Boxing Breakdown: Bradley vs Holt, Lightweight Lightning

 Some good fights on this weekend again and ones that don’t involve Heavyweights which means we can all have a weekend to wash out our spew buckets and enjoy some proper boxing action. The big one this weekend is the unification of two of the alphabet soup belts at Junior Welterweight between Timothey Bradley and Kendall Holt. Even though Hatton and Pacquiao are fighting for the real strap at this weight, the winner of this fight confirms themself as the next top contender behind the winner. Also this weekend is the slightly weakened Lightweight Lightning card that originally featured Joel Casamayor vs Julio Diaz and Carlos Hernandez vs Jorge Barrios but injuries forced both Casamayor and Barrios out of those fights.

Timothey Bradley vs Kendall Holt (WBC/WBO Junior Welterweight titles)
Gotta go with Bradley in this fight. Neither guy has impressed me enough to think that they’ll be pound for pound contenders anytime soon, but Bradley has looked better against better guys then Holt has in the past. Holt got the win against Torres, but he was getting his arse handed to him before it and he edged out Demetrius Hopkins in a snooze fest last year. I think Bradley will have an easy time of things after the first four rounds in this fight and will box his way to a pretty one sided unanimous decision win. Timothey Bradley on points.

Librado Andrade vs Vitaly Tsypko
Good matchup here and a good chance for Andrade to put on a show to entice Lucian Bute back in the ring for a rematch of their controversial fight last year. I like Andrade, he’s a no fuss fighter who goes out and throws punches and always gives a good show whether he wins or loses. Tsypko is a guy who’s been in against some good fighters, but not as many as he should have because no one has an easy night with him. I think Tsypko will give Andrade some problems, but Andrade will wear him down and then dominate him in the later rounds before stopping him around the 10-11 round mark. Librado Andrade by 11th round knockout.

Antonio Pitalua vs Edwin Valero (WBC Lightweight title)
This could be a fight for the ages or a first round knockout, I’ll be very surprised if it’s anything but. Both guys bring tremendous punching power to the table and both guys start fast. Valero is that guy a lot of you have heard about who knocks everyone out, but hasn’t fought in the USA. He’s made a four defences of the WBA Junior Lightweight belt that he won back in 2006 and his record stands at 24-0-0 with 24 knockouts; with 19 in the first round. Pitalua destroyed Jose Armando Santa Cruz (the guy who should have beaten Casamayor on the Cotto-Mosley undercard) in his last outing and is undefeated for the last seven years. I’m going with the hype and picking Valero and I think he’ll do it in fashionable style. Pitalua represents the biggest test in his career so far, but at 39 years old I find it hard to think he’ll cause the upset. Edwin Valero by 2nd round knockout.

Jesus Chavez vs Michael Katsidis
The big question in this fight is how much Chavez has left. He didn’t look like the same fighter after the tragic fight against Leavander Johnson and after a few years of inactivity because of knee surgery, it’s hard to imagine him being in any kind of great shape. I think Katsidis will blow him away. Katsidis will start too fast and never let Chavez in the fight and I think there’ll be quite a few knockdowns with Katsidis ending things around the 4th round. Chavez needs something to go his way early to have a chance in this fight. He needs to cut Katsidis or drop him in the first or second round or I think he’s going to be cannon fodder. Michael Katsidis by 4th round knockout.

Julio Diaz vs Rolando Reyes
Too much for Reyes to handle in this fight. He’s a capable fighter, but he’s not on this level.Reyes is tough though so he’ll likely go the 10 rounds, but it’ll be all one way traffic. Julio Diaz on points.

Vicente Escobedo vs Carlos Hernandez
Hernandez is another one of those fighters who I’m not sure how much he has left. He was making a good career for himself a few years back, being the only man to ‘drop’ Floyd Mayweather in a challenge for his title in 2001, and then picking up the IBF title at Junior Lightweight two years later. After surrendering the title in a spirited performance against Erik Morales in a unification clash, he dropped a non title fight to Jesus Chavez and then was upset by Bobby Pacquiao on the Castillo-Corrales II undercard. Since then he’s been fairly inactive apart from a loss to Kevin Kelley two and a half years ago. Escobedo is fairly untested, but I think his youth will be enough in this fight. I’m picking that Hernandez is used goods and I think Escobedo uses him as a stepping stone. Vicente Escobedo by unanimous decision.

Boxing Breakdown: Andrade vs Bute and more

With the UFC taking the cake in terms of quality fight action, I thought I’d get the focus off the boxing and onto the UFC. However, I can’t do that without mentioning these four fights that are up this weeken because despite not being as big as other boxing matches that are on around this time, they still deserve the attention because there’s some good fights on this weekend. Some big action in the Super Middleweight division takes place with the return of Mikkel Kessler as he takes on unheralded Danilio Haussler for the WBA strap as well as a fight between two of the better 168lbers getting around when Lucian Bute defends his IBF title against formidable challenger Librado Andrade. Also fighting this weekend is #1 Featherweight Chris John as well as a battle for the WBC Cruiserweight title.

Librado Andrade vs Lucian Bute
(IBF Super Middleweight title)
Canadian/Romanian #2 Super Middleweight Lucian Bute defends his IBF title against top challenger Librado Andrade tomorrow in this weekends biggest boxing match. While these guys aren’t extremely well known, both of these guys are excellent fighters and this should be a very good fight.

Librado Andrade
The tall Mexican slugger has made a successful comeback since dropping a one sided unanimous decision to then WBC/WBA champion Mikkel Kessler in March of last year. Three stoppage wins with two of them over good calibre opponents (Yusaf Mack and Robert Stieglitz; both fights were wars) has given Andrade a second chance at the title. Andrade is a strange style of fighter; he has the sterotypical Mexican slugger style but like welterweight Antonio Margarito he also has height on his side which can make for a dangerous combination against a fighter who lacks good footwork. Andrade is basically a super middleweight version of Antonio Margarito although he’s not on Margarito’s level. Still he’s a dangerous opponent for any super middleweight out there.
For Andrade to win this fight he’ll have to make Bute fight him. Bute is definately the better boxer out of the two, but he also has some raw aggression which might work against him if Andrade is to land early. The key for this fight for Andrade is for him to impose himself in the first four rounds and do some damage in order to make Bute slower in the middle and later rounds of this fight. He has to force Bute into the ropes and work the body and his uppercut and he has to take Bute’s legs away from him so he can’t dictate when the fight takes place and when it doesn’t. If Andrade doesn’t let Bute know his in a fight in the first four rounds, Bute will run away with the decision.

Lucian Bute
Bute has been on a tear since he stopped Kabary Salem three years ago and Sakio Bika aside, no one has overly tested this young fighter. With his win over Sakio Bika in June of last year, Bika set up a clash with Alejandro Berrio for the IBF 168lb title and didn’t disappoint with an 11th round stoppage to take the title. Bute’s last outing was in February, when he battered former WBA Middleweight champion William Joppy before stopping him in the 10th. With 18 knockouts from his 22 wins, Bute has a solid punch. However, he is probably more of a skilled boxer and his knockout record is more to do with how good his skills are rather then his lethal punching power.
For Bute to win this fight he needs to box Andrade and frustrate the Mexican. Bute definately has the better skillset out of the two fighters and against a tough, strong fighter like Andrade it’s in his best interest to use it. He needs to get in and out of range and use his superior hand and foot speed to land and get away from Andrade. If Andrade tags him he needs to keep his cool and avoid trading punches with him too frequently because despite never having been in trouble in the ring, Andrade is probably the more durable of the two boxers although I could be wrong about that and Bute may have the better chin in which case he could very well benefit from outpunching the puncher and breaking his will, I’m speculating here. Bute’s best bet is to dictate the pace of the fight and fight when he has to and try and frustrate Andrade.

Prediction
I’m sticking with the favourite and picking Lucian Bute to win a hardfought unanimous decision after some shaky moments. Bute is definately the safe bet in this fight because the unknowns about him shouldn’t really have a big effect on the outcome of the fight if he fights smart. If it turns out that his chin isn’t that great or he doesn’t like body punches very much and he wants to trade with Andrade he’ll do well to last 12 rounds but if thats the case and he boxes he should still have the ability to outscore the Mexican. The wildcard in this fight is the 8″ reach advantage Andrade has which could cause Bute a lot of problems if he tries to box from the outside. However with the shorter range Andrade likes to punch at he might very well negate that reach advantage himself and it won’t play into effect as much as it could. My advice to anyone who can watch this fight (for free, although its better then a lot of PPVs down here) is to watch it as it should be a very entertaining battle. Bute by unanimous decision.

Chris John vs Hiroyuki Enoki
(WBA Featherweight title)
The man ranked number one Featherweight in the World (by anyone who knows anything about boxing that is) Chris John returns to take on undefeated OPBF (Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation; its basically like Australasia’s version of the European title although not nearly as Historical) Featherweight champion Hiroyuki Enoki. Not much is known of Enoki, although I’ve kept my eye on this guy since he beat Australia’s former two time World title challenger Nedal Hussein two years ago. Enoki drew his last fight against undefeated Takahiro Aoh in a WBA eliminator. Aoh since challenged WBC titlist Oscar Larios and took the Mexican to a split decision so if thats anything to go by then Enoki could be a challenge to John. However, I really think John is in a league of his own in this weight class. He has excellent boxing skills and good power to match and I think he’ll pick Enoki apart before stopping him in the late rounds. Chris John by 10th round knockout.

Giacobbe Fragomeni vs Rudolf Kraj
(WBC Cruiserweight title)
Did I just read everyones mind when they said ‘Who?’ Well, while I know a little bit about both of these guys, I haven’t seen either fight apart from highlights of Fragomeni’s loss to David Haye. Kraj is a highly touted prospect after beating another highly touted prospect in Matt Godfrey in a WBC Eliminator. Fragomeni is a good fighter but from what I saw of him against Haye I can’t see him handling the better names of the division unless he’s improved a lot. I’m picking Kraj based of his hype more then anything as I haven’t seen him. Rudolf Kraj by unanimous decision. Although with the fight taking place in Italy a hometown decision is on the cards. If you’re reading this for advice when it comes to putting money on boxing, stear clear of this fight unless you get better then 4-1 on either of them; way too many unknowns here.

Mikkel Kessler vs Danilio Haussler
(WBA Super Middleweight title)
Instead of facing former opponent Anthony Mundine (who Kessler whipped over 12 rounds), Mundine decided to vacate the title in order to drop down to Middleweight (he’s since fought at the super middleweight limit which basically shows he just didn’t want another whipping) which leaves this fight. Kessler is a killer and I don’t see him having too many problems with the unheralded Haussler although you never know in this sport. Still, I’m not keen to have a bet on Haussler even at 11-1 whichis what sportstab is paying for Haussler right now. Mikkel Kessler by 4th round knockout in a fight that hopefully sets up another unification fight in this division against either Andrade-Bute or Lacy-Taylor.