Boxing Fulcrum

Eimantas Stanionis versus Janer Gonzalez breakdown

This is a stay busy fight for Stanionis who has proved himself to be a good prospect at Welterweight and someone that I expect to head towards world level in 2021. Janer Gonzalez has lost his last three fights though they were against good competition. He hasn’t had a win since 2017 and at 33 you have to question how much ambition he has left especially with his last two fights being stoppage losses.

Eimantas Stanionis is a strong technically good fighter with a solid amateur background. He was a 2016 Olympian and competed internationally as an amateur for many years. He possesses good power and has a surprisingly good gas tank considering his work rate. He has a good defence and doesn’t get hit very often even though he is very much a come forward pressure fighter.

I’m not going to sugarcoat Janer Gonzalez’s skill set or chances of winning this fight. I personally don’t think he does anything great and while hes shown a serviceable chin in the past I don’t think it will continue into this fight because hes come in on short notice. Stanionis does everything better than Gonzalez and has also had a longer camp.

I think Eimantas Stanionis will win this fight by stoppage in the first five rounds due to being more powerful and also much better fundamentally. I don’t even really give Gonzalez a punchers chance because Stanionis is very defensively responsible. Gonzalez won’t be able to deal with the pressure of Stanionis and will crumble quickly in the same downward way his career’s gone.

Aidos Yerbossynuly versus Issah Samir breakdown

This is a clash between two unbeaten Super Middleweights over 12 rounds for a variety of ranking belts. Both are on the rise and its nice too see undefeated fighters risk their records in a good fight.

Aidos Yerbossynuly had an excellent amateur career and you can tell hes had a lot of amateur bouts when he fights. He has great fundamentals and has a creative offence combined with solid defence which mostly consists of good footwork and good glove positioning. He utilizes the shoulder roll as part of his defence to good effect which is a rare sight as most fighters are ineffective when they try it. I think he has above average power and a respectable gas tank. Yerbossynuly is also the natural super middleweight in this match up as Samir is moving up from middleweight and isn’t as tall.

Issah Samir has good upper body movement but doesn’t have particularly fast or good footwork. From watching his fights he seems to have power but it hasn’t been shown against a good level of competition and its less natural power and more because he puts everything behind most of his punches. He doesn’t use a jab very often and would rather throw lead right and left hooks which may catch opponents off guard as not many people throw them so looping like he does. He doesn’t seem great technically and I think a good counter puncher or someone with decent footwork will pick him apart.

I think Aidos Yerbossynuly will use his great footwork and technical skills to pick Samir apart over 12 rounds until he gets the KO. I think he can win this fight on both the front and back foot and with his experience should see everything Samir throws as he doesn’t have particularly fast hands. He’s also the bigger man so may be able to bully Samir as well as boast a potential power advantage.

Amanda Serrano versus Dahiana Santana 2 breakdown

This is a tune up bout for Amanda Serrano who has already fought and stopped Santana. Since their first fight Santana has become a bit of a journeywoman while Serrano has continued winning world titles and has become one of the biggest names in Women’s boxing.

I think Amanda Serrano will win this fight by knockout again as she did it before and Santana is even further away from her prime now. It looks like Serrano will try to go after world titles next year which is good to see because as fans we missed out on the super fight with Katie Taylor.

Ty Telford versus Darragh Foley breakdown

This should be a competitive fight between two Australian Super Lightweights who are competing for a variety of ranking belts. It’s an interesting contest because Ty Telford is only 23 and 6-0-1 while Darragh Foley is 32 and 18-4-1 which shows the massive difference in experience.

Ty Telford has a nice jab which he uses often to set up his combinations and almost every punch he throws comes off the jab. He’s decent technically though can certainly be out boxed by people and is still learning on the job. I don’t think his defence is great and he lets a quite a lot of punches through which is to be expected of a domestic prospect. He has very little experience as a pro as he’s only seven fights in and didn’t have much of an amateur career from what I can tell.

Darragh Foley is very experienced and is used to the ten round distance this fight is set for. He’s also a southpaw which could prove tricky for Telford who has only faced one southpaw and he struggled in that fight. I think Foley is capable technically and has a little bit of power which should be effective at this level. He keeps his hands low a lot of time which leads to him getting caught by people that are technically better for him as he takes a while to find his range.

I think this will be a close fight where Darragh Foley’s experience will be enough to take him to a decision win. I think in the past Foley has struggled with opponents who are taller and better technically than him which isn’t the case in this match up.

Wilfredo Mendez versus Alexis Diaz breakdown

Mendez is making the third defence of his WBO Minimum weight title which he won in 2019. Alexis Diaz hasn’t done anything to deserve this title shot and is being used as a tune up in my opinion. Mendez has said he wants to start unifying the division though with it being minimum weight there isn’t much money involved so I’d be surprised if the fights happened.

Wilfredo Mendez is decent technically though nothing special. He has acceptable power for a minimum weight but again not anything special for the weight class. He’s a decent counter puncher and fights mostly off the back foot. He’s in his prime at 24 which could play a big factor in this fight as Diaz is 33 and old for a minimum weight.

Alexis Diaz isn’t terrible technically but most of his focus is on big power punches. He seems to be a good puncher for a minimum weight though it hasn’t been against the best competition so far. The two times hes stepped up to world level hes been stopped within six rounds and I don’t envision him suddenly getting better at the age of 33.

I expect Wilfredo Mendez to make a successful title defence by stoppage due to being younger and also having the better boxing skills combined with being more durable.

Tim Tszyu versus Bowyn Morgan breakdown

I think this is a solid fight where Tim Tszyu will start the clear favorite. Tszyu is the son of the legend Kostya Tszyu and before his most recent fight with Jeff Horn was seen as somebody who wasn’t that great and was simply living off his fathers name. He put in a great performance by totally dominating Jeff Horn who had no real answers to dealing with Tszyu’s technical and physical prowess.

Tim Tszyu is good technically and has a great one-two which he is very accurate with. He’s not great at fighting on the inside but hes strong enough that he doesn’t get bullied when it goes there. He has decent power though isn’t a big one punch KO artist and I’d be surprised if his power fully translates up to world level. His defence is solid enough for a fighter that is just breaking into fringe world level and at the age of 26 has time to improve before getting to a title shot.

Bowyn Morgan isn’t great technically in my opinion as he doesn’t turn into his punches that much and throws the same hooks again and again. He very rarely throws straight punches or uppercuts. He does do good work to the body which has folded a few opponents however none on the level of Tszyu. I think hes not terrible defensively however is open to uppercuts as he leans over his front foot a bit.

I think Tim Tszyu will win this fight by stoppage in round six or seven due to having more power and being better technically. He has much more variety to his offence and doesn’t just throw hooks after walking into range.

Liam Wilson versus Rodynie Rafol breakdown

This is a nice test for Wilson but also one that in my opinion hes past at this point in his career. He scored a good win over Jesus Cuadro where he became the first person to stop him. He’s had one tune up bout since and this fight is in my opinion another tune up bout which is understandable during a global pandemic.

Rodynie Rafol is a domestic fighter in Australia who has had mixed results at that level. I would describe him as a bit of a club fighter as he has close to a 50/50 record but still beats some people domestically.

Liam Wilson was a good amateur and has made a great start to his pro career so far. He’s got good power and has the boxing skills to back that power up. I think hes already shown hes levels above someone like Rafol and this should be a bit of a showcase for the rising Super Featherweight prospect.

I think Liam Wilson should be able to win a decision after six rounds as Rafol is very tough and doesn’t get stopped often. I think this will be a fairly one sided bout as Wilson is levels above both in terms of technical skills and power.

Ryoji Fukunaga versus Kenta Nakagawa breakdown

This should be a good fight between two rising Japanese Super Flyweights. Both are on good wins streaks and are unifying the Japanese and OPBF super flyweight titles.

Both men are similar in height and surprisingly enough are both southpaws which is rare. I think both aren’t great technically but they are still proficient for domestic level. Fukunaga certainly holds a power advantage as all twelve of his wins have come by stoppage with a few of those wins coming against good opposition. Nakagawa is probably the better boxer of the two but has come unstuck against a puncher before.

I expect this fight to be very even for the early and middle rounds until Fukunaga’s power starts to wear Nakagawa down and he gets a late stoppage. This is a really good match up and its good to see them unify the titles domestically to really prove which one can move to the top of the domestic food chain.

Hiroki Okada versus Izuki Tomioka breakdown

This is a good comeback fight for Okada who has lost two in a row albeit to good competition in America. Tomioka is a decent domestic fighter in Japan who has had mixed results when fighting the best domestically.

Hiroki Okada is a decent technical boxer who has respectable power. In Japan he mostly dominated the domestic opponents he faced and only lost when stepping up to the International stage. He has been stopped twice however those were versus bigger punchers than Tomioka.

Izuki Tomioka is a decent domestic fighter but isn’t as experienced as Okada is. They’ve had mixed results versus other domestic fighters however all of their defeats were close and at the time of their stoppage losses they were very close on the cards or even ahead in one case.

I think Hiroki Okada should be able to win by stoppage due to his experience and superior power as Tomioka isn’t a big puncher by any means. I also think that unless Okada has lost a step that he should still be good enough to beat most domestic opposition in Japan.

Chris Colbert versus Jaime Arboleda breakdown

This should be a competitive fight between two young super featherweights. Chris Colbert is the dark horse of the next generation of American fighters while Arboleda is a fighter from Panama who has made an impact in America but needs to win this fight to truly break through.

I think Chris Colbert will win because hes better technically and also has sneaky power which I see hurting Arboleda who has shown a questionable chin on occasions. He’s lost by knockout once and in his last fight was dropped and badly hurt in the 12th round. I predict Colbert will win by stoppage in the second half of the fight.