Fight Preview (November 9th)

Roman "Rocky" Martinez vs. Mikey Garcia

Saturday night on HBO the best rivalry in the sport of boxing will be renewed, Mexico vs. Puerto Rico.  The fight will take place in Texas so the Mexican fans should be out in full force rooting for their fighter Mikey Garcia.  He will be challenging Roman "Rocky" Martinez for Martinez's junior lightweight title belt in a scheduled 12 round affair.  Both of these fighters are highly skilled but aren't opposed to a brawl so the action should be electric throughout the fight.

Martinez looks to rebound after two weak fights

The man bringing the belt into the ring also seems to be the one with more to prove.   It wasn't long ago that Martinez looked like a fighter who would be a fan favorite for years to come, he was coming off a Fight of the Year candidate against Miguel Beltran Jr., had a title belt, and was usually in action fights.  Then came Martinez's next two fights against Juan Carlos Burgos and Diego Magdaleno, two fights that Martinez failed to impress in.  He fought to a sloppy draw against Burgos and won a close fight against Magdaleno that didn't impress many fans.

Now Martinez will enter the ring against his toughest test since losing to Ricky Burns in 2010.  Martinez has a career record of 27-1-2 with 16 knockouts and while he has fought good fighters, Garcia is not a good fighter, he is a great one, so Martinez should have his hands full.  Martinez has a pretty simple style in the ring, he comes forward and stalks his opponent around the ring.  One flaw in his game is that he isn't exceptional at cutting off the ring and has a tendency to follow his opponent around it.  Martinez is always at ease in the ring and fights with a very relaxed style that helps his offense but may hurt his defense.  Offensively Martinez is very skilled but everything looks simple which speaks to his preparation outside the ring, however defensively he takes a to many punches which could be deadly against Garcia.  While Martinez's knockout percentage doesn't jump off the page he does have excellent power and usually drops his adversary even if he doesn't knock them out.  If Martinez hopes to knock Garcia out he will need to stay focused on keeping a tight defense and pick his spots.

Garcia looked as sharp as ever against Lopez

Garcia will be entering the ring hungry to earn another title belt after losing his featherweight title on the scales before his fight against Juan Manuel Lopez.  Garcia struggled mightily to make weight against Lopez and will now move up in weight for his fight against Martinez.  This will be Garcia's first fight in the junior lightweight division so everyone will be watching to see if his power and speed can stay with him as he moves up in weight.

Garcia is on the outside of the top 10 pound for pound rankings but he could crack the top 10 by the end of the month.  Garcia is an absolute machine in the ring, he takes the first few rounds to figure out his opponent and then destroys them with his hand speed and power in the middle rounds.  In Garcia's last ten fights none of them have gone the distance.  Garcia's career record is a perfect one of 32-0 with 27 knockouts and he seems to get better every time he enters the ring.  At only 25 years old Garcia could easily become one of the next superstars of the sport as long as he continues to win and look so impressive doing so.

The first few rounds of the fight should be a chess match.  Will Martinez come out fast and aggressive against the usually slow starting Garcia, or will Garcia surprise him and be the aggressive one early on?  It might be a good strategy for Martinez to come out fast and try fluster Garcia but he will need to stay tight on defense if he chooses to do so.  The middle rounds of this bout are where the fight will be won or lost.  Garcia usually ends fights in the middle rounds but if Martinez can survive and take the fight to the deep rounds his experience might shine through and allow him to win.  Whichever way this fight plays out it should have fans standing on their feet in excitement.

PREDICTION: If Roman Martinez can look like his old self, Garcia could be in for a long night.  I expect a good fight that sees Martinez make it past the middle rounds but not go much further after that.  Mikey Garcia will look as sharp as usual and end the night in the 9th round with a knockout.

Nonito Donaire vs. Vic Darchinyan

Another intriguing fight this Saturday night will be a rematch that is seven years in the making.  The first fight ended by the way of 5th round TKO and before the stoppage the scores were very close.  That fight was between Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan in the flyweight division and their rematch will be a 10 round bout in the featherweight division.

This TKO was the start of something special

In their first fight seven years ago it was Donaire who was the underdog.  That will certainly not be the case on Saturday night where Donaire will be the heavy favorite.  Donaire is coming off only the second loss of his career, the last one at the hands of highly skilled Cuban counter puncher Guillermo Rigondeaux.  Donaire dropped Rigondeaux in the 10th round of that fight but still lost convincingly.  Now Donaire will look to rebound against an old foe who helped jump start his rise to the top.

Until Donaire ran into Rigondeaux he was running through junior featherweight division.  After a loss and long layoff due to injury Donaire will move up in weight for this fight.  His record is an impressive one that stands at 31-2 with 20 knockouts and for a smaller fighter he has tremendous power in both hands.  Donaire has a similar fighting style to Manny Pacquiao and Sergio Martinez in that he moves in and out constantly, fights with his hands low, and can land punches from very awkward angles.  Donaire has a solid chin, lightning fast hands, and power which allowed him to rise to the top of the sport.  Until he fought Rigondeaux it looked as if Donaire may never lose again and if he were to beat Darchinyan, a rematch with Rigondeaux wouldn't be out of the question.  Donaire needs to be careful not to look past Darchinyan who has had somewhat of a career reneissance in the past two years.

Darchinyan had his moments against Donaire

It wasn't long ago that Darchinyan was looking like a washed up fighter and in his last 4 fights he is only 2-2.  Things changed however when Darchinyan stepped into the ring against top prospect Luis Orlando Del Valle and easily outpointed him.  He followed that up with the destruction of Javier Gallo by the way of 4th round TKO.  Those two fights are certainly what earned Darchinyan this rematch with Donaire along with the fact that Donaire's camp has to be thinking Darchinyan is to old to have a legitimate shot at beating him.  But as long as he is on his feet Darchinyan is dangerous.

Darchinyan fights like a pit bull that finally has been let out of his cage.  His offense is wild and when he sees an opportunity he pounces throwing wide, hard punches looking for the knockout.  While he does have good power he doesn't punch as crisp or effective as the quicker Donaire.  Darchinyan's record stands at 39-5-1 with 28 knockouts but every time he has stepped up against a world class fighter such as Donaire, Abner Mares, or Anselmo Moreno he has lost.  If Darchinyan wants to avoid losing to Donaire again he will need to focus on his head movement and try to straighten out his punches.  If Darchinyan fights a little more conservative than usual he could pull off the upset.

This fight has all the makings of a slugfest.  Both fighters think offense first and both love to score the knockout.  The fight might hinge on whether or not Donaire is fully focused on the man in front of him and not looking ahead to who is next.  Darchinyan is as tough as they come and wont want to lose to Donaire again without leaving his blood and guts in the ring.  Darchinyan may want this fight more but Donaire is definitely the more skilled fighter.  If Donaire wins he can get right back to fighting for titles against the best in the world, but if Darchinyan pulls off the upset it would not only be the biggest win of his career but would also earn him a title shot in the near future.

PREDICTION: Vic Darchinyan will come into this fight fully prepared and very hungry, the same can't be said for Donaire who might be distracted by his newborn baby and who he wants to fight next.  However the hand speed and power of the younger Donaire will be to much for Darchinyan to overcome.  This fight should be great while it lasts and I expect Donaire to come out on top via 9th round stoppage.   

 Demetrius Andrade vs. Vanes Martirosyan 

The first fight of the night might be the most important because it pits two unbeaten, highly skilled Americans against each other.  The fight will be a 12 round bout in the junior middleweight division for a vacant belt between Demetrius Andrade and Vanes Martirosyan.  Both men have looked good as professionals and have deep and impressive amateur backrounds.  Andrade won the 2007 World Championships and represented America in the 2008 Olympics and four years earlier Martirosyan represented America in the 2004 Olympics.  This fight probably won't be a slugfest but will showcase to highly skilled boxers and highlight the sweet science.

Andrade has been very impressive as a pro

The fighter with less professional experience also happens to be the bigger one with more power.  Andrade has only been fighting as a professional since 2008 but he has been brought along at a very intelligent pace as he steadily steps up his level of opposition.  Martirosyan will most certainly be the toughest test of his young career and should show fans just how good Andrade might be.

Andrade has never lost as a professional, going 19-0 with a solid 13 knockouts.  He is a southpaw who stands at 6'1'' which is quite tall for the junior middleweight division.  Andrade likes to fight somewhat slow, he doesn't just attack his opponent wildly, instead he likes to control the pace and work steadily.  He has a good crisp jab that he works behind to get inside and land his power punches which he throws very effectively.  If Andrade can use his jab to keep his distance from Martirosyan he may be able to outbox him.  But that is easier said than done because Martirosyan can also box extremely well.

Martirosyan looked strong against Lara

 

Martirosyan has been fighting professionally since 2005 so he has more experience than Andrade.  He has also faced the stronger level of opposition so far, most notably when he fought skilled Cuban boxer Erislandy Lara.  That fight wasn't pretty to watch but Martirosyan held his own and when the fight was stopped due to a bad cut he suffered it was ruled a draw.  That fight really showed fans how good, and frustrating to other fighters Martirosyan could be.

Like Andrade, Martirosyan has never lost as a professional with the only blemish on his record being that draw against Lara.  His career record is 33-0-1 with 21 knockouts and a win on Saturday night could do a lot to help him gain more fans going forward.  Martirosyan is also a fighter who never gets out of control in the ring, he fights at a measured pace and waits for his opportunities and usually capitalizes on them.  Against Andrade he may not have many opportunities to land heavy clean punches but like fans saw against Lara, he can be effective in a sloppy fight.

This fight may not provide the fireworks that fans love but big time boxing fans will certainly appreciate the talent level on display.  This fight could easily go either way, both fighters are highly skilled and very hungry to gain a larger fan base as well as more national attention.  The fight should start out slowly with both fighters studying the other and showing a lot of respect.  However things should open up in the middle rounds and fans could be witnessing the future of the middleweight division.

PREDICTION: This fight may not be the most exciting but it will be very telling about the future of both fighters.  Vanes Martirosyan might try to make this a sloppy fight so he can get inside easier but Demetrius Andrade and his strong jab won't allow that to happen.  I think Andrade will win this fight by the way of majority decision.