Saturday March 9
Fox 8 pm ET Shawn Porter vs Yordenis Ugas
DAZN Joe Smith vs Dmitry Bivol
Fox 8 pm ET
WBC Welterweight Title
Shawn Porter (29-2-1) vs Yordenis Ugas (24-3)
-This is a solid main event for Fox on a Saturday night. Porter is the much more well known fighter and the more accomplished fighter. Ugas is solid though and has been improving and will be coming to fight. Porter is one of the top 5 welters in the world and that says a lot because the division is stacked. He holds wins over Adrien Broner,Paulie Malignaggi and Danny Garcia and lost a very close fight to Keith Thurman. A short stocky fighter, he is very strong for his weight and is extremely aggressive. He gets the job done although it is not always pretty and at times can almost be described as mauling. He has good but not great power and a good chin. He is known as a dirty fighter although in his defense I think most of the time it is unintentional. Headbutts are very common in his fights, as a short aggressive fighter who charges in it is inevitable they are going to happen. Both his losses were close decisions to two very good fighters, Keith Thurman and Kell Brook.
-Ugas is a Cuban fighter and holds a ton of great experience coming up through the Cuban amateur system which is probably the best in the world. He is skilled with good power and a good chin. Since his last loss, a close decision to contender Amir Imam he has reeled off 9 straight wins including solid ones against Bryant Perella, Thomas Dulorme and Ray Robinson. He has worked his way into this position and I believe he will make the most of it.
-I think this will end up being very competitive. The way Porter charges in he can be susceptible to getting hit coming in and counterpunched, both things that Ugas is good at. When it comes to skills Ugas is the better fighter but the question here will be can he handle the physicality and energy that Porter brings. A part of me wants to pick the upset but I think Porter is just a little too good and will squeak out a win.
Prediction
Porter by majority decision
DAZN
Turning Stone Casino
WBA Light Heavy Title
Dmitry Bivol (15-0) vs Joe Smith (24-2)
- This is a fight that puts a very skilled boxer/puncher in Bivol against a pure power puncher in Smith. When it comes to skills this is not close. Bivol had a lot of amateur experience and very quickly started fighting and beating solid pros early in his career. He has wins against Jean Pascal, Sullivan Barrera and Isaac Chilemba. His power is decent but he is undersized at 175 pounds and is planning a move to 168 after this fight. He’s a mover but not a runner. Using good footwork and circling his opponents he steps in with very solid combinations and then steps back out. His punches are very crisp and looks very smooth, the kind of fighter you would watch if you wanted to learn good technical boxing. He has shown one punch power before but as is competition has picked up his style has become more of a boxer than a puncher.
-Smith is the quintessential blue collar boxer. Decent amateur career but nothing spectacular he built up his career fighting on small club shows in the NYC and Long Island area. He did this all while working a full time construction job. His big break came when on national television as a 25-1 underdog he knocked out top contender Andrew Fonfara in the first round. He parlayed that into an opportunity against Bernard Hopkins, who at 52 was past his best but was still good enough to beat a lot of fighters. Smith dominated the fight and became the first guy to stop Hopkins and sent him into retirement. A loss to contender Sullivan Barrera by decision after that in a fight where he scored an early knockdown but got his jaw broke early and fought the rest of the fight with it but lost a decision. A quick first round KO win in a comeback fight and he is back in the big time. Smith does nothing special when it comes to boxing skills but he is very tough with a good chin and is, if not the best, one of the best pure punchers in the light heavyweight division. If he hits you on the chin he is going to hurt you and he throws bombs and is always going for the KO.
-I think this has the potential to be a one sided fight if Bivol boxes and avoids Smith’s power. The only way Smith wins is if he lands a bomb and knocks Bivol out and I think it is possible but not plausible. The gap in skills makes it hard to pick against Bivol although Smith is tough so I can see it going the distance. Smith will always be in the fight because of his power but against a guy like Bivol it is hard to land that shot.
Prediction
Bivol by Unanimous Decision
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