HBO Fight Preview

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Bryan Vera

If you're a fan of boxing and controversy than HBO has just what you need this Saturday night.  The card will be headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera in a rematch of their September 2013 fight that ended with Chavez Jr. winning a highly controversial unanimous decision.  The controversy for that fight started before the fighters even entered the ring.  The fight was supposed to be a 12 round super middleweight bout but Chavez Jr. failed to make weight.  After some negotiating the fight was rescheduled for 10 rounds at 173 pounds.  This time around the fight will be 12 rounds in the super middleweight division, if all goes as planned.  Fans of both fighters have been arguing who actually won that fight for six months now and come Saturday night all of the arguing will cease and fans will find out who the better pugilist really is.

Chavez Jr. brought the power in their 1st bout

Fans of Chavez Jr. hope that this time around things have truly changed.  They hope he takes training seriously for the first time in a long time and shows a new dedication to the sport.  One thing that has changed for Chavez Jr. is that he recently became a father for the first time and perhaps that new responsibility has matured him.

If Chavez Jr. comes to the ring in shape and prepared his talent should really shine.  He has a very fan friendly style, he comes straight forward and loves to throw heavy leather from the inside.  Since Chavez Jr. does come straight forward he will take his fair share of punishment but he has a granite chin and has never been down as a pro.  There are no tricks to Chavez Jr's game, he will try to get inside on Vera and slug it out and he will be there for Vera to hit back.  Part of what makes Chavez Jr. so exciting is the fact that he seems to have absolute confidence in his skills and doesn't mind taking two punches to land one.

Until he met Sergio Martinez in 2012 Chavez Jr. was an undefeated fighter.  He lost that fight but almost knocked Martinez out in the final round.  Now his record stands at 47-1-1 including his controversial win over Vera.  If you look at the resume of Chavez Jr. it is sure to impress, he has fought Martinez, Andy Lee, Marco Antonio Rubio, Peter Manfredo Jr., Sebastian Zbik, John Duddy, and Carlos Molina all of whom are quality fighters.  And besides his loss to Martinez and his draw against Molina he has usually dominated them all.  This rematch against Vera is somewhat of a do or die bout for Chavez Jr..  If he wins he can continue on his path to stardom but if he comes in out of shape or losses, boxing fans may have seen enough.

Vera will try to prove he did win the 1st fight

Fans certainly haven't seen enough of Vera.  After his first fight with Chavez Jr. he earned a lot of new fans with his gutsy performance.  Vera was able to control the pace of that fight by throwing more punches than Chavez Jr. and bringing the action to the bigger fighter.  However Vera didn't move around the ring as much as he should have and Chavez Jr. was able to land some very heavy shots, especially in the second half of the fight.  This time around Vera should stay busy offensively but but make sure to move in and out so he isn't there for Chavez Jr. to hit.  

Chavez Jr. isn't the only one with an impressive resume, Vera has also fought many top boxers.  He has faced off against Serhiy Dzinziruk, Sergio Mora twice, Andy Lee twice,  and James Kirkland.  Unfortunately Vera lost the majority of those fights but he has never been protected as a fighter and has always had to take on the best available.  His record is 23-7 with 14 knockouts but would certainly be much better had he been with a bigger promoter who helped move him along slowly.  A win against Chavez Jr. would really raise the profile of Vera and keep him fighting on HBO for the foreseeable future.

This fight should play out in a similar fashion to the first bout except Vera will probably move in and out more and Chavez Jr. should be in better shape and sharper.  Like the first time around Vera will be more active and throw the higher volume of punches but Chavez Jr. will be landing the cleaner, harder punches.  If the fight goes the distance there could very well be another controversy.  Some judges prefer a higher volume puncher while others favor the boxer who lands the heavier punches.  Hopefully for the sake of fans one fighter steps his game up and wins decisively.

PREDICTION: Bryan Vera will once again impress fans with his heart but that won't be enough to win this fight.  Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. should be in much better shape than in their previous fight and that will allow him to land even more power punches than he did last time.  Chavez Jr. will start to break Vera down in the middle rounds and win this fight via 10th round stoppage.       

Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Orlando Salido

If the main event of Saturday's HBO card isn't intriguing enough than the co-feature should be.  The fight features two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko as he takes on Orlando Salido in the featherweight division for Salido's WBO title belt.  A boxer fighting for a title in only his second pro fight is unheard of and if Lomachenko can pull it off he would be making history.  However he will need to get through the war test veteran Salido if he wants to make that history happen.

Lomachenko would make history with a win

Lomachenko is one of the greatest amateur boxers of all-time with a reported record of 396-1 and he avenged that lone loss twice.  He won gold medals at the London and Beijing Olympics in 2008 & 2012 and also won numerous medals in the World and European Amateur Championships.  His record as a pro is 1-0 with 1 knockout and he was extremely impressive in that fight.

Lomachenko is like most top amateur boxers who turn pro.  He is very sound defensively and moves in and out extremely well.  Perhaps his best attribute is his insanely fast hands.  When watching Lomachenko do pad work you have to check to see if the TV is in fast forward because his hands are that quick.  But his hands aren't just fast they are also very powerful which he showed in his debut fight when he scored a 4th round knockout.  Lomachenko has all the talent in the world but it remains to be seen if he is ready for a veteran fighter like Salido yet.

Salido looked as dangerous as ever in October

Salido is as tough as they come.  He is your typical Mexican fighter with the heart of a warrior who loves to brawl.  Salido isn't the most skilled fighter in the world but he is very fun to watch.  His defense isn't great and he can tend to reach with his punches but when he can get to the inside he is much better.  Salido loves to fight in a phone booth where he can maul his opponent and land heavy punches to the body.  One thing is for sure, if Salido can catch up to Lomachenko he will really test his heart and chin.

It says something about a fighter who has over 10 losses on his resume but still stays on TV, it says he is very exciting to watch.  Salido is just that, an exciting fighter with a record of 40-12-2 with 28 knockouts.  He has always fought the best including Mikey Garcia, Juan Manuel Lopez twice, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Robert Guerrero, and Juan Manuel Marquez.  While Salido has lost a lot it hasn't turned fans away who love to watch him wage war in the ring.  Lomachenko could be a champion someday but Salido will do his best to make sure that day isn't this Saturday.    

Both Lomachenko and Salido were on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley undercard and both won by knockout so when this fight was made it really had fans buzzing.  Some fans were saying that Lomachenko is to talented for Salido but others were saying that Salido was to tough for Lomachenko to face this soon.  Lomachenko will need to do his best to keep Salido from making this a phone booth fight.  He should make use of a strong jab and quick lateral movement to outbox the slower Salido.  Across the ring Salido should do anything he can to make this an inside fight where he can land power shots and use every veteran trick in the book.  Whoever controls the distance should win this fight.

PREDICTION: Orlando Salido has the power and experience to beat Vasyl Lomachenko but he may not have the speed.  Lomachenko has the talent that not many other fighters do and as long as he doesn't try to stand and trade with Salido he will win this fight via unanimous decision.