitting at +760 to score the upset.

The O/U on the bout is set at 9.5 rounds, with the under coming in at -125, and the over at –105.

Kevin Mitchell is fresh off the biggest win of his career over the “Khanqueror” (as in Amir Khan), Breidis Prescott.

Going into the fight with Prescott, Mitchell was installed as the underdog, but the fight was expected to be close. In the fight, Mitchell was able to easily dominate and control Breidis throughout the contest, eventually netting himself a unanimous decision victory and the WBO Inter-Continental lightweight strap.

Despite having thirty professional bouts, Kevin Mitchell has not faced off with many name opponents. As I mentioned, Breidis Prescott was Mitchell’s biggest fight of his career.

You will be able to find some journeyman or “bum” names on Mitchell’s record such as Carl Johanneson and Walter Estrada, but overall Kevin Mitchell has yet to go head to head with the higher echelon of boxers.

However, Mitchell is a pretty good fighter even though he is inexperienced against quality opponents. Kevin is a rather aggressive fighter inside the ring, and also packs a solid punch in both hands with twenty-two stoppage wins in thirty fights.

I feel Ignacio Mendoza falls into the category of “lower-level” opponents, and I think the Colombian will have a very difficult time dealing with the skill of Mitchell.

I easily believe that Kevin Mitchell is the vastly more skilled fighter of the two, and despite not going up against great opposition; Mitchell has also fought the better competition.

Mendoza’s resume it littered with mostly negative or even record fighters, and the majority of fighters with positive records that Mendoza has fought, he has either drawn with or lost to.

I think it is pretty obvious that Mendoza is no Sugar Ray Robinson, and not only that; Ignacio has not shown to have a great beard either.

Even against the horrible competition he has faced, Mendoza has been stopped twice out of his five losses. One of those stoppage losses coming from the hands of an 11-8 fighter...

I firmly believe Mitchell has more then enough skill and power to stop Mendoza with ease. Most likely Mitchell will not break a sweat in the fight and take Ignacio out within six.

Krakrabbit: 1.25 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {-125}
Boxeo: 2.50 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {-125}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: 1.25 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {-125}
D3: 1.25 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {-125}

PPV Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Saturday night Tomasz Adamek, (39-1, 27KO’s) will face off against American Jason Estrada, (16-2, 4KO’s) live from the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.

Adamek opened as the clear betting favorite in the bout and currently sits at -450. Estrada supporters can snatch the plus money + 365. The over/under for the bout is set at 11.5 rounds, with the over costing you -120, while the under comes in at +110.

Tomasz Adamek will be returning for the first time this year in an attempt to successfully defend his IBF International heavyweight title against Jason Estrada after completely destroying fellow Polish puncher Andrew Golota.

In his fight with Golota, Adamek was able to land at will and break Golota down over five short rounds.

Tomasz’s fight with Golota was his first at heavyweight, but he faced little opposition from Andrew and is still mostly untested at this higher weight class.

In Jason Estrada, Adamek will be facing off with a quick, sharp punching fighter who has spent his entire career at heavyweight.

One of Estrada’s biggest strengths is his speed. Jason has fast hands for a heavyweight, and is often speedier then his opponent inside the ring.

In addition to his speed, Estrada is also a pretty accurate puncher. You will seldom see Jason throwing wide, risky shots, as he usually likes to put together sharp combinations to break his opposition down.

As well as that, Estrada has shown to have a solid beard. He took some of Alexander Povetkin’s best shots when they faced off, and has also absorbed punches from Lance Whitaker, Travis Walker and Yanqui Diaz (while not skilled at all, Yanqui Diaz can still punch!)

While I have seen him hurt before - Povetkin had him stunned a couple times, although he did not drop him - Estrada has shown durability and heart throughout his short career.

But for everything Jason does well though, he also has a set of problems he carries into the ring.

For one, Estrada can barely crack an egg! With only four knockouts in sixteen victories, it is easy to see that Jason doesn’t exactly pack a huge punch. While Estrada does hold a stoppage win over Zuri Lawrence, for the most part Jason has only been able to stop a handful of overmatched tomato cans.

Also, while Jason does possess quick hand speed, his upper body movement and defense is horrible! Estrada is not hard to find by any stretch of the imagination, and is no stranger to constantly getting hit. Inside, outside or side-to-side, without as good a chin as he has Jason Estrada would already have several knockout losses on his record.

Despite not having much power, Jason Estrada sure fights like he does. “Big Six” is more then willing to brawl with anyone and everyone and seems to attract action-packed slugfests even though he only sports four knockouts.

I feel this could land him in some hot water against the skilled brawler Adamek. Estrada will not be able to out-slug his much more experienced foe, and if he tries I believe he could end up in a Yusaf Mack/Glen Johnson-like situation (Mack elected to brawl with the better brawler, Johnson).

Also, while I have already touched on Estrada’s lacking defensive ability, there was one thing that stood out to me about Estrada’s vulnerabilities. Jason Estrada is wide open to the right hand and left hook. He munches on them like someone at an All-You-Can-Eat buffet. For some reason, Big Six is just unable to block or defend against those two punches.

This was seen multiple times throughout Estrada’s fight with Povetkin, in which Alexander was able to easily tee off on Jason with right hands in nearly every round of the contest.

One thing that helped keep Estrada alive in his fight with Alexander was his holding. Jason is not afraid to hold if he is seriously hurt or needs a rest. However, I do not think this will faze Adamek as badly as it did Povetkin, because Adamek is a skilled inside fighter and will most likely be able to do more damage to Estrada before he holds then Povetkin did.

As well all know, Tomasz Adamek likes his right hand. Adamek possesses a sharp, powerful right hand that has put many of his opponents on the canvas. In fact, Adamek’s right hand played a big role in hurting, dropping and eventually stopping Andrew Golota four months ago.

I would not be shocked in the least bit to see Adamek landing the right hand with ease, and even stunning Estrada with it throughout their fight. Of course, while Adamek is quite a good fighter, he is not perfect himself.

Tomasz is no defensive wizard himself, and Adamek often leaves himself exposed to getting hit when he fights. Whether on offense or defense, Adamek is neither slick nor possesses a strong defensive guard.

Also, Adamek is not the fastest gun the heavyweight division has ever seen. While he does have a decent amount of speed, I do not think he was ever an extremely quick fighter (even at his lower weights), nor will he ever be. If only slightly, I would give the speed advantage to Estrada here.

As well as that, Adamek is just a brawler and little else. Tomasz is by no means a great boxer and can be outboxed by somebody with good boxing ability.

Johnathon Banks was doing well until he got tired and knocked out, Paul Briggs nearly beat Adamek twice, and as we know Chad Dawson handily beat Tomasz by unanimous decision (Adamek’s only defeat).

It is a much tougher task to out-slug Adamek then it is to box his socks off. I feel that if Estrada stuck to a strictly boxing gameplan, he could give Tomasz a ton of trouble, especially early in the fight. However, while I believe Estrada does have the ability, I don’t think he will use it. He is a slugger at heart and will most likely try to beat Adamek at his own game.

Tomasz Adamek is the better brawler of the two, and if and when these two go head to head, that is when Estrada will begin to lose the fight. Jason may be able to compete, but there is no chance that he does what Adamek does better.

I expect Jason to be in the fight, simply because he is a tough opponent, but I think he will be taking an absolute beating in this one. When questioned if they think Adamek can stop Estrada, the common answer is “If Povetkin couldn’t do it...” I think differently.

Alexander Povetkin and Tomasz Adamek are two different fighters. Both can punch, but Adamek is by far the more aggressive boxer and he throws more punches to boot.

Estrada is tough and he won’t go down without a fight, but his inability to defend the right hand and left hook could end up being a deciding factor in this fight. I expect a barnburner between these two, but anytime after the second half of the fight I think Estrada will be ready to fall.

Krakrabbit: 1.00 Units On Under 11.5 Rounds {+110}
Boxeo: .50 Units On Under 11.5 Rounds {+110}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: N/P
D3: N/P

Showtime Predictions
By Boxeo

Saturday night hard punching Edwin Valero, (26-0, 26KO’s) will make a mandatory defense of his WBC lightweight title when he squares off with interim champion Antonio DeMarco, (23-1-1, 17KO’s) live from the Arena Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Valero opened the contest as the clear betting favorite in the fight at –410. A bit of early money hit Valero and for a few moments his number went all the way up to –460. DeMarco opened the contest as a +290 underdog, but with the early influx of bread on Valero he quickly moved to +350 to score the upset.

The O/U on the bout is set at 8.5 rounds, with the both the over/under sitting at –120. Valero by KO comes in at -175, while Valero by decision will reward you with +369. DeMarco by KO hits the mark at +570, and DeMarco by decision lands at +640. The odds of the bout being declared a draw stand at +4500.

The first thing that stands out when you take a quick glance at these fighters is the gaudy knockout record that Valero sports. 26 stoppages in 26 fights sure does look pretty!

However, when you take a closer look at this marvelous feat that Valero has accomplished you begin to get the sense that maybe, just maybe, Valero has been able to produce such an impressive knockout percentage because of the level of competition he has been in with and not because he is a stone cold killer inside the ring.

Valero has fought 12 of his 26 fights in his native Venezuela, and even when he does step outside the comforts of home he just has not competed against top tier opposition.

His two most recognizable names on his list of 26 victims are probably former champion Vicente Mosquera & Antonio Pitalua.

In his title challenge agasint Vicente Mosquera, Valero had his way with the champ early in the contest, knocking Mosquera down twice in the very first round of the fight. However, in the third round Mosquera battled back and Valero quickly found himself on the canvas!

Even though Mosquera has only recorded 12 stoppages out of his 24 victories, he was able to not only drop Valero in the third round, but also rock him on several occasions throughout the fight.

On that night against Mosquera, Valero showed more holes in his game then a slice of Swiss cheese.

Although there is no questioning his quick hand speed, thunderous punching power, and lighting quick foot movement, the kid just looks vulnerable to me each and every time I see him fight.

In fact, he reminds me a ton of how Manny Pacquiao use to fight before the great Freddie Roach took over and started to tighten up every aspect of his game.

Valero uses the same tools (blazing hand speed, punching power, and foot movement) that made Pacquiao successful early in his career to overwhelm his opponents just like the Filipino idol utilized.

He loves to leap in and fire off wicked fast combination punches and then pull back out before his opponent can fire back. The problem for Valero (same with the early version of Pac) is that a lot of times he just rushes forward with his chin sticking right up in the air for all to see and hit.

He also makes the mistake of mistiming his opponents counter attack and is often hit as he pulls back after an attack.

Another area where Valero is severely lacking is his inability to fight off of his back foot. He simply looks awkward when he attempts to “box” his opponent from the outside.

After three our four rounds of going to war with Mosquera he tried to switch things up and outbox him from the outside but he had very limited success doing so. Often he was pounded with headshots as he tried to create space from the pressure that Mosquera was putting on him.

That is another area where I have always felt (still do actually) that Manny Pac has not really improved on. He just does not appear to be a solid boxer that can move backwards and have real success. I feel Valero will never have as much success retreating as he does moving forward.

The reason Valero has yet to be beaten is because the tools he does possess are so tremendous they allow him to dig himself out of any hole that he has encountered…so far anyway!

He simple fires off a rapid-fire combination and the next thing you know his foe is wobbling around the ring on spaghetti legs.

For DeMarco to manufacture the upset special on Saturday night I feel he is going to need to produce a performance similar to the one that the great Erik Morales did to Manny Pacquiao in their first fight.

If you look closely at DeMarco I think you can find similarities to how Erik Morales use to throw down when he was still in his prime.

At 5’10” DeMarco is considered a tall lightweight and will stand three inches taller then his opponent and also will have a three-inch reach advantage over Valero.

Morales stood 5’8” to Manny Pacquiao’s 5’6” and also carried a five inch reach advantage into their fights.

Just like Morales was the much slower fighter against Pacquiao, DeMarco will undoubtedly be forced to somehow find a way to deal with the blistering hand speed of Valero.

Although both Morales and DeMarco are thought of as brawlers, they both have previously shown that if the occasion calls for it they can add a little movement into the mix and use their height and reach advantages to discombobulate their aggressive opponents.

Both Morales and DeMarco are considered to be tough as nails and bring enough power to the dance to keep their opponents honest.

The game plan Morales used in the first fight with Pacquiao is something that I believe DeMarco can duplicate.

Morales had success against Pacquiao by using his height and reach advantages on the outside and then weathering the storm each and every time Pacquiao pinned him on the ropes.

I have noticed that Valero also does a lot of his flashy combination punching when he has his opponent trapped along the ring ropes. This is an area that DeMarco must survive and preferably stay away from all together.

One of the biggest flaws that Morales exploited in that first fight was Pacquiao’s inability to fight going backwards.

I know it sounds simply crazy when you ask a fighter to go directly into the lion’s den against pure punchers like Pacquiao and Valero, but there is a huge blemish in the defensive game of Valero. If DeMarco can time the right opportunity to push Valero backwards he is going to land at will on him.

If DeMarco can take a page out of the legend Erik Morales and box when he needs to and fight fire with fire when the opportunity presents itself, there is no question in my mind he can win this fight.

Sure, he is going to need to use all of his abilities, show his toughness over and over again, and not be afraid to go after Valero when he misses with his big thunderous shots, but at +350 odds I see enough holes in the game of Valero that I make DeMarco a real live underdog here.

Boxeo: 1.00 Units On DeMarco {+350}
Krakrabbit: 1.00 Units On DeMarco {+350}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: N/P
D3: N/P

ESPN Predictions
By Krakrabbit

This Friday night, light heavyweight Yusaf Mack, (28-2-2, 17KO’s) faces off against the tough as nails Glen Johnson, (49-13-2, 33KO’s) live from the NSU Arena, Don Taft University Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Johnson opened the contest as the clear favorite in the bout and currently rests at –200. Mack supporters can grab +180 for their money. The O/U for the fight has been set at 11.5 rounds, with the over coming in at -140 and the under landing at +100.

Johnson by KO will net you +160, while Johnson by decision rewards you with +232. Mack by KO hits the mark at +413, and Mack by decision lands at +344. The odds of the bout being declared a draw land at +2500.

This will be the second time Johnson and Mack are scheduled to face off inside the ring, but they have never fought before. The first time the two were supposed to engage, the entire card they were placed on ended up being cancelled all together. After a short time, ESPN picked the fight up to be aired on their Friday Night Fight’s series!

Glen Johnson is fresh off a one-sided loss to current light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson in which Johnson was easily beaten and handed his 13th professional loss as a boxer.

While Dawson did have a very solid gameplan (punch, run, punch, run) against Glen in their most recent fight, I must say that Johnson did not look like himself when he faced off with “Bad” Chad just three months ago.

It is not that Johnson lost the fight that set off the warning alarms; it’s the way he looked while losing. Glen Johnson is known to be a very aggressive, in your face brawler who never stops punching, but against Dawson something was different about him.

Johnson came into the fight swinging wildly at Dawson very early in the fight, but after only a few rounds Glen’s punch output had slowed significantly. The non-stop punching machine from Jamaica had actually eased down to a slower pace!

As well as that, whenever Johnson did throw he looked incredibly off balance and imprecise, much more so then ever in his very long and storied career.

Now, Glen Johnson is no Muhammad Ali when it comes to throwing with surgical precision, but Johnson was seldom able to even graze the much more poised Dawson.

I cannot say for sure, but I have an inkling feeling that Johnson may just be winding down at the ripe age of 41. With sixty-four professional fights, hundreds of rounds boxed, war after war with world-class competition, and over sixteen years of fighting professionally, it would not surprise me to find out that Johnson is finally starting to slow.

I have a feeling that we will find out if The Road Warrior really is taking a nosedive to the ground in this fight against Yusaf Mack.

Yusaf Mack is himself coming off a fourth round KO victory over little known Youngstown, Ohio resident DeAndrey Abron (who, as of right now, is riding a five-fight losing streak).

While Mack’s win over Abron is not the highlight of his career, Mack has been in with some decent competition over the span of his career.

Names such as Librado Andrade, Alejandro Berrio, Randy Griffin, Chris Henry and Daniel Judah dot Yusaf’s resume.

In fact, Yusaf Mack is a pretty good fighter! Back when Mack used to fight at super middleweight, Yusaf had some extremely quick hands. He was able to rocket off rapid shots before his opponents even knew what hit them. However, since the move up to light heavyweight, I feel that Yusaf’s speed has suffered in the process.

I do not believe Mack is nearly as fast as he was at super middleweight, but at the same time Yusaf may not tire as badly as he did at the lower weight class.

Yusaf Mack does have some serious power in his gloves though! While he is not an extremely aggressive fighter, Mack does bring some sharp power to the ring. Yusaf was even able to drop the iron-chinned Librado Andrade in the first round of their fight (in a fight he would later lose) as well as stun the Mexican brawler.

Which brings me to the possibility that Mack does not like pressure so much. Librado Andrade and Alejandro Barrio both stopped Yusaf (in the seventh and sixth respectively), and they both have one thing in common: pressure!

Both Andrade and Barrio apply strong pressure, and while Mack was able to fend the attacks away for half of the fight he eventually broke down. Notice how both losses come midway through the fight, after Mack had slowed down from fatigue.

However, I feel that some of the problem was Yusaf having to make the 168-pound limit. While I don’t know for sure (Mack has only been past six rounds twice since the move up in weight), I feel that the added weight does nothing but help Yusaf’s stamina. It would have been difficult to make it much worse then it was at super middleweight!

In addition, I feel that Mack is very susceptible to the right hand. Barrio landed it, Andrade landed it, and even Ernesto Zamora landed one or two before he was stopped in the second round.

As we all know, Glen Johnson likes to throw the right hand and it is easily identified as The Road Warrior’s go-to punch. I believe Johnson will find success with his right hand against Mack, but whether or not he will be able to keep it up is what hinges this fight.

If Johnson is starting to show his age as hinted at in the Dawson fight and cannot punch as consistently as he usually does, he may be in very tough against Yusaf Mack. I don’t mean to say that Yusaf is near Chad Dawson’s level, but I do believe that Mack has the skills to put on a good showing against Glen.

However, if Johnson’s performance against Dawson (the second time) was simply a fluke fight against a much more skilled opponent, and Johnson is still drinking from the fountain of youth, I would not be surprised to see a razor-close fight or possibly a late stoppage for Glen.

As I said though, in my mind, for Johnson to win against Yusaf Mack, he will need to fight a strong, consistent pace for as long as the fight lasts, and that is something I don’t think Glen can do anymore.

Krakrabbit: .50 Units On Mack By Decision {+344}
Boxeo: .50 Units On Johnson By KO {+160}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: N/P
D3: N/P

ESPN Predictions
By Boxeo

The Friday night ESPN main event features former Contender contestant Jesse Brinkley, (34-5, 22KO’s) facing off against Curtis Stevens, (21-2, 15KO’s) live from Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV.

Stevens comes into the contest as a -265 favorite in the bout while Brinkley gets the underdog cash at +205. The O/U for the fight has been set at 9.5 rounds, with the over at -185 and the under coming in at +155. Stevens by KO comes in at +137, while Stevens by decision will get you +199. Brinkley by KO hits the mark at +401, and Brinkley by decision lands at +500.

When Stevens and Brinkley step into the ring on Friday night they will do battle for something called the WBC USNBC super middleweight title! I guess more important then the prestigious WBC USNBC super middleweight title that is on the line is the number two ranking in the IBF that goes to the winner of the bout.

It’s really easy to tell which fighter brings the experience edge into this bout. With names like Sergio Mora, Anthony Bonsante, Alfonso Gomez, Joe Spina, Otis Griffin, Robin Reid and Joey Gilbert there is no question that Brinkley has faced off with the much better competition.

In fact, I have to give credit where credit is due and Brinkley deserves credit for the way he has been able to compete with most of the fighters he steps in the ring with. The reason I give Brinkley that credit is because I just do not find him to be very skilled at all.

There is no doubt in my mind that Jesse Brinkley is certainly an overachiever when he steps into the ring.

Jesse Brinkley does not excel at any aspect of the game. He does not have great speed, he is not a hard puncher, his defense is terrible, and he does not throw a large amount of punches each and every round.

Stevens on the other hand is the much more talented athlete. He has fast hands, solid power and all around high-quality reflexes.

On paper the speed advantage alone should give Stevens a huge edge in this fight. Brinkley will probably stand right in front of Stevens allowing his much quicker opponent the opportunity to tee off on him before he even has a chance of firing back.

Should Jesse try and change things up and outbox Stevens I think we may be in for a snooze fest. Brinkley just does not have the talent to look good when trying to box. He will move, hold, and generally try to slow the rushing Stevens down.

Should this type of fight play out, I think Stevens will still have success getting to Brinkley, but stopping him (Stevens boldly predicts a stoppage win) could become that much harder.

Although Brinkley has only been stopped twice out of his five losses, speed kills and I don’t feel he can stand in front of Stevens all night long and just take shot after shot. If Brinkley is seeking to hear the final bell he is going to have to find a way to deter Stevens from crowding him and bouncing bomb after bomb off his skull.

Even though this fight is taking place in Brinkley’s back yard, I honestly feel his best chance to legitimately win (who knows what shady business is going to occur if we hit the cards) is to try and blast Stevens out of there.

Now with only twenty-two stoppages in thirty-four wins I think we all can agree that Brinkley is not a huge hitter. With that said, Stevens has been stopped once out of his two losses and has tasted the canvas in previous fights.

It is not out of the question that Brinkley will be able to hurt Stevens and maybe even stop him!

Even with the questionable beard of Stevens I still feel this is his fight to lose. We all know the most talented guy in the ring does not always win, but I would considered it quite an upset if Stevens goes down at the hands of Jesse Brinkley.

Boxeo: .50 Units On Stevens By KO {+137}
Krakrabbit: 1.00 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {+155}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: N/P
D3: N/P

Fox Sports Net Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Friday night features a twelve round light heavyweight WBA world title affair between Gabriel Campillo, (19-2, 6KO’s) and Beibut Shumenov, (8-1, 6KO’s) live from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Campillo opened about a -140 favorite over Shumenov, but the public quickly jumped on Shumenov, and Campillo’s number actually went to +115. Shumenov currently sits as a -135 favorite. The O/U for the fight has been set at 9.5 rounds, with the over landing at -260 and the under coming in at +220.

Campillo by KO comes in at +380, while Campillo by decision will net you +247. Shumenov by KO hits the mark at +313, and Shumenov by decision lands at +175. The odds the fight is declared a draw currently rests at +2000.

This will be the second time Gabriel Campillo and Beibut Shumenov face off inside the ring. Their first contest ended with Campillo having his hand raised in a very close and action packed bout that many say could have gone to either man.

Early on Campillo was overwhelmed by Shumenov’s pressure and aggressive style, and Campillo looked to be losing the first half of the fight. However, halfway through the contest, Shumenov tired and allowed Campillo to rally back and take the fight away from him.

The way the fight played out is why people cannot be sure who really won the fight. Shumenov took the first half of the fight, while Campillo managed to grab the second half of the fight for himself. Gabriel Campillo will, once again, be coming into this fight as the more experienced fighter.

Campillo has faced off with a couple name fighters such as Hugo Hernan Garay and Karo Murat, but other then that Gabriel has basically been fighting tomato cans for the majority of his 21-fight career.

Perhaps the reason Campillo has not faced off with truly elite opponents is because he would not be able to defeat them. The fact of the matter is Campillo is just not very good!

Gabriel comes into the ring using both a semi-aggressive style and a passive, boxing style. The majority of the time, Campillo often chooses to use his boxing ability to win his fights.

Campillo often shoots a decent jab throughout his fights, but other then that doesn’t seem to be a very high volume puncher. Gabriel likes to move around the ring (using rather clumsy footwork), pop the jab and wait for the decision to come at the end of the fight.

Despite being a boxer though, I feel Campillo has a poor defense and worse yet, a weak chin. Campillo has been stopped one time (out of two losses) at the hands of Vyacheslav Uzelkov in six rounds.

Aside from being hurt, Campillo is no stranger to tasting the canvas as well. Gabriel was both stunned (a couple times) and dropped against Lolenga Mock, who can be considered a moderate puncher at best.

However, at times Campillo will also opt to brawl with his opponent, as he did against Shumenov in their first fight. When Campillo chooses to start fighting, he can get extremely wild and sloppy.

In fact, Shumenov was able to drop Campillo in their first contest when Gabriel was rushing in without a hint of defense. Although the knockdown was not devastating, Campillo got caught nonetheless.

Beibut Shumenov on the other hand tends to step into the ring looking for the KO and a crowd-pleasing fight.

Shumenov is quite an aggressive, in your face fighter and also packs a strong punch (unlike Campillo). Beibut Shumenov is not the most technically sound fighter in boxing, but is a solid finisher and puts everything he has into his punches.

Personally, if I were to look at the first fight before it happened, I would have given the edge to Shumenov and expected Campillo to be knocked out. I do feel their first contest was very winnable for Shumenov and that the fight could have gone that way, had he not gassed as badly as he did in the later rounds of their contest.

This seems to be a style match up just made for Shumenov. Campillo is a poor boxer and won’t be able to run away from Shumenov forever, and at times Gabriel even likes to stand and slug it out a bit despite his bad defense and very suspect chin.

While I do not think Shumenov is the perfect fighter, I firmly believe he is the better fighter out of the two in this fight. Campillo says he will be looking for the knockout, which suggests he is more then happy to brawl (which I believe he will do), and we all know Beibut will be seeking the KO, as usual.

I would not be shocked to see Campillo get knocked out while brawling, as he isn’t exactly a defensive wizard. At the same time though, if Shumenov loses some of his energy, knocking Campillo out would become a much more difficult task for Beibut.

However, even if Shumenov does tire and is unable to knock Gabriel out, as long as he doesn’t completely empty all of his stamina (as he did in the first fight) I would be surprised to see Campillo win a decision this time around.

I expect a good, action packed fight from the get-go from both Beibut and Gabriel, but I believe Shumenov has more then enough to avenge his only defeat, and perhaps set up a Shumenov/Campillo III fight down the line.

Krakrabbit: 1.50 Units On Shumenov {+120}
Boxeo: 1.00 Units On Shumenov {+120}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: .50 Units On Shumenov {+120}
D3: .50 Units On Shumenov {+120}

HBO Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Saturday night undefeated WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez, (27-0, 24KO’s) will challenge himself once again when he faces off with WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano, (37-1-1, 15KO’s) live from the Madison Square Garden, New York, New York.

The undefeated Lopez opened the contest as the betting favorite and the line has remained pretty steady with Lopez resting at –430 and Luevano backers getting +345.

The O/U on the bout is set at 9.5 rounds, with the under being set at +100. The over currently lands at -120.

Lopez by KO comes in at –125. Lopez by decision will reward you with +270. Luevano by KO hits the mark at +874, and Luevano by decision lands at +481. The odds of the bout being declared a draw stand at +3500.

Juan Manuel Lopez is fresh off a win over veteran opponent Rogers Mtagwa just three months ago in New York, but the win did not come easily.

Mtagwa was seen as one of the biggest challenges of Lopez’s relatively short professional career, but the majority of the boxing community fully expected Lopez to rise up and handily defeat the tough resident of Philadelphia.

However, in his fight with Mtagwa, Lopez was in much tougher then anyone expected him to be. Despite early success against Rogers, by the middle rounds Lopez was evidently fading and beginning to take more and more shots throughout the fight.

In what ended up being a Fight of the Year candidate, Lopez and Mtagwa went to war for 12 rounds without halt.

Throughout the bout, both Mtagwa and Lopez were badly hurt, and it could actually be said that Lopez could have been stopped in their fight. By the late rounds, “JuanMa” was extremely fatigued and nearly every flush shot sent him reeling and looking to survive until the final bell.

Although the fight was scored as a unanimous decision for Juan Manuel (by the scores of 116-111, 115-111, and 114-113), some believe that Lopez lost the push and pull fight and that Rogers Mtagwa (who had twelve losses going into the fight with Lopez) was robbed.

Team Lopez claims that the reason behind his poor performance at Madison Square Garden was that Juan Manuel was weight drained and was not able to perform as well as he wanted because of it.

Now, Juan Manuel Lopez takes another step up in competition, this time in a higher weight division, against the experienced Steven Luevano.

Luevano is himself coming off a victory, but by no means was it a pretty one.

In Steven’s last bout, he faced off with brawler Bernabe Concepcion. At the end of the seventh round in a neck and neck contest, Concepcion hit Luevano after the bell and sent him to the canvas.

Not even a couple second went by after the bell ended the seventh round when Concepcion landed a flush right hook to the chin of Steven and just about put Luevano’s lights out. Concepcion was eventually disqualified, and Luevano laid on the canvas for several minutes before getting up and out of the arena.

That was not the first time Luevano was badly hurt inside the ring. Steven has been in some wars during his career, and while he is not a pure brawler he is more then happy to brawl if his opponent brings it to him. At times, his willingness to brawl with stronger opponents can land him in some tough spots.

Luevano has been stunned several times throughout his 39 professional fights, but has never been stopped and rarely even tastes the canvas. Steven has shown that he has heart and is willing to slug it out when his back is against the wall.

Steven Luevano does not have a chin like George Foreman, but he has not been put away as of yet. His grit and heart has saved him more then once when he gets hurt, and I question if Juan Manuel Lopez can even stop Luevano.

Another thing going for Luevano is his experience edge in this contest. Steven has had twelve more fights then Lopez, and has faced off with the better competition.

Luevano holds wins over Nicky Cook, Antonio Davis, Billy Dib and Cristobal Cruz, and also had a somewhat competitive fight with Martin Honorio, a fight he ultimately lost on the scorecards.

Also, this will be Juan Manuel’s first fight in the featherweight division and there is no telling exactly how the jump up in weight will affect the hard-hitting Puerto Rican.

While I do believe the added weight will possibly aid Lopez, we don’t know if the added weight will diminish anything about him. Juan Manuel could be slower, or even lose some of his devastating power at the higher weight class.

Featherweight is Luevano’s weight class and he has been situated there for over three years. Steven will be the slightly bigger man inside the ring on Saturday against “JuanMa”.

Now, I expect Juan Manuel Lopez to win this fight, but that is assuming Juan Manuel does not put on the performance he did against Mtagwa. I firmly believe Luevano is better then Mtagwa technically and skill wise, and if Lopez fights as badly as he did against Rogers he will lose this fight.

However, while that could happen (it is not outside the realm of possibility by any means), I do not expect it.

By watching the Mtagwa fight, it was easy to see that Juan Manuel was dead on his feet from fatigue by the later rounds of the fight, which leads me to believe his story about being weight drained. The odd thing is that Lopez never missed weight or looked that bad at any other time in his career.

Luevano is not a world-beater, and personally I find it very difficult to believe that Steven even has a chance at winning this fight on the judge’s scorecards. It is common knowledge that should Lopez and Gamboa both win their respective fights, it is very likely that a showdown between the two would be coming soon.

As such, I find it tough to find a case for backing Luevano. I do not think Steven has enough power to knock Juan Manuel Lopez out, and the possible disadvantage he has on the cards makes it very tough for him to get “W” on his record against Lopez even if he did put on a great performance against Juan Manuel.

All in all, I think this is just a great fight and clash of styles. While Luevano does occasionally use a “running” style, if Lopez brings the fight to him (and he will), I fully expect Luevano to be more then happy to brawl a bit.

I have gone back and forth on it a little bit while looking at this fight, but I believe that Steven Luevano has enough experience and toughness to go some rounds with Lopez, especially if Juan Manuel starts a little slower because he is worried about blowing his stamina early in this fight and never recovering like he did against Mtagwa.

I think there is a solid chance Luevano gets stopped at some point during this fight, but I believe if Steven is going out it is going to be later in the fight. So late in the fight actually, that I also would not be shocked to see Luevano last the full twelve rounds.

Kakrabbit: 1.00 Units On Lopez By KO 7-12 {+215} & 1.00 Units On Lopez By Decision {+270}
Boxeo: 1.00 Units On Lopez By KO 7-12 {+215} & 1.00 Units On Lopez By Decision {+270}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: 1.25 Units On Lopez By KO {-125}
D3: 1.25 Units On Lopez By KO {-125}

HBO Predictions
By Boxeo

Saturday night highly touted undefeated WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, (16-0, 14KO’s) takes a step up in competition when he battles forty-one fight veteran Rogers Mtagwa, (26-13-2, 18KO’s) live from the Madison Square Garden, New York, New York.

The Cuban standout Gamboa opened the contest as the overwhelming betting favorite and the line has remained pretty much stagnant with Gamboa resting at –1000 and Mtagwa sitting at +650 to score the upset.

The O/U on the bout is set at 9.5 rounds, with the under initially being set at –135. However, the public quickly hit that under bet and it is now as high as –155 at some books. The over sits around the +120 mark.

Gamboa by KO was originally set at –190 but the public also bet that number up to –205. Gamboa by decision will reward you with +259. Mtagwa by KO hits the mark at +1095, and Mtagwa by decision lands at +1100. The odds of the bout being declared a draw stand at +5500.

Although Yuriorkis Gamboa only has sixteen professional bouts under his belt he is considered by many to be the future of the featherweight division.

His blinding speed, massive punching power, and aggressive crowd friendly style has made the Cuban defector an instant hit in the states.

With 14 stoppage wins in only sixteen fights I think it’s safe to say that Gamboa knows how to get his man out of there. However, early in his career Gamboa had an extremely reckless style of fighting. With his hands down low at his sides he would leap in with his lightning quick combinations without any regard for his defense.

More often then not this untamed aggression resulted in highlight reel knockout victories for the rising star, but every once in awhile Gamboa would get timed as he attacked with reckless abandon and find himself smack dab on the canvas.

Fortunately for Gamboa supporters his team quickly realized the error of his ways and slowly reeled in his foolish offensive attacks and have now got the power punching Cuban setting up his combinations much more efficiently.

Because Gamboa now tries to set-up his combinations without just rushing in, a little bit of his crowd friendly style has suffered, but there is no question that his team made the right move by settling him down some.

Team Gamboa understood early in his career that as he moves up the ladder and begins to face better and better competition, wild, untamed attacking is not going to get the job done.

That first step up the ladder for Gamboa begins Saturday night when he faces the seasoned veteran Rogers Mtagwa.

Even though Mtagwa is just two months shy of his thirty-first birthday, he has already competed in forty-one professional boxing matches. Although Mtagwa clearly has the experience edge in this match-up, his competition thus far in his career has only been so-so.

He has a few “names” on his resume like Emmanuel Lucero, Antonio Diaz, Agapito Sanchez, Martin Honorio, Billy Dib and most recently Juan Manuel Lopez.

If you haven’t guessed by now, with thirteen losses on his record Mtagwa does not respond greatly when he steps up his competition. In fact, every single name I just listed above has beaten Rogers Mtagwa.

Mtagwa’s inability to win fights against higher-level opposition is one of the major reasons boxing insiders were absolutely shocked at Mtagwa’s last performance against highly touted Puerto Rican star Juan Manuel Lopez.

Mtagwa came to fight against Lopez like he does in all of his fights, but this time around he was actually able to use his wild, free swinging ways to not only stun Lopez on multiple occasions during the fight, but also appeared to be only seconds away from stopping the 26-0 Lopez.

In the end Lopez scraped by with the unanimous decision win, but many in the sport began to question if Mtagwa was just that good on that night or if maybe the praise that was surrounding Lopez was a bit unwarranted?

For his part Lopez claimed weight issues during that fight and will now move up in weight from bantamweight to featherweight as the headliner on this very same card against Steven Luevano.

Obviously, the thinking is to get both Gamboa and Lopez a win on Saturday night and then match them up down the line.

For Gamboa to do his part to keep a potential Lopez showdown alive I think he is going to need to be very disciplined against the unorthodox punching of Rogers Mtagwa.

The more I look at this fight the more I can't help but think that Rogers Mtagwa only hope of upsetting the apple cart is to land one of those wild haymakers on the suspect chin of Gamboa before Gamboa starts to tee-off on him.

The only chance of that happening is if Gamboa reverts back to his wild and crazy days of just attacking with reckless abandon.

If Gamboa sticks to the game plan and keeps a nice tight defense he should have no problem at all landing at will on Mtagwa as he rushes forward.

Mtagwa is so wide with his punches and has a total disregard for any type of defense; I find it hard to believe he can make it the distance with a fast, hard punching fighter like Yuriorkis Gamboa.

With that said, it’s painfully evident by the ridiculous –1000 Gamboa betting line that the books clearly feel Gamboa is head and shoulders above Mtagwa. Obviously I am not going to play a –1000 line, but I do feel there is some value in the –135 under 9.5 round bet.

If Mtagwa fights to form then he is going to come out of that corner and rush right after Gamboa. For as long as he is able to stand Mtagwa will seek to land a looping shot that stuns or drops Gamboa.

I feel his style is perfectly made to order for a quick-handed fighter like Gamboa, and even though Mtagwa has shown a very solid beard in the past (only stopped twice out of those thirteen losses) I just cannot envision Mtagwa being able to absorb those rapid fire, powerful combinations from Gamboa for ten rounds.

Boxeo: 2.70 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {-135}
Krakrabbit: 2.70 Units On Under 9.5 Rounds {-135}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: 1.90 Units On Gamboa By KO {-190}
D3: 1.90 Units On Gamboa By KO {-190}

Showtime Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Saturday night on Showtime fight fans will be treated to a WBO junior welterweight title bout when undefeated Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, (24-0, 11KO’s) battles fellow unbeaten Lamont “Havoc” Peterson, (27-0, 13KO’s) live from the Agua Caliente Casino, Rancho Mirage, California.

Bradley opened the contest as the clear betting favorite and public money has slowly flowed in on him, knocking his number to –260. Peterson supports get the underdog cash at +215. The O/U on the bout is set at 11.5 rounds, with the over coming in at -200 and the under at +160.

Bradley by KO comes in at +252, while Bradley by decision will reward you with +150. Peterson by KO hits the mark at +748, and Peterson by decision lands at +290. The odds of the fight being declared a draw sit at +2750.

Tim Bradley is fresh off a recent bout with former champion Nate Campbell that lasted only three short rounds.

However, nobody was knocked out! The Campbell fight has had a large amount of controversy surrounding it up until the California State Athletic Commission declared the fight a No Contest three weeks after the fight took place.

In the fight, Campbell and Bradley were off to a slow start with Bradley fighting outside of his usual style and attempting to box while Nate pursued him.

In the third round, Bradley charged forward towards Campbell and midway through a flurry headbutted Campbell, opening a very deep and severe cut over Nate’s left eye.

After the round was over, Campbell claimed he was seeing spots (those claims were later confirmed by doctors, as Nate had a vitreous hemorrhage behind his left eye) and could not continue and the fight was stopped. However, on that night the referee (David Mendoza of California) ruled the cut was caused by a punch and awarded Bradley the TKO victory.

As if it wasn’t evident enough during the fight, the replays shown by Showtime obviously show that Bradley (accidentally) headbutted Campbell in the middle of a flurry.

Nonetheless, everyone who bet on Nate Campbell, Bradley by decision or the over lost their money. Three weeks later, the decision was overturned and rightfully ruled a No Contest.

When Bradley and Campbell were actually fighting, I was surprised to see that Tim was attempting to outbox Campbell instead of charging forward as he usually does in his fights.

I feel that despite all the trash talking from Bradley, Tim was less then enthusiastic to engage his more experienced opponent. Nate has very underrated power, and I think Bradley was trying to outbox Campbell so he ran no risk of getting caught and possibly knocked out.

Tim Bradley is usually an in-your-face brawler who is constantly applying pressure to his opponents. Bradley has a strong offense and as of yet has not been defeated despite facing off with solid fighters such as Junior Witter, Edner Cherry, Kendall Holt and of course Nate Campbell.

Even though Bradley has a solid offensive attack, he is not invincible. Tim often leaves himself open to being hit and lacks any real defensive skills inside the ring. Fortunately for Bradley, he has the chin to back up his hit or be hit style. Tim has tasted the canvas before (Kendall Holt dropped him twice in their fight, but refused to finish Bradley off) but has some strong whiskers on him.

He has held up to some cleans shot, and while I have seen him buzzed before in his career, seeing Bradley on wobbly legs isn’t something you can bank on witnessing.

While Campbell was not looking great for the three rounds he was in the fight and may well have lost later in the night, the decision that unfolded at the Agua Caliente Casino (the location for this fight!) has me worried about just how far hometown cooking will go for Bradley in California.

Lamont Peterson is himself hot off a win over unbeaten southpaw Willy Blain eight months ago.

In his fight with Blain, Peterson, as usual in his fights, dominated his overmatched opponent eventually stopping Blain in the seventh round.

Peterson does not have nearly as good a resume as Timothy Bradley does and is still relatively unproven in his 27-fight career. Lamont does hold wins over Humberto Toledo, Antonio Mesquita (an unknown, but then undefeated fighter with thirty-four wins), among some other lower-tier names.

While the names mentioned are decent, Lamont has not been seriously tested in his professional career as of yet, and Timothy Bradley will undoubtedly be a big step up for Peterson.

However, don’t let Peterson’s opposition grade fool you; Lamont has some serious skills!

Lamont Peterson is a slick boxer with some solid defense as well as a good offense. “Havoc” is quite well rounded in my opinion, and has a sharp left hook as well as some quick hands and smooth foot movement.

One problem I see with Peterson is that sometimes he uses the jab a little too lazily, sometimes just throwing it out there without a real purpose. I am worried that Bradley at some point may launch his right hand over the occasionally weak jab of Peterson. When Lamont does decide to throw his jab with intention though, it comes out with speed and strength.

The biggest issue Peterson has to deal with is his lack of raw power. While I do feel Peterson’s power is a bit underrated (13KOs in 27 wins), the majority of the time even when Lamont lands cleanly and dominates, he often has to lay an utter beating on his opponent to get them out of there.

I do not believe Havoc has the kind of one-punch power to give Bradley trouble early, and Tim rarely slows down in his fights so I would be surprised to see anything happen then either.

In fact, I would be shocked if either Bradley or Peterson could stop one another, as neither man has shown to have a weak chin (although Peterson’s is a bit more of a question then Bradley’s is due to level of competition) and neither fighter has huge power.

If, and I completely expect him to as he has nothing to fear against Peterson, Bradley elects to come forward after Lamont, I feel Peterson will have a pretty easy time outboxing and landing cleanly on Timothy.

I see Lamont Peterson as being the much more well-rounded and skilled fighter in this match up. Honestly, I don’t think too much of Bradley except for the man’s toughness and continuous pressure.

As we touched on, Bradley is no defensive wizard and Peterson can be quite precise with his punches. I would not be surprised to see Peterson painting Bradley’s face like Earl Scheib whenever he decides to throws.

I would not be shocked to see Bradley have his occasional moments against Peterson if he somehow manages to pin Lamont on the ropes, but overall I believe Peterson should have no trouble outboxing Bradley.

Adding to that, Havoc will have a significant reach (four inches) and height (three inches) advantage against Desert Storm, which will undoubtedly help Lamont keep Bradley away from him.

The biggest question for me in this fight is whether or not Lamont Peterson will be able to win on the cards in California against the native Californian, Timothy Bradley.

We all know what happened when Campbell was put at the mercy of the California athletic commission and Californian referee David Mendoza, and I cannot help but wonder if Peterson will be able to get a fair shake on the cards?

The Peterson/Bradley fight is even in the exact same hotel and casino as the Nate Campbell fight (Agua Caliente Casino) and that seriously worries me for this bout.

Personally, I expect Peterson to put on a great performance and to hand Bradley the first loss of his career, but whether or not they actually let Peterson officially win is the question.

Because of the uncertainty I feel when and if the fight hits the scorecards (I have a bad feeling if the fight is too close, Bradley gets it) I cannot bring myself to go as large on Peterson as I would like.

I am also worried about the possibility of Bradley cutting Peterson as he rushes forward with his head, as Timothy did to Campbell. If that should happen, I have a tough time believing they will be more then willing to call the cut as caused by a headbutt, whether or not it really was.

Of course, if that situation were to come up the call would be decided by the referee, but without knowing who will be the third man in the ring on Saturday its better to be safe then sorry, especially with such a hard-headed fighter in the ring.

Nonetheless, his odds are too irresistible for me to pass on Havoc in this one, and I feel the vastly overrated Bradley is in severe danger of losing his unbeaten record.

Krakrabbit: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290}
Boxeo: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290} & 1.00 Units On Bradley By Decision {+150}
D3: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290} & 1.00 Units On Bradley By Decision {+150}

Showtime Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Saturday night on the Bradley/Peterson Showtime undercard features a twelve round super flyweight WBC world title affair between Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan, (32-2-1, 26KO’s) and veteran Tomas “Gusano” Rojas, (32-11-1, 22KO’s) live from the Agued Caliente Casino, Rancho Mirage, California.

Darchinyan opened about a -700 favorite over Rojas, but the public quickly dropped his number down to -500. Rojas supporters get the underdog cash at +400. The O/U for the fight has been set at 8.5 rounds, with the over landing at +140 and the under coming in at -160.

Darchinyan by KO comes in at -195, while Darchinyan by decision will net you +423. Rojas by KO hits the mark at +630, and Rojas by decision lands at +867. The odds the fight is declared a draw currently rests at +4000.

This will be Vic Darchinyan’s first fight after coming off a decision loss to South African Bantamweight Joseph Agbeko. For Darchinyan’s fight with Agbeko, Vic moved up in weight from his normal 115-pound weight limit to the Bantamweight division of 118-pounds.

In his fight with “King Kong” Agbeko, Vic fought as he usually does, leaping into his shots, leaving his chin exposed and throwing many straight left hands.

However, against Joseph, his usual tactics did not work and was unable to land many clean shots on Agbeko.

King Kong was able to get inside of Vic’s wide shots and land his own without taking too much punishment at the same time. At the end of the night, Agbeko’s hand was raised and Vic left the arena with a very poor performance on his mind.

After failing at his attempt to seize the bantamweight crown, Darchinyan now moves down in weight to face Tomas Rojas.

As I already touched on, Darchinyan is by no means a technical fighter. He often leaps in when he throws, and is not a tough person to land on. In addition, Darchinyan has shown to have a very weak beard, and has been hurt multiple times in his career as well as being brutally knocked out by Nonito Donaire.

While we already know Darchinyan has virtually no defense whatsoever, it must also be known that Vic has some serious offensive limitations as well.

The Raging Bull can punch his way out of a bag and holds victories over Dmitry Kirillov, Cristian Mijares, Jorge Arce among others, it must be noted that Vic really only has a single punch in his arsenal: the left hand.

Nearly every one of Vic Darchinyan’s knockouts (with the exception of Arce, which was stopped on cuts) has been caused by his devastating straight left hand from his southpaw stance.

Now, all southpaws throw left hands when fighting, it’s the money punch of most unorthodox fighters, but what makes Vic so limited in his offense is his inability to throw little else but the left hand.

Few right hooks, body punches, left hooks, or uppercuts are thrown by Darchinyan throughout his fights. Vic insists on using a weak jab to set up a quick left hand in every one of his fights.

While you may be wondering why Darchinyan does not have a bad record and has been able to beat top-tier opponents despite his crude style, the answer lies in the Raging Bull’s punch! Darchinyan has the ability to knock most of his opponents out with a single punch (most likely a left hand!), and for some odd reason few boxers have been able to figure out how to negate that missile of a punch.

Perhaps some of the reason why Darchinyan has success is because of his power. Only six men out of Darchinyan’s thirty-two victories have been able to go the distance with the Vic.

Tomas Rojas is himself coming off a win over previously undefeated South African Evans Mbamba.

In his fight with Mbamba, Rojas was able to soundly outbox his less experienced foe, leading him to a one-sided unanimous decision win over Evans. Rojas was even able to drop Mbamba a couple times throughout the course of their fight!

Rojas is a solid boxer with some very underrated skills. He has decent speed as well as some respectable pop in his gloves and is overall a very well rounded fighter.

However, Tomas Rojas’s greatest asset is his granite chin. Despite having lost eleven of his professional bouts, Rojas has only been stopped once (by Jorge Arce), and that was via a body shot.

Up until Rojas was caught with that vicious shot to the liver, Tomas could well have been winning the fight with Arce.

I feel Tomas Rojas is one of the best fighters in boxing with eleven losses, and the majority of Rojas’s losses have come at the hands of very solid fighters such as Cristian Mijares, Luis Maldonado, Gerry Penalosa, Anselmo Moreno, and of course the Mexican legend, Jorge Arce.

Tomas is a warrior inside the ring, and his chin has not shown any signs of being fragile in the past. I firmly believe Rojas’s chin is solid enough that he will be able to take the Raging Bull’s shots.

In fact, I am not so sure Darchinyan will even win this fight. I think Vic is going to be in tougher then expected in this fight, and should he heavily underestimate Rojas I believe there is a good chance Tomas may be able to pull out the win.

While Darchinyan is by no means an unbeatable fighter, and Rojas is vastly underrated, I do feel that he will do just enough to pull out the win, but on the cards. I would be surprised to see Rojas fold early, and if Tomas gets stopped I have a feeling it will be late in the fight, perhaps around the ninth or tenth round if it happens.

I am leaning towards Darchinyan being unable to stop the very durable veteran on Saturday night, and while I do feel he will chalk up another win (albeit barely) I do not think Rojas will crumble at all against the Raging Bull.

Krakrabbit: 1.00 Units On Over 8.5 Rounds {+140} & .50 Units On Darchinyan By Decision {+423}
Boxeo: 1.00 Units On Rojas {+400}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: N/P
D3: N/P

HBO Predictions
By Krakrabbit

Saturday afternoon we are treated to an HBO heavyweight title bout between heavy-handed knockout artist Vitali Klitschko, (38-2, 37KOs) and undefeated American heavyweight Kevin Johnson, (22-0-1, 9KOs.) from the PostFinance Arena, Berne, Switzerland.

Klitschko opened as the massive favorite in the fight and now sits at around -2000. Currently, you can score a hefty +1000 on the underdog Johnson.

The O/U on the bout is set at 9.5 rounds, with the under coming in at -145 and the over at +110. Klitschko by KO comes in at -215, while Klitschko by decision will reward you with +249. Johnson by KO hits the mark at +1462, and Johnson by decision lands at a whopping +1700.

As you can see from the above odds, the oddsmakers do not believe Kevin Johnson has a soul of a chance at beating the WBO heavyweight champion, and I do not think much differently.

Kevin Johnson is fresh off a TKO victory over then-undefeated Ohio resident Devin Vargas. In his bout with Vargas, Johnson was struggling to take control of the fight and it looked as though Vargas was on his way to handing Johnson the first defeat of his professional career.

However, late into the sixth round after absorbing a solid hook to the ear, Devin Vargas complained about ear pains. Claiming he could not continue, Johnson was awarded the sixth-round TKO win. It is believed that Vargas had his eardrum punctured when he was punched in the ear.

Despite pulling out the win, it is an understatement to say Johnson looked lackluster in the fight against a low-tier opponent.

In fact, “Kingpin” has not faced off with many name opponents in his entire career. The biggest name on Kevin’s resume is most likely Bruce Seldon, excluding Timur Ibragimov, whom Johnson drew with in only his fourth pro fight.

I personally question what Kevin Johnson has done to get a title shot against Vitali Klitschko, with his uninspiring performances against small name opposition.

Vitali Klitschko is also coming off a stoppage win just three months ago against another hyped American heavyweight, Chris Arreola.

When Klitschko faced off against Arreola, the fight could not be described as anything else but a pure and utter beating. Arreola was battered around the ring, as the much faster Klitschko landed at will and peppered “The Nightmare” with a variety of punches from all angles.

Arreola could not get anything together in the fight, and Klitschko used his sound boxing, moving and odd punching angles to eventually force Arreola’s corner to stop the fight in the tenth round.

Vitali Klitschko showed once again why he is such a difficult opponent to face off against and why he has not tasted defeat since 2003.

In fact as most already know, even Klitschko’s two losses to the hands of Lennox Lewis and Chris Byrd were not definitive losses. Vitali had to quit against Byrd because of injury, and the fight was stopped against Lewis because of a severe cut over Klitschko’s eye.

As you can see from just Vitali’s defeats, “Dr. Ironfist” has the vastly superior resume going into this fight.

Klitschko has faced off with the who’s who of the heavyweight division such as Timo Hoffmann, Corrie Sanders, Danny Williams, Samuel Peter, Kirk Johnson, Larry Donald, and of course Lennox Lewis, Chris Byrd and Chris Arreola.

Stylistically, Klitschko is an enigma in the way he fights. Constantly on his back foot, moving around and ducking punches, Klitschko always looks to be off balance when fighting. It looks as though a single, solid punch would make Vitali go down like a tree.

Perhaps that is the case, but we may never know as long as Klitschko evades punches as well as he does now. Despite strong efforts from Arreola and Peter in his more recent fights, Klitschko is seldom hit flush and possesses a great defense inside the ring.

Somehow the 6’7 heavyweight is able to slip and avoid punches like much lighter fighters, and has great upper body movement in his fights.

Vitali Klitschko also has a good amount of power in each hand. Klitschko does not quite have the one-punch pop that his brother Wladimir has, but Vitali does have strong power that really takes its toll late in the fight.

Vitali rarely ever stops his opponents early, usually insisting on laying a bit of a beating on his opposition, wearing them down and stopping them in the mid-to-late round of the contest.

Also, despite having been “stopped” in both of his losses, Vitali Klitschko has never been knocked out and has never even tasted the canvas. Even when taking shots from huge punchers, Vitali has always been able to take whatever his opponents managed to land while rarely wobbling.

Vitali has also never been plagued with the stamina issues that Wladimir has suffered from, and it can easily be said that Vitali Klitschko is the Paul Williams of the heavyweight division.

Kevin Johnson on the other hand also employs a somewhat odd style inside the ring and from round one to round ten (will be twelve in this case), Johnson’s money punch is the simple jab.

Johnson uses the jab extensively in his bouts, but for some reason does not always follow it up with the right hand. Kevin usually prefers to jab, jab, and jab some more but sometimes gets too jab happy and refuses to throw anything but the jab.

At times, he will follow through after the jab with the right hand or maybe a left hook, but more often then not Johnson’s jab is his offense.

I feel some of this is contributed to Johnson’s questionable stamina. I believe Johnson has a weak pair of lungs, and only after a couple rounds of boxing Kingpin’s punches and punch output evidently slows.

In addition, Kevin Johnson lacks any serious power inside the ring. With only nine KOs in twenty-two victories, it is easy to see Kevin has little pop in his gloves.

I also believe Kevin Johnson’s speed is seriously overrated. I do not see Johnson as a very quick fighter even in the beginning of his fights, and after he begins to fade Johnson’s hand speed is seriously diminished and his foot speed is equal to a turtle with broken legs.

I do not believe Johnson is as impressive defensively as he and his fans would like to suggest he is. Kevin looks to be wide open to the right hand (one of Vitali’s strongest punches) and often leaves his hands down to rely on his reflexes.

I firmly see Vitali Klitschko as the vastly quicker fighter in this match up and it would not surprise me to see Johnson eat a ton of leather from Vitali throughout the fight.

To me, Kingpin is not well rounded enough to even pose a threat to Klitschko. He lacks any real power, is quite slow for being a boxer, and is not very defensively sound.

The biggest question for me in this fight is how long Kevin Johnson will be able to last against Vitali Klitschko. I expect Johnson to put up a willing, but failed effort against Dr. Ironfist on Saturday and the only thing I wonder about is just how tough Johnson is.

Samuel Peter took eight rounds of punishment; Juan Carlos Gomez took nine, and Chris Arreola was able to sustain himself for ten. Just how long will Kevin Johnson be able to go?

Johnson’s toughness and heart has never been tested as of yet in his short professional career, and having never taken a real hard shot from anyone nor having absorbed a multitude of shots, I am certain Kevin has little chance at repeating Timo Hoffmann’s feat in going the distance with Klitschko.

I completely expect Johnson to take an Arreola-like beating on Saturday, and I think Johnson will be ready to crumble anytime after seven rounds from fatigue and a pure beating he has never sustained before.

However, because of the uncertainty about how Johnson will take a truly powerful shot, even early in the fight, I cannot help myself but to back Klitschko by KO rather then simply the late Klitschko round props.

Krakrabbit: 4.30 Units On Klitschko By KO {-215}
Boxeo: 2.15 Units On Klitschko By KO {-215}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: 2.15 Units On Klitschko By KO {-215}
D3: 2.15 Units On Klitschko By KO {-215}