NBC Sports Net Quick Picks

Amir Mansour vs. Kelvin Price: The main event of this NBC Sports Net card is a 10 round heavyweight battle and has the feeling of "what could have been."  The reason that thought will be so prevalent is because of Amir Mansour (19-0, 14 KO).  Mansour made his professional debut in 1997, going 9-0 before he was arrested on drug related charges and spent eight years in prison.  Then in 2010 Mansour resumed his career in the ring only to be sent to prison again for fourteen months in 2011 for violating his probation.  Now at 41 years old Mansour looks to continue his winning ways and put his career on the fast track.  Mansour maybe be ancient in boxing years but he doesn't look old in the ring, he is always in great shape and his reflexes are still very sharp, all of which should help him against the also very old Kelvin Price (14-1, 6 KO).  Price is 38 years old and has only been fighting professionally since 2007.  The reason for Price's late start is the fact that he played college basketball and then continued his basketball career oversees before finding the sport of boxing.  Something that could bother Mansour is the incredible height of Price who stands at 6'7'' and has a very long reach.  Price will need to use that reach because it is clear he isn't a fluid boxer and can look awkward in the ring.  His biggest flaw may be the fact that he squares up to much and keeps both hands low which is a recipe for getting knocked out like he did against Deontay Wilder.  Because Price has such a long reach he is really only effective fighting from the outside.  If this fight takes places in the pocket Price's punches will look very slow and take to long to find their target which should allow the quicker, more comfortable fighter, Mansour to land some heavy blows.  I expect this fight to start slowly with Price trying to control the pace with his jab and Mansour trying to figure out how to get inside on him.  However after the first few rounds I think Mansour will find success and end this fight early via 8th round knockout.   

Ryan Coyne vs. Lionell Thompson: The other notable fight on this card is a light heavyweight affair that is scheduled to go 10 rounds.  And this is a fight that probably will go the distance since neither fighter is a very big puncher.  The man with the slightly better record is Ryan Coyne (21-1, 9 KO) who also happens to have one of the best nicknames in the sport, the "Irish Outlaw."  His opponent on Saturday night will be Lionell Thompson (14-2, 9 KO) whose most notable fight was a loss to Sergey Kovalev.  Neither one of these fighters is ever going to be the king of the light heavyweight division but they're good matchups for each other and should give fans a solid fight.  Coyne isn't the busiest of fighters and has been protected by his team, never really facing anyone who is anywhere near as dangerous as Kovalev.  He has a good left hand as a southpaw but there isn't much power behind it.  Across the ring Thompson is a busier fighter but also doesn't have the kind of power that can drastically change a fight.  These two fighters are very similar but Thompson has the better defensive stance which should allow him to slip more punches in this fight than Coyne can.  While there won't be many big punches during this fight there will be some sustained action because neither fighter will have to respect the others power.  I'm expecting a very close fight that Thompson wins via split decision.