I don’t think either one of these fighters is great and they have similar skill sets however Mosley Jr is the clear A side in the fight which will probably make the judges favor him. Olivas is also a little bit of a journeyman for top prospects and may go into survival mode as long as Mosley Jr puts it on him early.
I think Shane Mosley Jr will win a decision due to being slightly better fundamentally along with being the A side and having more notice for the fight as Olivas is a late replacement. I don’t think he’ll stop Olivas as hes tough and has never been stopped even though hes fought very good prospects. Olivas can potentially cause the upset as he does have some power and generally comes to fight.
This fight is a little sad to me as Morales Jr is a relatively untested prospect who’s fighting a former world title challenger who’s only 33 but I favor the prospect heavily. Rodrigo Guerrero was once a decent fighter but unfortunately he seems to be washed up and fighting out of his natural weight class which has led to him losing against opponents he really shouldn’t. Morales Jr has youth on his side and is clearly still motivated to get to the top of the sport while the same perhaps can’t be said for Guerrero who has lost his last three in a row.
Rodrigo Guerrero
I think Victor Morales Jr will win a decision due to his youth and still having motivation to make it to the top while Guerrero is at the end of his career and well above the weight class he had the most success at.
It’s good to see Hovhannisyan back as hes a very entertaining fighter however it would have been better too see him in with better competition. Bernache isn’t a bad fighter but he manages to lose almost every step up he has and while you can argue he deserved a few extra wins hes not on Hovhannisyan’s level.
Enrique Bernache
I think Azat Hovhannisyan will win this fight by knockout due to his crazy output and power combined with Bernache being rusty early on due to not fighting for almost two years.
This is an excellent fight between two veteran contenders. Ronny Rios is on a good run right now and looks to be getting a title shot soon. Oscar Negrete had a great trilogy with Joshua Franco but that was at bantamweight and hes getting a little old for the lower weights.
I think this fight will be very competitive but I can’t look past how fluid Rios has been recently with his punches and how he puts his combinations together. He’s also the much bigger man in this fight and will have a power advantage as well.
Oscar Negrete
I think Ronny Rios will win a decision after ten rounds due to being the bigger man and also being on a better run of form recently. Negrete will try his best but I think he’ll struggle to impose himself physically and hurt Rios.
This is an excellent fight and one i’m looking forward too. Patrick Teixeira is not someone people expected to become a world champion but he pulled off a big upset last time out and is now defending his title for the first time. Castano is a talented fighter who has good wins already and arguably should have beat Erislandy Lara.
Both of these fighters throw a lot of punches though neither is especially accurate. I think Castano has the better technique and his swarming style is a nightmare for anyone. He also has the much better chin and has beat a higher caliber of fighter than Teixeira. While Teixeira is the bigger fighter I don’t think they want to get into a war and I also think they will struggle to keep Castano off them.
Brian Carlos Castano
I think Brian Carlos Castano will win a decision due to having better technique and his style being awkward to deal with especially for someone like Teixeira who I don’t see as elite. I think the fight will be very competitive but Castano will do enough to take a decision after twelve hard rounds.
This is a good fight for both guys as they have a lot to gain from beating each other. Adam Lopez has shot into the limelight recently by almost beating Oscar Valdez and then having a great fight versus Luis Coria. Jason Sanchez also fought Valdez but didn’t come close to winning, he lost his most recent fight when I thought he would win and perhaps I overestimated how good he is.
Adam Lopez is a solid fighter who is intelligent in the ring. He knows when to press forward and when its better to fight on the back foot. He has a good jab which he uses consistently. I think hes got good lateral movement and gets out of the way after he throws his combinations. I think his biggest flaw is sometimes losing concentration and perhaps being to willing to get into a war when it would suit him better to box and move. This getting into wars is what made his last fight close combined with not having massive amounts of power though he did drop Oscar Valdez with a good punch.
Jason Sanchez has a decent jab himself though I would personally say Lopez’s jab is quicker and he uses it a lot more. Sanchez has a good overhand right which he gets power behind though I think he may struggle to land it against Lopez if he decides to jab and box rather than get into a war. He seems relatively fluid with how he punches and does have some nice counter hooks which he hit Valdez with. He’s not hard to hit but has a solid chin which has held up to world class power though he was dropped by Valdez just like Lopez was.
Jason Sanchez
I think Adam Lopez will win a decision in a competitive fight due to having the better jab and movement. I think Sanchez will struggle to land his big punches which of course means it’ll be hard for him to win rounds. If they get into a war which both have done in the past then its a 50/50 fight which is effectively decided on a coin toss and who’s more motivated. The winner of this fight isn’t far off a title shot as Christopher Diaz who beat Sanchez in his last fight is getting a title shot versus Emmanuel Navarrete so the winner of this is only a few fights away.
This is a solid step up for Anderson who is seen as one of the top heavyweight prospects currently. Kingsley Ibeh is currently one of my favorite fighters due to him coming out of nowhere and beating good amateurs when hes only been boxing for a short amount of time.
Jared Anderson has a great jab which he uses to set his other punches up. He was a good amateur and has the great technical skills from that background. So far hes shown power especially to the body which he works to well. I like that he puts so much focus on jabbing and going to the body as most prospects don’t.
Kingsley Ibeh is very unorthodox due to not having boxed for very long. He’s got good power though and a really awkward style which top amateurs seem to struggle with. He’s also a big guy and can soak up punches though gets tired quite quickly. He has a lot of grit however and when he does get tired he just keeps going until the fight finishes. I think he has a good natural rhythm and powerful uppercuts.
Kingsley Ibeh
I think Jared Anderson will likely win a decision due to his jab and body work slowing Ibeh down quickly. It’s only six rounds so I expect Ibeh to make it through after making it competitive early, I’d love too see him win however.
This is a good fight for the British Featherweight title between two top British featherweights. Leigh Wood is coming off a loss to James Dickens but showed a lot of heart in that fight and performed fine in a fringe world level fight. Reece Mould has fought no one of note yet and this is a major step up for him compared to the journeymen hes been facing.
Leigh Wood is a fairly big featherweight who punches hard for the weight class. He’s got some decent technical skills though throws a lot of lead left hooks considering hes an orthodox fighter. His defence can be shaky at times though he has shown massive amounts of heart and grit especially in his last fight where most fighters would have been stopped. I think he has a huge will to win and a good domestic level skill set that could potentially get him a European title at some point. He’s recently moved trainers and has apparently improved already but we’ll see for sure in this fight.
Reece Mould has only faced journeymen so far in his career and has looked fine fighting them. It’s sometimes hard to judge a fighter when their opposition isn’t very good so take everything I write with a pinch of salt. He throws his punches correctly with a good amount of power behind them. He has a solid defence and keeps his gloves up the majority of the time. I do think he could set his punches up a little better and he’ll find it harder to land on people as he goes up the levels. I don’t think he has as much power as Wood though its hard to tell against tough journeymen. I think his biggest problem right now is his lack of experience fighting top level domestic guys which Wood has in spades.
Reece Mould
I think Leigh Wood will win by decision or late stoppage due to having a lot more experience and more power. Wood has gone ten rounds three times while Mould has never been past six rounds.
This is an excellent crossroads fight between Barrett who is on the rise and Martinez who is coming to the end of his career though is looking for one final title shot.
Zelfa Barrett is a decent technical boxer though was getting badly out boxed and beat to the punch in his last fight versus Eric Donovan until he pulled a few big punches out the bag and Ko’d him badly. He can box competently both on the back and front foot though i’ve noticed it isn’t to hard to back him up and i’m not sure that’s a good thing for his style. He obviously has power though normally doesn’t rely on it and rather boxes his way to a victory while breaking down his opponents with body shots. While Donovan did out box him it was to be expected to an extent due to his massive amateur pedigree and also him not having as much pressure on him to perform.
Kiko Martinez is a veteran of the sport which is shown by him having 52 fights and a pro career spanning from 2004 to 2020. He’s a come forward brawler with underrated skills and power though isn’t as sharp as he used to be. He’s also moving up a weight class for this fight and while Hearn is saying he looks rejuvenated I personally think that’s just to sell the fight. I think the Martinez of old would likely win this fight and this current Martinez could but I think age and the amount of fights hes had is catching up to him.
Kiko Martinez
I think Zelfa Barrett will win a decision after twelve rounds due to being closer to his prime and also being the bigger stronger fighter. Martinez will land punches and get on the inside occasionally but I think Barrett will control the fight at range for the most part while slowing down Martinez with body shots. Once Martinez gets into the second half the fight he’ll tire a bit and will either just make it to the finish line or get stopped.
This is an excellent fight for both of these fighters coming off losses though in Marinez’s case he was robbed badly of a win. Richard Commey is a former hard punching world champion who has faced a lot of good fighters throughout his career. Jackson Marinez had his first big fight last time out versus Rolando Romero and boxed well before being robbed blind on the scorecards.
Richard Commey isn’t technically the best fighter but he has a huge amount of power and isn’t afraid to let his hands go. His defence also isn’t great but he has a solid chin and more importantly good powers of recovery. He’ll throw in big hooks to both the body and head though head hunts perhaps a little too much. He’s mixed it with good competition throughout his career including at world level. You can argue he should only have one loss to Teofimo Lopez which is of course no shame as Lopez is currently the best lightweight in the world. He doesn’t really mix the power of his punches that much so can become a bit predictable which is how Teofimo timed him for the knockout punch.
Richard Commey
Jackson Marinez is a good technical boxer who fights on the back foot. He has a nice consistent jab and quick counters whenever his opponents punch as he takes a quick half step back. I think his defence is also good due to his footwork and upper body movement. The major downfall to his game is he has almost no power to speak off and its hard to win boxing off the back foot versus big punchers because the judges favor them. He also doesn’t have the experience that Commey does in big fights and while I think he beat Romero I also don’t think Romero is world class yet.
Jackson Marinez
I think Richard Commey will win by knockout in the 8th round due to having a lot more power and also experience. I expect Marinez to either get blown out early or box well for six or seven rounds before he gets caught and stopped. I’d be surprised if either fighter became a world champion or again in the case of Commey however they can be in fun fights in the division.
Boxing Fulcrum 