Vasyl Lomachenko vs Jose Pedraza
Isaac Dogboe vs Emmanuel Navaratte
Teofimo Lopez vs Mason Menard
This is a very good fight card from MSG on a Saturday night on ESPN. Dogboe has burst onto the scene in the past 12 months and won a world title and defended it very impressively. He is all action and a big puncher, his fight should be fun. Teofimo Lopez has developed into one of the top prospects in boxing. There was a time I felt he may be a little overrated but not anymore. As his level of competition has improved so have his performances. To his credit he has been fighting legit guys and looking great. Menard on paper is probably his biggest test. The only problem is he is coming off a bad loss to Devon Haney, another top prospect. Losing to Haney is not the problem but how he lost is. Stopped on his stool late in the fight after having lost every round. I expect Lopez to stop him a little earlier than Haney.
Picks
Dogboe TKO over Navarrate
Lopez TKO over Menard
The big fight of the night is the Loma-Pedraza lightweight title fight. Pedraza is 25-1 and a two weight world champion. His lone loss was a bad one, stopped by Gervonta Davis in a fight where he was dominated. I was not quite sure what to expect of him after that but after a little time off he moved up to 135 pounds, got two decent wins and then beat Ray Beltran to win a portion of the lightweight title. That win set him up for a big payday against Lomachenko.
In my opinion Loma is the best pound for pound fighter in the world today. You could argue Terrance Crawford deserves it and he is a great fighter but I will stick with Lomachenko. He has great defense, footwork and overall skills. Although he is not a one punch KO artist he does possess the power to knock people out when he decides to sit down on his punches. And I believe that will be the outcome Saturday night although it will probably take a little time to get there. Inevitably people will compare Loma’s performance against Pedraza with Gervonta Davis’s. Loma versus Davis is one of the better fights to be made in the sport right now and there have been rumors about it for some time now. Davis dominated and stopped Pedraza so Loma has a lot to live up to. I am not a big fan of comparing things like that, this fight is at a different weight and over a year apart and styles make fights so if Loma has a little more trouble with him that does not automatically mean that Davis is a better fighter because the reality is he isn’t. But it is a fight I would like to see so I hope it happens. Loma has to get by Pedraza Saturday night and I am never a fan of looking past a guy, especially one that has won two world titles but I think it is safe to say Loma will still be champion come Sunday morning.
Prediction
Lomachenko TKO 9
Thoughts on Fury -Wilder
First of all I thought this was a great heavyweight fight. Fury showed he is the better overall fighter but Wilder always has a chance with that big right hand. I scored it 114-112 for Fury but it was a close fight. Mostly because in boxing you get a ton of credit for knockdowns. The fact that Wilder had two 10-8 rounds is what made it close. And regardless of what the Showtime announcing team was saying, the first 5 rounds were pretty close. You could have it 5-0 for Fury like they did but you could also have it 3-2. I also have to say I was extremely impressed with Fury’s corner. When he hired a 26 year old unknown named Ben Davison to be his head trainer I was not sure how that would work out. But I have to say fight night his corner instructions and work were more impressive than Mark Breland in Wilder’s corner. Wilder was unable to make adjustments and there seemed to be no one in charge. In Fury’s corner even though Freddie Roach was there assisting it was Davison who did all the talking and he did it in a firm but calm way. Breland was a great fighter and I am sure is a very good trainer but he does not seem to be able to get though to Wilder. He has shown no real improvement in his skill over the past couple years, mostly still depending on his power. Fury showed huge improvements which is amazing considering he was suicidal and over 300 pounds a little over a year ago. I did not think two tune up fights against mediocre competition would be enough to prepare him for Wilder but it definitely was. I also give credit to both guys for being class acts after the fight. Overall I thought it was a very good night for the sport and the decision was not nearly as controversial as many people would have you believe.
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