Kyle’s boxing picks 4/20/2019

Boxing Saturday April 20

ESPN Pay Per View Saturday Madison Square Garden

WBO Welterweight Title

Terrance Crawford (34-0) vs Amir Khan (33-4)

-Crawford, one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world today takes on Khan, a former World Champ and Olympic Silver Medallist from England. At his best, Khan, with his fast hands and boxing skills could give anyone in the world problems. His chin has been his downfall though, being stopped several times and dropped in others that he got up and won in. Crawford is overall very good at everything. The best thing he does though is he knows how to adjust. Mayweather had that skill as well. For the first several rounds it is a competitive fight but their boxing IQ is so high that they figure guys out and dominated the second half of the fight. I expect a little of that here. 

Prediction

Khan is too good to get blown out unless he just gets caught early. I do think his best days are behind him but I expect him to be very competitive for the first 4 rounds. After that though I think Crawford starts timing him and eventually gets him out of there.

Crawford TKO 8

Undercard-

Shakur Stevenson (10-0) vs Christopher Diaz(24-1)…This is a very interesting fight. One of the best prospects in boxing in Stevenson takes on his biggest test by far in Diaz. I think it will be competitive but Stevenson will pull it out. 

Stevenson by Decision

Teofimo Lopez (12-0) vs Edis Tatli (33-2)…Lopez is the best prospect in boxing in most peoples eyes. A skilled boxer with big power he is on the fast track to a title shot. Not much is known about Tatli and he has a good record and Im sure has some skills. But it won’t be enough..

Lopez by KO

Fox Saturday April 20

Danny Garcia (34-2) vs Adrian Granados (20-6-2)

-I expect a good competitive fight here. Garcia is a big puncher with his left hook and always seems to find a way to win. Granados is a pressure fighter with a good chin who comes forward and is hard to discourage. I think if Garcia is able to hurt Granados early it will make life easier for him. If Granados can crowd him and make him uncomfortable and outwork him he can make it a rough night for Garcia. While I think an upset is possible I can’t go with it. 

Prediction

Garcia by Decision

Kyle’s boxing picks 4/12-4/13/2019

Upcoming Fights

Friday April 12 

ESPN+

Vasyl Lomachenko (12-1 9 KO’s) vs Anthony Crolla (34-6-3 13 KO”s)

Friday night on the ESPN App ESPN+ you get to see, in my opinion, the best fighter in the world pound for pound, Vasyl Lomachenko. A two time Olympic Gold Medallist who had a remarkable 395-1 record as an amateur he is now a 3 division champion in his short pro career. A southpaw with great speed, defense and footwork he also can punch with both hands to the head and body. Truly one of the highest skilled fighters I have ever seen in 30 years of watching boxing. 

In Anthony Crolla, Loma will have a tough determined opponent. Based out of England Crolla is a gutsy fighter who has competed well at the world class level. He is a come forward pressure fighter who shows a good chin comes to fight. Not the biggest puncher in the world he looks to wear you down and outwork you. Most recently he lost two straight to Jorge Linares, one of the better fighters in the world at the time. In those two losses though he was competitive and barely lost the first of the two fights. 

I have a ton of respect for Crolla but unfortunately I think he is totally outclassed in this fight. He does not have the power to hurt Loma with one shot and there is no way he can outbox him. His only shot would be to pressure him, wear him down and outwork him. But Loma is always in great condition, throws precise combinations that will eat up a pressure fighter unless they have great defense and has proven to be mentally tough on top of physically tough. He may have a tough time stopping Crolla, who is always in great shape, has shown a good chin and is the naturally bigger guy but I don’t think he loses more than 2 rounds in winning a 12 round unanimous decision. 

Prediction 

Lomachenko Unanimous Decision

Also on ESPN+ Gilberto Ramirez vs Tommy Karpency (Light Heavy)

Saturday April 13

Showtime

Claressa Shields (8-0 2 KO’s) vs Christina Hammer (24-0 11KO’s)

Undisputed Female Middleweight Title

Arguably the biggest women’s professional fight of all time. It pits Shields, a two time Olympic Gold Medallist from Flint,Michigan and an undefeated world champ as  a pro versus the undefeated world champion from Germany in Hammer. 

I expect a competitive good fight here. Shields is the favorite and rightfully so even though she has much less experience as a pro. She is an aggressive boxer/puncher with skills and is very confident. Hammer is more of a classic boxer and has fought all of her career in Europe. Shields will have to press her and try to make her uncomfortable and Hammer will try to box and move and frustrate Shields, who has shown some vulnerability recently. 

Prediction

Shields by close Split Decision

Saturday April 13

Fox Sports 1

Caleb Truax (30-4-2 19 KO’s) vs Peter Quillin (34-1-1 23 KO’s)

This is a very interesting fight. Both guys won world titles at 160 and have now moved up to 168. Quillin, at his best is the better more skilled explosive fighter. Truax is more of a blue collar journeyman who overachieved and has become a very solid pro. But Quillin’s best days were several years ago and he has only fought several times over the past several years. The question here is can he bring back the fire and determination he had when he still had something to prove and no money in the bank. Im going to go with the more active fighter who I think is still a little hungrier in a mild upset. 

Prediction

Truax by Split Decision

Sergey Derivyenchenko (12-1 10 KO’s) vs Jack Culcay (25-3 13 KO’s)

Fox Sports 1 Saturday April 13

This is another very interesting fight on a very good Fox Sports 1 card Saturday night. Derivyenchenko is coming off a very close decision loss to one of the best middleweights in the world (Danny Jacobs) and only a little over a year ago Culcay lost a very close decision to one of the best middleweights in the world in Demetrius Andrade. Culcay has fought mainly in Europe, where they are known to protect their fighters with controversial judges and careful opponents. That does not mean Culcay can’t fight, he definitely can, but Derivyenchenko has fought his career in the US and lives and trains out of NYC where he is consistently getting high level sparring with very good fighters. I just think he has a little more of everything and will be too much for Culcay. Fairly competitive early but Sergey pulls away in the middle rounds and leaves no doubt in a good solid fight. 

Prediction

Derivyenchenko Unanimous Decision

Also this weekend:

Saturday April 13

DAZN

Jaime Munguia (32-0 26 KO’s) vs Dennis Hogan (28-1 7 KO’s)

Munguia defends his WBO Junior Middleweight title against Hogan, a good fighter but not on the level of Munguia.

Prediction

Munguia TKO 10