Fox Sports 1 Quick Picks

Victor Ortiz vs. Luis Collazo: With the Super Bowl coming to the New York/New Jersey area so comes other exciting sporting events.  One of those events will be a fight card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn headlined by "Vicious" Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KO).  Ortiz will be taking on grizzled veteran Luis Collazo (34-5, 17 KO) in a 12 round bout in the welterweight division.  Ortiz didn't fight at all in 2013 after he suffered a broken jaw at the hands of Josesito Lopez in June of 2012 and instead spent his time dancing with the stars, so ring rust could be a major factor in this fight.  Ortiz is coming off back to back losses to Lopez and Floyd Mayweather and really needs a win against Collazo to get back on track.  Collazo's career was at its peak in the mid to late 2000's when he fought the likes of Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, and Andre Berto but he could never beat those top fighters which left many viewing him as a B+ fighter, a guy who was very good but just not quite good enough to beat the best.  The same could be said for Ortiz who has made his name beating lesser fighters while losing to Mayweather, Lopez, Marcos Maidana, and fighting to a draw against Lamont Peterson.  Questions also remain about Ortiz's heart because he has refused to answer the bell twice in his career.  While you can question his chin you can't question the level of excitement he brings to every fight.  Ortiz is one of those fighters who just can't be in a boring fight.  Ortiz likes to get inside and trade punches and while he does have good footwork he sometimes forgets to use it which makes good action fights.  While Ortiz is a power punching brawler, Collazo is not.  Collazo doesn't have much power and relies on his boxing skills and ring intelligence to win fights.  But just because Collazo is a slick boxer doesn't mean he is running from opponents, the opposite in fact.  Collazo always walks his opponents down but likes to stay on the outside when he throws his punches.  Collazo fought twice in 2013 winning both matches and his recent activity could play a big role.  I think Ortiz is going to come out fast and try to blow Collazo away quickly but Collazo will be to slick to allow that.  This will be a good action fight but it will be Collazo who will be slightly sharper offensively and better defensively which will allow him to win the fight via split decision.

Eddie Gomez vs. Daquan Arnett: The other fight on the Barclays Center card should be very exciting.  It features two unbeaten fighters, both of whom are 21 years old.  It will also be the first 10 round bout for both fighters, this one in the junior middleweight division.  Those fighters are New York native Eddie Gomez (15-0, 10 KO) and Daquan Arnett (11-0, 7 KO).  It isn't often that promoters will pit two young, undefeated prospects against each other so early in their careers so this fight should be something that fans will be talking about.  Gomez is a short fighter for his division and he fights like he has a Napoleon complex.  He is always on the attack and throws every punch with bad intentions.  Gomez isn't the type of fighter who likes to feel his opponent out in the early rounds.  Instead he goes in for the kill from the opening bell and never lets up and if Gomez gets his man hurt don't blink because he will look to knock him out.  If Gomez is a bulldozer of a fighter Arnett is a sharpshooter.  Arnett has very good power but doesn't like to fight from the inside.  He has fast hands and solid defense which allow him to do damage from the outside.  If he has a flaw it is the fact that he sometimes throws power punches from too far away which leaves him wide open to be countered.  It will be interesting to see whose style controls the fights, Gomez and his come forward inside attack or Arnett and his sharpshooting at a distance game plan.  Neither fighter will want to get their first loss so expect both to be very sharp and even more motivated than usual.  Arnett is clearly the better boxer of the two and that should allow him to put some of the early rounds in the bank.  However Gomez has a relentlessness rarely seen and should be able to start to break down Arnett in the middle rounds.  I expect a very competitive fight but at some point Arnett will try to land a punch from the outside that Gomez will be able to slip and make him pay for.  Gomez will win this fight with a spectacular knockout in the 8th round.