Fox Sports 1 Quick Picks

Luis Ortiz vs. Monte Barrett: This Thursday boxing fans are in luck because Fox Sports 1 will be putting on what should be an entertaining card.  The main event will be a heavyweight battle between Luis Ortiz (20-0, 17 KO) and Monte Barrett (35-10-2, 20 KO) that is scheduled to go 10 rounds but probably won't go the distance.  Ortiz is a Cuban southpaw with very good power.  He isn't your typical heavyweight who throws a lot of jabs in front of a few knockout punches a round.  Instead Ortiz likes to throw a lot of punches and can smother opponents with his quick combinations.  Ortiz turned pro in 2010 and has stayed very busy since then but he hasn't yet faced any top talent and still has some flaws.  Ortiz is 6'4'' but he doesn't do a good job of using his height to his advantage.  He tends to lower his head and he keeps his hands low on defense.  If Ortiz wants to win a heavyweight title he will need to sure up his defense especially since he leaves himself open to counter right hands far to often.  Ortiz's opponent Barrett has much more professional experience.  He has been fighting for a long time and has faced the best many times including Wladimir Klitschko, Hasim Rahman, Nikolay Valuev, and David Haye.  Unfortunately for Barrett he has lost off of his step up fights.  Barrett has a better defense than Ortiz but his chin is not up to par and he has been knocked out six times in his career.  Look for Barrett to fight behind a high guard and a ton of jabs in an effort to keep Ortiz from swarming him for 10 rounds.  This is a big fight or Ortiz and he needs to look good against the past his prime Barrett who is 4-4-2 in his last ten fights.  It will be interesting to see how Ortiz handles himself if Barrett can take him into the deeper rounds but it is doubtful that will happen.  I think Ortiz will win this fight pretty easily by the way of 4th round knockout.

Gerald Washington vs. Skipp Scott: It seems that Thursday will be the night of heavyweights because the co-main event will also be a heavyweight bout.  That fight will be between Gerald Washington (11-0, 8 KO) and Skipp Scott (16-1, 10 KO) who are both over 30 years old and are scheduled to go 10 rounds.  If the name Gerald Washington sounds familiar it may be because he played tight end and defensive end at the University of Southern California and also was a practice player for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills.  Washington was also a member of the United States Navy which is why at 31 years old he has only been fighting professionally since 2012.  Although both were former football players there aren't many other similarities between Washington and former Michigan State linebacker and professional boxer Seth Mitchell.  Mitchell was very athletic in the ring and showed some good offensive skills before he was exposed as having no chin whatsoever when he stepped up against better competition.  Washington is not as athletic in the ring and his skills aren't as sharp.  He is a very tall fighter at 6'5'' but he has virtually no jab which is something every tall fighter needs to have in his arsenal.  What Washington does have is a monster right hand that can end anyone's night with a single punch.  Scott is even taller than Washington at 6'8'' but that height doesn't do him many favors.  His has extremely long arms and his punches seem to take forever to reach their target.  Scott also hasn't faced any top talent and is already 36 years old so he needs to get things moving forward now and this fight could make or break his career.  While this could be an interesting fight between two late to the game heavyweights it could also be a blowout.  Neither fighter looks like they have a legitimate chance to win a world title but Washington is younger and seems to be the better prospect based solely on his deadly right hand.  If Washington can close the distance and land his right hand this fight could be over very quickly.  I expect things to look sloppy from the start as bother fighters feel each other out.  However Washington will eventually start to land his right hand and that will be too much for Scott.  I expect Washington to win this fight via 6th round knockout.