This is a tune up fight for Navarrete who should dominate and get the stoppage in the first 6 rounds.
Emanuel Navarrete has an incredible reach for his size and uses it well throwing hook after hook and putting non stop pressure on his opponents. He has good power and is always looking to finish his fights.
Uriel Lopez is a journeyman who is better than his record suggests but has no chance against Navarrete. There are levels to boxing and the only benefit for Lopez is he gets a good payday and a big chance against Navarrete if he can somehow pull off the upset.
This is a fight between Andrew Moloney (21-0) and Joshua Franco (16-1-2) over 12 rounds for Moloney’s WBA regular world title. He won the title in his last fight versus Elton Dharry in what was a bloody affair as Dharry was stopped due to a severe cut. Joshua Franco is most known for his all action trilogy with Oscar Negrete in which he went 1-0-2.
Andrew Moloney has a decent jab but doesn’t use it a huge amount. His 1-2’s are nice but his best punches are his short hooks and uppercuts which he throws when getting into range before getting out of the way of any return fire. I think he has good foot and hand speed and seems to judge the distance very well both enabling him to land accurate punches and avoid his opponents attacks and counters. He can fight on the inside and at range but I think he prefers to be on the inside where he can get his short hooks off and avoid any counters by staying close. Like all boxers Moloney can be hit but he certainly makes it hard with his high guard and how he stays off the center line when he throws or when hes exchanging on the inside.
I was very impressed with his defense in his fight with Miguel Gonzalez who was struggling to land many shots on him at all. He’s also not afraid to be a bit dirty on the inside using elbows and shoulders to create space for his punches.
Joshua Franco is a good fighter who throws decent combinations without loading up on every shot. He’s very fluid when he punches and works well to both the body and head though I feel he could try and focus on the body more. He has a very nice jab when he chooses to use it but has been dragged into dog fights where he just exchanges hooks with fighters like Oscar Negrete. I like Franco’s right hook to the body as he gets a good amount of torque and power behind it.
He’s not as defensively sound as Moloney is in my opinion but to his credit he does block a lot of shots and when he does get hit he takes it well. He’s competent fighting both on the inside and at range but I think he is more comfortable fighting at range while throwing 2 or 3 punch combinations.
I think Moloney will most likely win as long as he can consistently get on the inside as I think hes more suited to that style of fighting. Franco can make it a tough fight using his jab and he can potentially drop Moloney coming in as he has been dropped multiple times before. I don’t think Moloney will KO Franco though I do see him winning a competitive decision after a 12 round inside war as I imagine Franco will be dragged into a dog fight again.
Starting with the first fight Robert Rodriguez looked impressive in one of his first real step up fights. I like how calm he was and his punches seem to have some power to them. He’s only 20 so some more fights at this level versus people that actually campaign at his weight class would be good. Adrian Servin had success in the first round and clearly has skills he just needs to move back down to his normal weight division as Bantamweight isn’t his natural weight class at this point in his career.
Clay Collard did what he normally does and upset another prospect in David Kaminsky. I know Collard isn’t interested in trying to be a world champion in boxing so more bouts versus prospects is likely what he’ll do. David Kaminsky was simply matched too early with someone like Collard. Kaminsky is only 19 and a 6-0 professional who had never really faced someone that was going to really bring it. He took a lot of shots and I think he should take a 6 months break and find himself an established trainer rather than being trained by his dad. He has plenty of time to come back and he’ll learn a lot from this fight.
Frevian Gonzalez Robles looks like one to watch as he is very calm in the ring for being only 19. He can certainly work on some things but for his first step up fight he performed well. I think he should be moved up to 6 rounds as he clearly gets better as the fight progresses and didn’t seem tired at the end of the four rounds. Jose Martinez showed hes a decent fighter but perhaps needs more experience and to work on his cardio as he visibly slowed in the last two rounds.
Victor Rodriguez put in a good performance and seems to have some good tools to work with in the pro game. I would like too see him in with slightly better competition preferably someone with experience as his opponent was clearly quite new to boxing. Justin Horsley showed hes tough but beyond that didn’t do much throughout the four rounds. I think he should focus on MMA as I don’t see him having much success in boxing.
Gabriel Flores Jr performed well in winning a 10 round decision but perhaps should have stepped on the gas and got his over-matched opponent out of there. He did say after the fight that he came in with an injury so its understandable why he didn’t push quite as hard as he could have. Top Rank should step him up as hes clearly above this level of opponent at this point. He looks like a very good prospect and if he can start stopping guys then he could potentially be a world champion. Josec Ruiz lacked any sense of urgency in the fight and seemed content to lose a decision. He either goes back to fighting very limited opposition or can continue to give rounds as a B side to decent prospects, the latter will pay significantly better.
Gabriel Flores Jr (17-0) takes on Josec Ruiz (21-2-3) over 10 rounds at Lightweight. Flores Jr looks to be a good prospect and this should be a good test for the undefeated fighter. This will now be the main event as the bout that was supposed to headline was called off due to a member of one of the fighters teams testing positive for the Corona Virus.
Gabriel Flores Jr is a good combination puncher who throws pretty much ever punch in the book. He has good lateral movement and is very technically sound so its unlikely he’ll get hit clean often versus Josec Ruiz. He has very fast hands and places his punches well. He doesn’t seem to have come into his power yet but has dropped and stopped opponents due to his timing and punch selection. I personally can see him becoming a future world champion but the only thing that can let him down is his current lack of power.
Josec Ruiz throws mostly singular shots from the footage I’ve been able to watch. A lot of his hooks are wide and not particularly quick though they seem to have some power on them albeit versus a lower level of competition. He does use a jab but its relatively weak and I think Flores will have no problem imposing his own jab over it. Ruiz can make people uncomfortable on the inside as this is where he excels compared to when he’s at range. He’ll pour in body shots while using elbows to create room to throw short hooks when he steps back which I’ve seen hurt opponents. I don’t think he’ll be too hard to hit especially as he marches forwards towards Flores Jr.
I think Flores should be able to use his height and reach plus his superior combination punching and jab to stop Ruiz in the 8th or 9th round. If Ruiz is to win he needs to get on the inside and make it hell for Flores by using elbows and shoulders and anything to make Flores uncomfortable.
Both Berchelt and Navarrete have had their next fight’s confirmed recently. Neither of them are facing the best competition though that shouldn’t be a surprise as these fights are tune ups before they go into bigger ones.
Emanuel Navarrete will face Uriel Lopez (13-13-1) over 10 rounds at Featherweight. It’s not confirmed whether he will be moving up to Featherweight permanently but we can expect a move up in weight soon as he is a massive Super Bantamweight. While Lopez is better than his record suggests I still expect Navarrete to stop him within 6 or 7 rounds as the gulf in class will be too much for Lopez to overcome.
Miguel Berchelt will square off versus Eleazar Valenzuela over 10 rounds at Lightweight. The plan is for Berchelt to win this tune up at Lightweight and then move back down to Super Featherweight to defend his WBC world title versus Oscar Valdez. I think Berchelt like Navarrete will finish his opponent within the first 6 rounds and a first or second round KO wouldn’t surprise me. The interesting thing about Valenzuela is that hes fought Emanuel Navarrete before and took him to a decision at Super Bantamweight. I don’t think he’ll have the same success at Lightweight versus Berchelt.
This was the best card so far since boxing has come back. The first and last fights were relatively competitive and we got too see some good prospects in competitive bouts between the two 10 rounders.
I’m going to start off with Hector Perez and Juan Torres. Perez looks like he could compete domestically at Cruiserweight and should move back down as hes much to small for heavyweight. I don’t think he’ll make it anywhere near world level but perhaps he could be an opponent for someone on a comeback. Juan Torres should accept fights versus heavyweight prospects as a B side and other than that stick to club level boxing.
Nikoloz Sekhniashvili looked good versus Isiah Jones though will need to work on a few things to make it to the top. I think Top Rank should match him up with guys around Isiah Jones level for a few more fights while he learns the pro game. I think this was his first fight signed to Top Rank so i’m sure they have a plan for him. Isiah Jones will likely go back to regional shows or be a B side to future prospects though at 25 he could do more with his career especially if he goes down in weight.
Bobirzhan Mominov looked amazing versus Cameron Krael. He made what should have been a hard fight look easy and it makes his future look bright especially as this was his first fight signed to Top Rank. Mominov almost got Krael out of there which is extremely impressive. I think Top Rank should put him in an 8 or 10 round fight versus someone like Eddie Gomez or Fredrick Lawson as he can be moved quickly and these guys would test him. Krael will continue to take on all prospects/contenders and continue being one of the best gatekeepers in the sport.
I thought Giovani Santillan lost his fight and in all honesty didn’t look very good. I think other than a rematch with DeMarco, Santillan should fight Sebastian Formella or Chris Van Heerden next as he clearly isn’t a top welterweight. I want DeMarco to move down to 140 pounds and finish his career there as he clearly isn’t a full blooded welterweight.
Mike Plania was very impressive in the main event though will need to fight for the full 12 rounds to beat any of the champions at 118 or 122 pounds. I think Top Rank could match him up with the winner of Inoue/Casimero or Emanuel Navarrete at Super Bantamweight as thats where this fight was contested. I like the Navarrete fight as Plania would be the best opponent Navarrete has faced since Dogboe and could pose him some problems especially if the champion is weight drained. Joshua Greer Jr is only 26 so he can rebuild but this is a crushing defeat for him as he was on the verge of a title shot. If he wants to come back quickly fights versus Liborio Solis or Juan Carlos Payano would be good.
This is a well matched fight that should be very competitive. Cameron Krael is a fighter who has a record of 17-15-3 but has faced a very good level of competition and has some decent wins on his resume. Bobirzhan Mominov is currently 10-0 but hasn’t faced the level of competition that Krael has and this will be his step up fight too see if he can mix it at a higher level.
Mominov doesn’t have a huge amount of footage online but from what I’ve found he likes to be on the front foot pressing his opponents back with lead hooks and 1-2’s. He doesn’t jab very often and instead trusts in his timing and power to overwhelm his opponents. He’s perfectly happy to stand in front of his opponents and exchange punches which has worked for him so far in his career. He clearly has some power and perhaps now that he’s got a good opponent in front of him he won’t be quite as hook happy.
Cameron Krael has a good jab when he chooses to use it and I’d like too see him stick behind it more rather than get into wars. Talking about him getting into wars he has a very good chin and I don’t see Mominov hurting or stopping him. Krael has good timing on his counters and combinations when getting into exchanges. He has good uppercuts but his best punch is his right hook which seems to always find the target as shown in the latter rounds of his fight versus Erick Bone. He does get hit too much in my opinion though if he can draw Mominov into an all out war he may be able to use his experience to beat him. Once Krael gets into a rhythm hes very fun to watch as he sets everything up well and you can see why he is competitive with so many contenders and top guys.
I think this fight will be very competitive but i’m going to go with Cameron Krael to win this fight due to his experience and jab. Mominov can win but he’s had an easy time of it so far in the pro’s and I think this fight may be a rude awakening for him.
This is a fight between top Bantamweight contender Joshua Greer Jr and fringe contender Mike Plania. Joshua Greer currently has a record of 22-1-1 with notable wins over Antonio Nieves and Nikolai Potapov. Mike Plania has a record of 23-1 though has no notable wins to his name.
Mike Plania mostly fights on the front foot versus his opponents and will continuously pressure them during the fight. Its not overwhelming pressure as he’ll often stand just in range with his hands up to try and get a reaction that he can counter off of. When he’s not trying to bait out a reaction he holds his hands very low which has led to him being caught clean a few times especially in his last fight. He’ll often punch in short combinations and he does mix them up so he doesn’t get predictable. His best punches are his variety of uppercuts which he throws often due to his hands being low. They seem to catch his opponents off guard and he’ll often sneak them in at the end of a combination or uses it when hes countering.
He punches to the body well and will double and even triple up his hooks to the body. He seems to have decent power and while he didn’t KO his last opponent he dropped him and visibly hurt him multiple times especially to the body.
My major criticism of him is that he has his hands low all the time and while thats his style I think it will lead to him getting caught clean and often at the highest level. I also felt he was a bit too casual in his last fight and content to win the rounds rather than really put the pressure on and get his opponent out of there. His lapses of activity may also hurt him against the top guys in his division and Greer is certainly one of them.
Joshua Greer Jr likes to fight on the back foot and mostly counter his opponents. He has a decent jab which he uses to keep distance however I think if he used it aggressively it would be more effective. Greer is an effective combination puncher but doesn’t have any punches that really stand out. I like how he times his right uppercut and that may be effective versus Plania.
Greer has fast hands and can be elusive in fights though I think this is overstated. He is accurate with his punches and clearly considers where he wants them to land rather than just swinging aimlessly which versus Plania who keeps his hands down could work out well for him. He has decent timing and has used that to set up KO’s before and it wouldn’t surprise me if that combined with his hand speed won him this fight.
He can be timed and caught clean as shown by fighters like Antonio Nieves and Giovanni Escaner neither of who I rate highly.
I’m going to roll with Mike Plania on this one to pull off the upset due to him showing he has the power to drop good fighters like Payano combined with Greer showing he can be dropped when he steps up in competition. I also think Plania’s work to the body may trouble Greer and I can see Plania baiting Greer into a big shot with his weird come forward counter punching style. Greer can certainly win but this will be a competitive fight and Greer has barely scraped past his last 3 opponents and his luck has to run out soon.
All four Super Heavyweights who won medals at the 2016 Olympic games have gone pro but so far they haven’t made a huge impact on the sport.
Ivan Dychko was a hugely talented amateur and won a bronze medal at Rio 2016 but hasn’t done much in the pro’s yet. He’s won 9 fights against poor competition and out of the four medalists is the furthest behind. This is due to him signing with a promoter that simply can’t provide him fights and also that hes not hugely marketable in America and so no big promoter has taken a chance on him. Hopefully he starts getting fights soon as it would be a shame to not see him in the mix. A contract with any of the big three promoters would be good but currently being with either Top Rank or Matchroom will give him the biggest chance in the division.
Tony Yoka won the gold medal at Rio but I think is unlikely to win a title in the pro game. His level of competition for only having 7 fights is good but if hes too truly make it as a pro he needs to get signed to a big promoter soon. Like the others he’s nowhere near a title shot and is most likely only marketable in France or Canada. He also got banned for a year because he missed multiple drug tests which isn’t a good sign. He came back in 2019 and looked like he might start climbing the division quickly but then the Corona Virus hit and his momentum has stalled.
Filip Hrgovic also won bronze at Rio but has done a lot more in the pro’s than Dychko. He isn’t that close to a title shot but he has a few decent wins on his resume and is now being guided by Matchroom which was noticeable as in 2019 he started to make some good progress. I’m not very high on his ceiling as a pro but he’ll likely get a title shot at some point though it won’t be for at least two years which shows how slow the 2016 Olympians are moving.
Joe Joyce the silver medalist has the best pro win of all four over Bryant Jennings. He didn’t look great in that fight but he still managed to get the win which is all that matters. He seems to have bounced around promoters and trainers since he turned pro and never seems to stick around either beyond a few fights. He’s not ranked highly with any of the sanctioning bodies so doesn’t seem very close to a title fight either. He is supposed to be fighting Daniel Dubois on PPV in the UK so he has made some impact in the pro’s and if he beats Dubois he should become highly ranked as he’ll take his spot in the WBO.
This fight is a very good test for Giovani as DeMarco is a former world champion who has consistently faced top competition in his career. He has the potential to win this fight and get himself out of the role of being a gatekeeper so he should be highly motivated.
Of the footage I could find of Santillan he seems to be a decent counter puncher who feints a lot. He has decent power but nothing out of this world. Its hard to get a read on him really but he seems relatively consistent all around with no glaring flaws. It wouldn’t surprise me if they match him up with Crawford if he wins a few more times so he should be highly motivated.
DeMarco is hugely experienced and has been on the world scene for over a decade so nothing Santillan does will be new to him. He doesn’t have the quickest hands in the world but his punches are normally crisp and thrown with purpose as he doesn’t have the highest punch output. He’s got a good chin that should hold up to anything Santillan throws at it and his defense is decent though he does have the habit of just taking the punishment rather than trying to avoid it.
I think this fight will be very competitive and will have a lot of swing rounds. I’m going to pick Santillan to win because he has the youth on his side and any close rounds will likely go to him as hes signed to Top Rank
Boxing Fulcrum 