HBO Fight Preview (January 18th)

Jean Pascal vs. Lucian Bute

Something that boxing fans in the U.S. may not realize is that Montreal, Canada has become a raucous fight city.  When one of Canada's own fights there it seems like the entire city comes out in full force, which should make this Saturday's HBO card absolutely electric considering the main event features not one but two Canadian based fighters.  Those fighters are the Haitian born Jean Pascal and the Romanian born Lucian Bute both of whom has been adopted by Canadian fans as their own.  They will square off for a 12 round bout for the NABF light heavyweight title.

Pascal said he learned a lot from Hopkins

What makes this fight so tantalizing is the fact that both fighters entering the ring are so evenly matched.  Pascal seems like a classic fighter when you look at his defensive stance until the action picks up.  Pascal's skills on defense are very subtle but very effective.  He never stops moving his head and is always slightly moving his feet whether it be side to side or forwards and back.  While Pascal's defensive prowess isn't as clear as Floyd Mayweather's or Guillermo Rigondeaux's but it works almost as well.  While Pascal's defense is his best asset that doesn't mean he isn't a skilled offensive fighter.  He doesn't have overwhelming power but he has enough to make opponents respect him and his hands are fast enough to land consistently to the head and body.  This fight should be a great test for Pascal who has faced lackluster opposition since his 2011 loss to Bernard Hopkins.

Pascal fought Hopkins twice going 0-1-1 but he has said recently that being in the ring with Hopkins has made him a much better fighter.  Pascal's career record stands at 28-2-1 with 17 wins coming by the way of knockout.  It wasn't long ago that Pascal was considered one of the best at 175 pounds after beating Chad Dawson in 2010.  However following that fight Pascal fought back to back bouts with Hopkins and was unable to come away with a win, something that certainly sent him back to the drawing board.  While Pascal has looked sharp in his last two bouts he hasn't been very active fighting only once in 2012 and 2013 and his opponents in those fights weren't the same caliber of fighters as Bute.

Bute may show some ring rust early

Unlike Pascal, Bute isn't as concerned with his defense.  It isn't that Bute is a bad fighter, he is a southpaw who always remembers to keep his left hand planted on his chin but he does have a habit of sticking his head out in front of his body which can expose his chin on the right side of his face.  His fighting style is almost like a poor man's version of Sergio Martinez.  However Bute will enter the ring with an advantage in the power department.  He isn't a legendary puncher but he has plenty of power and has a good long jab that allows him to get inside and land good short power punches, especially a short uppercut he loves to throw to the body.  

One notable comparison between Bute and Pascal is the fact that they both fought Carl Froch.  Pascal went the distance he lost a unanimous decision in a fight that was never really close, while Bute lost to Froch via 5th round TKO.  Bute's fight against Froch took place in 2012 and he has only fought once since than, also in 2012 when he outclassed Denis Grachev.  To date Bute holds a record of 31-1 with a strong 24 knockouts but he may show some ring rust since he didn't fight at all in 2013.  However Bute must be confident if after a year of inactivity he chose to take on such a tough challenge.

They say styles make fights and these two fighters match up beautifully against one another.  Pascal is the better defensive fighter but he isn't untouchable while Bute is more aggressive offensively but won't be confused by any fans with a Gennady Golovkin or Sergey Kovalev.  The major factor in the outcome of this fight will be probably be how much ring rust Bute shows.  If Bute comes out strong fans should be in for a great night but if he starts off the fight tentative than Pascal  may be able to outbox him.

PREDICTION: In an effort to show Jean Pascal that he is game Lucian Bute will come out firing bombs.  However he will be overaggressive and it will cost him.  Pascal will be able to catch Bute early and hurt him which will change the fight, allowing Pascal to box his way to a close unanimous decision victory.

Mike Perez vs. Carlos Takam

The other fight on Saturday's HBO card is very intriguing for many reasons.  The biggest being that it will be Mike Perez's first fight back in the ring following an all out war against Magomed Abdusalamov, a fight that sent Abdusalamov in a coma and forever changed his life.  Fans should find out quickly just how much that fight has effected Perez as he takes on the relatively unknown Carlos Takam in a 10 round bout in the heavyweight division.

Does Perez still have the passion to fight?

Many boxing fans were unaware of Perez until that fight against Abdusalamov and being that Perez is from Cuba many thought he was nothing more that a slick boxer.  While Perez is a very good boxer with fast hands for a heavyweight he also has plenty of thunder behind his punches.  His knockout rate won't jump off the page at you but when you nearly kill a man in the ring the question about power seems to quiet down.  Perhaps the most impressive skill Perez has in his arsenal is his accuracy.  Perez is very good at slipping his opponents guard and landing good clean punches for the duration of a fight.

Perez gained a lot of fans after his fight with Abdusalamov, a fight that earned "in the running" status for 2013 Fight of the Year and was one of the best heavyweight fights of the past decade.  Perez's record is a perfect one of 20-0 with 12 knockouts and another big win on HBO could catapult him into title contention and grow his fan base even more.  Before any of that can happen Perez needs to get past Takam.

Can Takam pull off the upset?

Takam will be fighting in the United States for the first time in his career.  He was born in Cameroon but now fights out of France where most of his fights have been.  Now Takam will not only be fighting for the first time in the U.S. but also on the biggest stage of his career on HBO.  Takam is a physical beats who looks like he could play middle linebacker for any team in the NFL and has an unreal amount of power.  He has a vicious uppercut and can chop down opponents at will.  However those powerful hands often take a long time to reach their target because Takam often throws wide, looping punches, something Perez will be able to take advantage of.

While Takam hasn't faced any real top talent he does have some wins over solid veterans.  His career record is 29-1 with 23 knockouts and his only loss was extremely close on the cards.  If Takam can handle the biggest moment of his career he could give Perez a run for his money but it won't be easy.

The last time Perez took on a slugger it was Abdusalamov who at that time was 18-0 with 18 knockouts, so it doesn't exactly look good for Takam.  Perez looks like a future star in the heavyweight division and he will need to handle Takam and look impressive doing so if he wants to make that stardom a reality.  This fight could be a blowout by Perez and he could box circles around Takam but Abdusalamov was able to land some thunder in the late rounds and back Perez up so Takam might be able to do the same.  And Takam just may land that punch that wins him the fight.

PREDICTION: Carlos Takam will land some heavy punches and may even hurt Mike Perez but it won't be enough.  Perez will win this fight in very similar fashion to his fight with Abdusalamov, by unanimous decision.  We can only hope this time the win doesn't come with such dire consequences.