Kyle’s boxing picks 10/27/2018

Saturday October 27 HBO 10 pm ET

Main Event Danny Jacobs vs Sergey Deravyenchenko

IBF Middleweight Title

-This, in my opinion, will be a very interesting fight. A lot of people are looking past Deravyenchenko and already putting Jacobs in with Canelo in May in a super fight. That is a big mistake. Deravyenchenko is a legit top 10, maybe top 5 middleweight who will be coming to fight. Jacobs will need to be on his A game to win. 

Another interesting aspect of this fight is the fact that they have sparred over 300 rounds together in the gym. This means there probably will be very little feeling out because they already know each other. From the opening bell I expect them to try to impose their will on the other guy. 

Jacobs was a top amateur who has transferred that success to the pros. His story is well documented having beat Cancer and come back from a bad KO loss to become one of the bigger names in boxing. A big KO win over Peter Quillin and a close decision loss to GGG are the two highlights of his pro career. And just for the record I feel he did lose the GGG fight. He got backed up the whole fight, out jabbed and dropped. Competitive, yes but in my eyes he did not do enough to win. The only other real legit middleweight he fought was Dmitry Pirog who knocked Jacobs out. For all the hype surrounding Jacobs I feel his level of competition has been very weak for the position he is in. His last two fights have gone the distance against blown up junior middleweights and he also has two wins over Sergio Mora who dropped Jacobs in one of them. I feel he is a very good fighter with good power, good skills but also a little chinny who can be hurt. 

Deravyenchenko is possibly being overlooked because of his lack of experience in the pros. At 12-0 with 10 KO’s it does seem premature to get a title shot. But he was an Olympian for Ukraine who had hundreds of amateur fights and in his short career he has fought very solid competition. He has very good skills and good power and has shown a good chin although Jacobs will be the biggest puncher he has fought yet. 

I am tempted to go with the upset because I feel Jacobs is a little vulnerable and Deravyenchenko is a very good fighter. It is possible that Jacobs gets stopped here. He has been KO’d before and also dropped by light punching Sergio Mora although he got up to win. GGG also dropped him but that is nothing to be ashamed of since GGG is a huge puncher and Jacobs did get up from that as well. I think it is more likely that it ends up a back and froth entertaining fight and one that Jacobs squeaks out.

Prediction

Jacobs by close decision. 

Alberto Machado vs Yaundale Evans

WBA Super Featherweight Title

-This should be a good fight. Both guys are southpaws who can punch and fight aggresively. When I trained Emmanuel Lucero we fought Evans on ESPN in Phoenix so I got a good look at him up close. He was impressive, his best punch being a catch and counter right hook that has a lot of power. His one loss was by KO to former World Champion Javier Fortuna in a 1 round brawl that Fortuna ended up catching him although Evans got some of his own shots in as well. 

Machado won his world title with a big KO over Jezreel Corrales and has defended it one time. A tall guy for this weight he also can punch. 

I think Evans will get some shots in but Machado is the bigger guy with more experience in the pros and he should have enough to win the fight. 

Prediction

Machado by KO

Heather Hardy vs Shelly Vincent

I believe this is the first female fight that HBO has ever shown. It is a rematch of a fight from several years back in which Hardy won a decision in a close competitive fun fight. 

Prediction

Hardy by Decision

Saturday Oct 27 Time is TBA on ESPN+

IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Kubrat Pulev vs Hughie Fury

Both of these guys are contenders who have had title shots in the past. Pulev was stopped by Wladimir Klitschko in a fight where he fought pretty tough and Fury lost a very close decision to Joseph Parker. Both of these guys are very big although their power is very average for their size. I have not seen much of either guy but I feel Pulev may be a bit past his prime where I feel Fury is still fresh being only 24 years old.

Prediction

Fury by Decision

Saturday October 27 DAZN (time TBA

World Boxing Super Series Quarterfinals Junior Welterweights

-Regis Prograis vs Terry Flanagan 

Interim WBC Super Lightweight Title

Prograis is one of the better up and coming young prospects/champions. He is a very aggressive southpaw who has shown a great chin and great power on top of solid skills. He has beaten very good competition along the way and will be a handful for any 140 pounder in the world. 

Flanagan is a former world champion won lost his belt in his last fight in a minor upset to Maurice Hooker. Before that fight he looked like another very good fighter out of England who had a chance to build up his star power and land some big fights. I think he is a better fighter than what he showed against Hooker and he holds a very impressive blowout KO win over Diego Magdaleno. 

This is a good matchup and Flanagans toughness, chin and experience will keep him in this for a little while. But to me Prograis has shown the potential to become a special fighter and I think he takes over in middle rounds and stops him late. 

Prediction

Prograis by TKO

Ivan Baranchyk vs Anthony Yigit

IBF Junior Welterweight title

-Yigit is an unknown who holds a undefeated 21-0 record but only has 7 KO’s. He is from Sweden and has not fought on US tv. For the most part he is an unknown. Barachyk has been on tv a bunch and is also undfeated but has done it against better competition and an ultra aggressive style with power. His last win was his most impressive in blowing out contender Petr Petrov who can really box. I am assuming  based on his record that Yigit is a boxer and mover who will try to use Barachyk’s aggressiveness against him. Baranchyk can be crude at times but he is always in great shape and has had experience in tough fights against solid fighters. Trainer Pedro Diaz took over for his last fight and it was the best he ever looked so it is very possible that he is still improving. 

Prediction

Baranchyk by Decision

Kyle’s boxing picks 10/18/2018

Thursday October 18 ESPN

Jason Quigley (14-0) vs Freddy Hernandez (34-9) NABF Middleweight Title

-Boxing is back on ESPN with a Thursday night card featuring an interesting main event. Jason Quigley is an undefeated prospect out of Ireland who now trains in California. Hernandez is the older veteran who has been in there with the best and always fought tough but is now moving towards the end of his career. 

In only 14 pro fights Quigley has been moved pretty quickly, already owning good wins over tough fighters such as Glenn Tapia, Jorge Melendez and James De La Rosa. He’s shown good power with overall good skills. At one time Hernandez would’ve been a significant step up for Quigley but now it is probably a small step up. He is 39 years old and is coming off a loss and has not fought for 10 months. In his defense the loss was a competitive one, losing a decision to fringe contender Wale Amotoso. 

Several things will be working against Hernandez here on top of the age factor and layoff. He campaigned the majority of his career at 154 pounds so he is the naturally smaller guy here. And more importantly, he has been very susceptible to cuts. Years of tough fights have made the skin around his eyes very fragile and he has bled in almost all of the fights I have seen him in. Make no mistake about it, Hernandezo is getting brought in here as the opponent and Quigley is the A side and expected to win. I suspect that Hernandez, if he is still motivated, can give Quigley a test in the sense that he is tough and can put some pressure on and will use his experience and ruggedness to show Quigley some things he has not seen yet in his pro career. I am not sure how many rounds he can win but  I feel his only chance at winning will be to try and roughen up Quigley and stretch him into the later rounds. I do not see that happening though. I think Quigley will box well and begin to bust up Hernandez after 3 or 4. Hernandez’s skin will betray him again and the blood on top of losing round after round will force a stoppage somewhere around 6. 

Prediction-

Quigley TKO 6

-We will have a blog entry previewing the fights from Boston on DAZN for this Saturday by Friday. Demetrius Andrade headlines with a solid undercard. 

-The new deal that DAZN just struck with Canelo is very big for them. And do not be surprised at all if after Danny Jacobs last fight for HBO on Oct 27 happens that he is the next to sign with them. His promoter is Eddie Hearn who is the driving force behind DAZN and with HBO getting out of boxing Jacobs will be a free agent. Maybe that could set up a Canelo-Jacobs fight for next year. Canelo has to get past Rocky Fielding on Dec 15 and Jacobs has to get past Sergey Deravyenchenko on Oct 27. Jacobs is in the much tougher fight of the two so we will wait to see what happens. Go to DAZN.com to check out the site. So far I have been using it and I really like it. The quality of the picture is very good and the site is very user friendly , totally unlike ESPN’s streaming service ESPN+ which to me is horrible, not in the quality of fights but in trying to navigate around the site. It is virtually impossible to find the fights on ESPN+ unless you watch them as they are happening. If you miss a fight on DAZN you literally can find it in 20 seconds and start watching. 

Kyle’s boxing picks 10/13/2018

Terrance Crawford- Jose Benavidez Jr

ESPN 1030 ET Saturday Night

-This Saturday night we get a chance to see, in my opinion, the second best pound for pound fighter in the world, welterweight champion Terrance Crawford.  Better yet, the fight is on ESPN which opens it up to millions more fans than used to be the case when fights like this were on HBO or even pay per view. This is the new trend in boxing, putting big fights on free tv or streaming services such as DAZN that are a low monthly cost. This should be an interesting and competitive fight in my opinion. 

     Crawford is only behind Lomachenko in the pound for pound ratings in my opinion and he obviously is a very special fighter. I would take him to beat any welterweight in the world right now and that includes Errol Spence, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. He has gradually moved up in weight from 135 and seems to keep getting better and better. A pretty good puncher along with a very solid chin, good defense and a very versatile offensive attack have made him become a special fighter. He has beaten very solid competition along the way although he has yet to have that super fight which could push him to superstardom. The opponents are there, the promoters just need to make it happen. 

     As for Benavidez, I think he is a very live fighter and will be competitive, at least for the first half of the fight. Crawford is somewhat of a slow starter who takes his time building up his offense until he figures you out and then he picks up his aggressiveness. Benavides is a big welter, 6 foot 2 and has a lot of knockouts. His level of competition has not been great although he does own a good win over Mauricio Herrera, a guy who gives everyone a tough time. The good news is he has done what you are supposed to do if you are fighting inferior competition, which is compile a lot of early knockouts. Benavidez is young, fresh , physically imposing and most importantly believes he can win. I know that sounds silly but you would be surprised how many fighters go into fights acting like they are coming to fight but once the bell rings they go into survival mode. I don’t think that will happen here. 

Prediction-

Because of Crawford traditionally being a slow starter and Benavidez being a big strong welter who comes to fight I would not be surprised at all if this is a very  competitive fight for 6 rounds, maybe even longer. It takes time for Crawford to figure his opponents out but once he does he turns it up and becomes a special fighter. Benavidez is a big puncher but Crawford has shown a strong chin. I think it will be tough for Crawford to get a stoppage here and Benavidez has gone 12 before so he can handle the distance. For these reasons I expect a fun fight but one that Crawford will pull away with in the later rounds. A late stoppage is possible but I think will be tough to do. 

Crawford by Decision

Kyle’s boxing picks 10/6/2018

There is a lot of really good boxing this weekend. Most of it is streaming on DAZN and ESPN+. I will list the fights and how you can watch and give my take and predictions on most of them.

Saturday Oct 6 330 pm ESPN+5

Ohara Davies vs Jack Catterall

-This is an important super lightweight fight in Great Britain. I know Catterall is undefeated and a good fighter but I have never seen him fight. As for Davies, he is 18-1 and the only time Iv seen him fight was in his one loss, a stoppage loss to one of the best 140 pounders in boxing, Josh Taylor. Losing to Taylor is nothing to be ashamed of and I expect Davies to come through with the win although I cannot give too much of a prediction since I do not know much about either guy. 

Saturday Oct 6 DAZN Time is TBA (There is not time listed but the good thing about DAZN is they keep the fights up so you can go back and watch at any time you get free. Go to DAZN.com to check it out)

Jessie Vargas-Thomas Dulorme (Welterweights)

-This is a very interesting fight. Vargas is a former world champion who is coming off an entertaining draw against Adrien Broner. He also holds a knockout win over Saddam Ali and a decision loss to Manny Pacquiao. Vargas has a very solid jab, a good chin, good skills and decent but not great power. He does nothing flashy or special but he is a solid overall fighter. Dulorme has had an interesting career. At times he looks like a beast, a guaranteed future champion. At other times he looks very shaky and fragile. He definitely is the bigger puncher in this matchup, I witnessed his power from an opposing corner at Mohegan Sun several years back and he can crack. In his lone title shot he was stopped by Terrance Crawford but that is not a bad loss. He also has been stopped but Luis Carlos Abregu and lost a close fight to Yordenis Ugas. He is a fast starter who fades as the fight goes on and that could spell a problem against Vargas. Jessie Vargas just steady pressure behind a good jab and body work. Delorme is definitely the more explosive fighter but Vargas has a good chin so I expect he can take it. I think this will be very entertaining for the first 6 rounds. I think Vargas will gradually wear him down in the second half and stop him late. Good solid fight.

Prediction

Vargas TKO 10

Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Johnson (IBF light heavy title)

-Another interesting fight. Beterbiev is another in a long line of Russian fighters who have been moved very quickly as a pro because of an extensive amateur background and special skills and power. He won a world title after 11 fights and is currently 12-0 with all of his wins ending in a KO. He is a little stiff and not overly fast but a great pressure fighter with good skills and crushing power. And he has done it against solid competition, I believe it was in his 3rd pro fight he fought former world champion Tavoris Cloud, a very solid pro, and Beterbiev destroyed him within 3. 

Callum Johnson is an undefeated challenger from England who also was a very good amateur. He trains with Joe Gallagher in probably the most talented stable of fighters in Great Britain. His training partner Callum Smith won a wold title last week with a KO of George Groves. Being in an environment with a top trainer and top fighters helps and I expect him to show up and compete. I think Beterbiev is vulnerable if someone has a very solid chin and has some speed and movement. He tends to plod a little with not a lot of head movement or speed. But what he does he does very well and from the little Iv seen of Johnson he seems to come to fight which I respect but could spell disaster for him against a guy like Beterbiev. I think Johnson will land shots and give it a real effort but I don’t think he has the skills or style to beat the Russian puncher. 

Prediction

Beterbiev KO 5

Jarrell Miller vs Tomasz Adamek (Heavyweights)

-Yes, that Tomasz Adamek. The former Light Heavy and Cruiserweight champion who also at one time was a top heavyweight contender who fought for a piece of the title against Vitali Klitschko but came up short. At his best he was an iron chinned puncher who fought in some of the better fights of the past 10 years. He is way past his prime here and I honestly wish this fight was not made. 

Miller is an undefeated top contender who is basically waiting to see which champion will give him a shot. Even thought he tips the scales at almost 300 pounds he is athletic, busy with his hands but not a one punch knockout guy. At this point in Adamek’s career thought Miller will be way too much. How soon this is over just depends on how aggressive Miller is and how much or how little Adamek has left. The DAZN lineup has been filled with competitive solid fights but this is not one of them. Miller is a heavyweight contender so seeing him will be good but they should’ve put him in there with someone different and I wish the commission would not have approved this fight. 

Prediction

Miller TKO 7

Danny Roman vs Gavin Mcdonell (WBA Super Bantamweight title)

-Solid matchup on paper. I have not seen either guy fight so I will hold off on a prediction. 

Sunday October 7 DAZN (Time is TBA announced again. Like I wrote earlier though, if you have a DAZN account you can watch the fights anytime on the app once the fights are finished)

Naoya Inoue - Juan Carlos Payano (WBA Bantamweight title)

-Inoue is a special fighter. His nickname is “The Monster” and it fits. A huge punching highly skilled fighter he is, in my opinion, a top 10 pound for pound fighter who is a come forward skilled destroyer. Payano is a guy who has been around and is a solid fighter and because of that I think he may make it out of the third round but not much more. Inoue is that good. 

Prediction 

Inoue TKO 5

Kiryl Relikh vs Eduard Troyanovsky (WBA Super Lightweight Title)

-Relikh is an aggressive good puncher who won his title with and impressive win against a good Cuban fighter in Rances Barthelemey. He dropped him and clearly beat him. He also lost a very close decision to former World Champion Ricky Burns in his first shot at a world title. I do not know much about Troyanovsky but his loss to Julius Indongo was not good. A one punch KO in the first round. Il go with Relikh. 

Prediction

Relikh KO 8

-Overall a very interesting weekend of fights. In order to see them you need to have ESPN+ which is 5 dollars a month and DAZN which is 10 a month and the first month is free. This is the future of watching boxing and if you are a fan go cancel your HBO and spend that money on DAZN and ESPN+.