Kyle’s boxing picks 7/28/2018

Dillian Whyte-Joseph Parker TV TBA

-A very interesting heavyweight fight this weekend between two legit top 10 guys. The winner of this will set themselves up for a major fight. Each guy has one loss and it is to the same guy, Anthony Joshua. The way they lost though and how they fought him were very different. 

In my opinion on any given night Whyte can beat anyone in the heavyweight division. He is an aggressive come forward big puncher who has a lot of heart and looks to mix it up. Even though  it was Parker who held a piece of the heavyweight title I believe that Whyte has fought and beat the higher level of competition. His loss to Joshua was more impressive as well. While Parker fought a safety first fight where he never really took a chance and seemed content to lose a decision, it was Whyte who gave Joshua his toughest fight outside of Wladimir Klitschko. Whyte hurt Joshua badly and gave him all he could handle until he got stopped in the mid rounds. He has also fought an all out war against Derek Chisora which proved he can fight at a fast pace for 12 rounds if he can not hurt you and get you out of there. 

As for Parker, he is a very good fundamental fighter with a good jab, a good chin and decent power. As his level of competition has risen his knockout percentage has gone down. He also has faded badly in some fights in the later rounds, most notably against Carlos Takam. I give him a lot of credit for jumping right back in with a top heavyweight in his first fight back after fighting Anthony Joshua. 

Prediction- I am going with Whyte by decision or a late rounds KO. I think Parker will start the fight well, jabbing and boxing and probably going ahead after 4. But Whyte’s pressure and tenaciousness will gradually begin to wear Parker down. Im not sure how easily Whyte will be able to hurt him because Parker has shown toughness and a good chin. A good heavyweight scrap and a minor upset if you go by the odds that Iv seen although Im pretty high on Whyte so in my eyes he is the better more accomplished fighter with a bigger upside. 

Robert Easter- Mikey Garcia Saturday night Showtime

-Another interesting fight for a lightweight belt involving an undefeated champion and one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. Stylewise it can shape up to be an exciting one as well because if you watched Easter’s title winning effort against Comney and his last win against Fortuna they were both excellent fights. As for Garcia, he is always looking to be offensive and score a KO if possible. 

-Easter is a young undefeated champ who will be taking a significant step up in competition. He has beaten good fighters, his best win was probably his last one against Fortuna but Garcia is another level. And the win against Fortuna was very close and many thought that Easter lost that fight. Easter’s action style is interesting because he is very tall at 5-11 at this weight class and seemingly could box on the outside with a good jab and not get in and mix it up as he did with Comney and Fortuna. He showed vulnerability in those fights but he also showed heart and a desire to win. His power is good but not great, He won the title in a split decision and has defended it 3 times, all those wins coming by decision. 

-Mikey Garcia is one of the best if not the best pound for pound fighters in the world. In this fight he will be coming back down to his normal weight class at 135 after his very nice win at 147 pounds against Adrien Broner. A well schooled technically sound boxer with major power in both hands which makes him very dangerous. Garcia probably has the best jab-right hand combination in boxing but I have also seen him drop guys with a counter left hook. He’s been tested in some tough fights including being dropped but has always gotten up and fought like a champion. His power makes him dangerous at all times and can get him out of some tough spots. I think back to his title winning effort against Sergey Lippinets. Garcia was ahead in the middle rounds but it was competitive and Lippinets had won a couple rounds in a row. He then caught Garcia with a couple hard shots, started to back him up and it looked like the tide may be turning. Right at that moment Lippiinets loaded up an uppercut from the outside, which is a no no and Garcia made him pay, dropping him with a beautiful counter left hook. It totally stopped Lippinets momentum and Garcia went on to win a decision. Great fighters find ways to get themselves out of tough spots. 

Prediction

-Garcia by Knockout. There is a chance that Easter could go the distance. He has been in tough fights and has always shown heart but he has also proven to be hittable and Garcia is the biggest puncher that Easter has ever fought. Easter also doesn’t seem to have that fight changing  power that could hurt Garcia. So unless he decides to use his height and jab and box which he has not done in any of the fights i have watched expect a good solid title fight with some good exchanges and Garcia to come out on top by KO. 

Christopher Diaz- Masayuki Ito ESPN+ Saturday night

-This is a fight for the vacant WBO 130 pound title. Ito has fought exclusively in Japan his whole career so while he has a good record it is really hard to tell what exactly he has. I am going to guess that he can fight, mostly because Japan has had a resurgence in the last couple years with several world champs and several others have come to the US and fought very tough fights against good fighters. I believe Ito will do the same but it will not be enough. Diaz is a very good fighter, better than more popular Puerto Rican fighters like Verdejo and Jose Pedraza in my opinion. He has great skills including head movement, counterpunching and one punch KO power. I think he will become a very good champion and will be in some high profile fights in the near future. 

Prediction

-Diaz by decision. I think there is a chance that he will stop him but all the Japanese fighters recently who came to the US have shown very good chins and toughness so I think Ito will have the same. Watch and enjoy Diaz though, he can really fight. Remember, this fight is on the ESPN App ESPN+, not regular ESPN. 

After the bell with Kyle

Thoughts and ideas…
-With Oleksander Usyk’s dominant win against Murrat Gassiev Saturday night he becomes the unified cruiserweight world champion after only 15 pro fights. This comes after winning an Olympic Gold Medal as an amateur. Look for him to move up to heavyweight soon, possibly facing Tony Bellew which is a very interesting fight. Il take Usyk. He is a crafty southpaw who throws a ton of punches and fights at great angles. Il pick Usyk against most heavyweights other than maybe the top 5 in the division. He is over 6ft3 and if he can bulk up to 215 which shouldn’t be a problem he can make some noise at heavyweight. 

-A very interesting heavyweight fight coming up this Saturday between Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker. Both guys have 1 loss and it was to the same guy, Anthony Joshua. Parker lost a fairly uneventful decision and Whyte was stopped but hurt Joshua and gave him a great action fight. Il take Whyte to beat Parker. I think Parker is more technically sound but Whyte is a big puncher who is very active and is aggressive. I think his tenacity and power will overcome Parker’s skill. On a side note if you ever want to watch a great heavyweight fight go to youtube and watch Dillian Whyte vs Derek Chisora. 

-Looks like Anthony Joshua’s next title defense unfortunately will not be against Deontay Wilder but instead Alexander Povetkin. While this is a huge letdown to fans it is not a big step down when it comes to danger for Joshua. Povetkin is a legit top 5 heavyweight with a lot of experience and a bunch of quality wins including some huge knockouts. Do not be surprised if Povetkin gives Joshua a very hard time. And if Povetkin happens to beat Joshua it will go down as one of the dumbest business decisions in boxing history because the Wilder fight will go down the drain. 

-Mikey Garcia also fights this coming Saturday on Showtime against Robert Easter, an undefeated world champ at 135 pounds Easter is a tall rangy skilled fighter who will be coming to win. It is a quality fight but one in which Garcia should win. And after that hopefully we see Garcia in with Lomachenko or another top guy between 135-147. 

-Jaime Munguia had a good win against a tough Liam Smith Saturday night. Munguia burst onto the scene two months ago with a total destruction of Saddam Ali who was coming off a win against Miguel Cotto. The fight Saturday night showed what we knew, Munguia has good power, is extremely strong and big for 154 and has a great chin. Those are the positives. The negative would be his defense. He gets hit way too much. He gets away with it because of his chin but he will pay for it as he moves up in competition. He is only 21 though so there is room for improvement. If you think of fan friendly fights based on styles Im not sure if there is a better one in boxing than Munguia vs Jarrett Hurd. Both are pressure fighters who come forward, have great chins and throw a lot of punches. This would be a war. 

-One of the biggest fights this year is coming up towards the end of August and it is between Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. Very interesting fight between two different styles. Porter the super aggressive guy who fights inside and is also probably one of the dirties fighters in boxing, most of it unintentional but he uses his head as a third hand better than anyone in boxing. Garcia is a big left hooker who can also box but is more of a counterpuncher who tries to catch you with a big hook in exchanges. While I like Garcia better I have to pick Porter in this fight. His activity and physical strength will give Garcia problems. Porter has a good chin and will be hard to get out of there with one big left hook. While Garcia is looking for a big shot Porter will be in his face working with both hands. I doubt Porter stops him because Garcia takes a great shot and has a ton of pride. 

-Finally, there is more boxing on TV than ever before. Almost every weekend there are 2 or 3 cards on different channels and times. It is hard to keep up with at times but a DVR helps. For those who do not know check out www.fightnews.com. It is an informative site that updates boxing news from around the world 24/7 but more importantly if you look at the right hand side as you scroll down it has the tv schedule of fights for the upcoming week. It lists the channel, the fighters, the date and the time. While they miss something once in a while for the most part they are extremely accurate and thorough. I constantly check it and it is the main reason I rarely miss a fight that is on tv.

Kyle’s Boxing Picks 7/21/2018

This coming Saturday there are two very interesting fights. The first is on HBO and is Jaime Mungia’s first title defense after his brutal KO of Saddam Ali. He will be fighting Liam Smith from England. Smith’s only loss was a late rounds stoppage to Canelo a couple years back. Smith is a sturdy strong junior middle who takes a good shot. Munguia is a big punching aggressive come forward fighter. This will be fairly entertaining while it lasts but I expect Munguia to stop Smith in the later rounds, maybe around 8 or 9….
The other big fight this weekend is the cruiserweight title fight between Murrat Gassier and Aleksander Usyk. This is a very intriguing fight and should have a spot on American TV but unfortunately it looks like it won’t. Gassiev is a pressure fighter with a good shell defense who comes forward and breaks people down. Usyk is a former Olympic Gold Medalist who is multi dimensional with his skill set. He has good power but also has boxing skills and is a southpaw. I will go with Usyk by decision, while Gassiev is one of the biggest punchers in boxing today I think Usyk does more things better and in the end is the overall better fighter. Should be a very good one though. 

Alex’s boxing picks for 7/14/2018

Alex’s Boxing Picks for 7/14/2018-

Regis Prograis vs Juan Jose Velasco- The opening part of the dual network fight this weekend sees top contender in the 140lb division Regis Prograis facing off against Juan Jose Velasco. Prograis is coming off of a dominant knock out of former champ and Crawford victim, Julius Indongo. This fight was a beat down with Prograis just taking over from the 1st round and just overpowering Indongo en route to a stoppage that could have come sooner. I actually think his previous knock out win over the previously unbeaten Joel Diaz Jr was more impressive. Either way Prograis has made a name for himself as an aggressive pressure fighter with power in both hands. This fight is meant to be the lead up to a fall fight with Jose Ramirez for a 140 title. His opponent is the unknown Juan Jose Velasco from Argentina. For being pro only 4 years he has a good amount of fights at 20(12)-0 for a career record so far. The issue Is he has faced no one near the quality of opponent that Regis Prograishas. This matchup on paper that looks like a showcase for Prograis. Bob Arum is using this fight to introduce Prograis to the mainstream and get his name out there for the fight later this year with Jose Ramirez. I don’t want to speak ill of Velasco but I don’t see him being a threat to Prograis in this fight. It will be fun while it lasts but ultimately I think Prograis will walk him down and then break him down forcing a stoppage in the first third of the fight.

Pick- Prograis TKO inside 4

Manny Pacquiao vs Lucas Matthysse- The main event of the weekend being broadcast exclusively on ESPN+ starting at 9. The fight had a rocky road to coming around due to repeated issues with the money. Thankfully they were able to resolve the issues and we are good to go. Pacquiao has not fought since his very suspect decision loss against Jeff Horn a year ago in Australia. In that fight it looked like age had caught up to Manny in a hurry, he didn’t have the drive, legs looked gone, and he fought more on pride then with purpose. We saw a brief flash of greatness in the 9th round when he almost was able to put Horn away but that was really it. Now I think he deserved a narrow decision win in that fight but the judges didn’t see it my way and Horn left with a win. 

Matthysse is coming off a pair of knock out wins after his crushing knock out loss to Victor Postol a few years ago. That fight was a real shock to most people, the general feeling was Matthysse would stalk Postol and eventually knock him out. Instead Postol slowly broke Matthysse down and forced him to quit in a career defining fight so far for him. This loss really diminished the aurora of an unstoppable killer that Lucas had carried with him throughout his career. 

The logical choice would be to pick Pacquiao to box circles with Matthysse and possibly stop him late, and the Pacquiao that stopped De La Hoya would do that without a doubt. We are now over 10 years down the road however from that version of Manny and I just think he isn’t capable of a performance like that this time out. The Horn fight really showed how much is gone and I don’t think its coming back in this fight sadly. Matthysse will be the bigger puncher but he too hasn’t looked like a world beater in his last fight where he labored to get a knock out over an unknown opponent. This is a tough fight to pick and I really don’t have a lot of confidence with either guy. I am making my pick based on heart and chin both attributes that I think Manny has the edge in. When the going gets tough in this fight which I believe it will (I think we might see a war) I think the heart of Manny will take him to victory. He has been in tough situations before and never quit or stopped trying to fight. The Matthysse that we saw quit against Postol is still there and unless he can knock Pacquiao out I don’t see him winning. I have been wrong many times and this is a tough one to pick. So reluctantly I am taking Pacquiao to win a UD.

Pick-Pacquiao UD

Kyle's boxing picks 7/14/2018

Boxing on TV July 14

-Let me say first off that the best fighter on TV tonight is Regis Prograis, the 140 pound world champion. He is fighting Juan Jose Velasco who is 20-0 on ESPN at 7. The Pacquaio-Mathysse fight later on tonight will get more attention but Prograis would beat both of them if they fought now. Do yourself a favor and watch him. He is a power punching come forward southpaw who I expect to win by KO tonight and do it impressively. 

-Pacquaio-Mathysse 9 pm July 14 on ESPN+….. Both of these fighters are past their primes and have seen better days. This is why it should be a good competitive fight. Stylewise Pacquaio is all wrong for Mathysse. Pac has speed, great footwork and fights at angles which gives flat footed punchers like Mathysse fits. But this Pac is coming off a one year layoff, a loss and a change from his long time trainer in Freddie Roach to a long time assistant who had never trained a world class fighter. This fight in my mind is a toss up, I can see scenarios where either guy wins but my gut tells me Mathysse by KO because it will be very hard for him to win a decision because of the high punch output from Pacquaio.

After the bell with Kyle

Notes and thoughts:
-Watching the Andy Vences-Frank De Alba co feature on ESPN Saturday night and I noticed one thing in a fight that neither guy really shined, not too much action  but a solid win for Vences. The fact that De Alba knew he was down going into the last round, knew he needed a KO and he actually went for it. It’s unfortunate but the majority of fighters don’t go for it in the last round. This could be because of several reasons. The first could be the obvious, they would rather lose a decision than get KO”d trying to go for the win. The greats don’t do this and your all action warrior types don’t do this but lets face it, those guys make up a small percentage of the sport. The second could be because they have a corner that is not truthful to them. Either they assume they are winning a close fight (which should never happen in a competent corner) or they just don’t like being blunt in a sport that demands it sometimes. But credit to De Alba, who finished like a true fighter. 

-Danny O’Connor missing weight and the result of that being that ESPN lost a good fight in Jose Ramirez- Danny O’Connor was disappointing. I thought Ramirez would win and probably by stoppage but O’Connor is an underrated solid fighter. An 08 Olympic Alternate (anyone involved in amateur boxing on the east coast in the years before he turned pro saw with their own eyes how slick a boxer O’ Connor could be. Think Paul Spadafora). I feel bad for both guys. Some may say its O’Connor’s fault, he couldn’t make the weight and it caused the fight to be cancelled due to major medical issues trying. But that is the important thing to me, he TRIED. Unfortunately that has become rare in boxing and MMA recently. We have seen numerous times in big fights guys miss weight by 2-3 pounds and just walk away and take the fine. That gives certain guys a huge advantage. Now you may say, how much of an advantage can 2-3 pounds be?. A lot. And not because of the difference in weight, because one guy busted his ass and probably went the last week eating ice cubes and small salads while working out hard in the gym. The other guy, while still maybe working hard just does not put in the sacrifice, sleepless nights due to hunger, mental exhaustion and  much more. So yes, O ‘Connor missed weight and caused the fight to be cancelled. But only because he was trying to be professional and come in on weight and do his job. Don’t feel too bad for Ramirez, he will get another payday soon. O’Connor missed out on a lifelong dream of a world title shot and probably a career high payday, none of which are guaranteed since he was a voluntary defense for Ramirez, not a mandatory. 
-The Pacquaio-Mathysse is next week on ESPN+. Interesting fight between two guys who are past their best. Several years ago Pacquaio’s speed, angles and footwork would’ve been way too much for the power punching but flat footed Mathysse. Now, Pac is almost 40 years old, hasn’t fought in over a year and his last fight was a loss and he is no longer training with Freddie Roach. Im picking Mathysse to win. 
-The same night as Pac-Mathysse ESPN is showing Regis Prograis’s fight live from New Orleans., This kid has it all, a power punching come forward southpaw which is extremely hard to handle. He has the talent to be a star. Expect an impressive KO because that is what he usually provides, even as his level of competition has gone up. A fight between him and Jose Ramirez, which has been talked about, would be an absolute can’t miss great fight. 
-Going back to the issue of making weight. Its obvious that small fines are not a deterrent because it continues to happen. Sometimes a guy is just lazy or lets his weight get way too high during his time off (neither of which are acceptable to a real pro) but sometimes guys are just trying to fight in weight divisions that their body just cannot make anymore. Either way, I would be in favor of taking a point from the fighter who does not make weight. That way he or she is starting the fight down a point and it is a real penalty for something that is very important. Not sure if it will ever happen but I like it and hope it does.