Fox Sports 1 Quick Picks

Josesito Lopez vs. Mike Arnaoutis: When the main event of a card is featuring two fighters coming off back to back losses it might get fans overly excited.  However when one of those fighters is "The Riverside Rocky" Josesito Lopez that changes things.  Lopez (30-6, 18 KO) will be taking on Mike Arnaoutis (24-9-2, 11 KO) in a 10 round welterweight fight.  As with every Lopez fight this one should provide good action throughout.  Both fighters have a ton of experience against top fighters with Lopez taking on the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana while Arnaoutis has battled against Danny Garcia and Victor Ortiz.  Also both fighters have been down before but it has come against big punchers and both have solid chins.  The main difference is their style of attack, while Lopez likes to come forward and fight inside, Arnaoutis likes to stay on the outside to land his punches.  The other notable difference is the age, Lopez is 29 while Arnaoutis is much older 34 which is very old for a guy who has been in a lot of tough fights.  Already with nine losses Arnaoutis doesn't have a real chance at fighting for a world title but Lopez still has hopes of earning a title shot and that journey will start this Friday.  Aranoutis will try to do his best to keep the relentless Lopez off of him but the younger fighter will be to overwhelming and win this fight by the way of unanimous decision.

Francisco Vargas vs. Jerry Belmontes: The other notable fight on Friday night is interesting because it features to fighters who need a win if they hope to earn bigger fights in the near future.  Those fighters are the undefeated puncher Francisco Vargas (17-0-1, 13 KO) and the light hitting Jerry Belmontes (18-2, 5 KO) who will square off in a 10 round, junior lightweight bout.  The fighter with the higher ceiling is Vargas.  He is tremendously fun to watch mainly due to his aggressive, stalking style and vicious punching which he does well to the head and body.  Like your typical Mexican fighter, Vargas doesn't mind taking two punches to land one, a style that always brings fans to the arena.  For such a light puncher, Belmontes doesn't mind fighting on the inside but he isn't always highly active and his style can be sloppy at times.  Belmontes isn't as aggressive as Vargas and he also doesn't move around the ring very well which could be deadly against the power punching Vargas.  Perhaps the most interesting factor going into this fight is the fact that Belmontes has never been knocked out and Vargas is always looking for the knockout.  If Vargas can score yet another knockout it will be very impressive and should raise his profile in the sport.  I expect both fighters styles to match up perfectly to bring fans an action fight.  And that action should mostly go in the favor of Vargas.  I expect Vargas to look very strong and to stop Belmontes for the first time in his career in the 5th round.