NBC Sports Net Quick Picks

Steve Cunningham vs. Amir Mansour: If you're looking for a fight featuring to drastically different pugilists NBC Sports Net has you covered this Friday.  The main event of that card will be a 10 round heavyweight bout between boxer Steve Cunningham (26-6, 12 KO) and puncher Amir Mansour (20-0, 15 KO).  The fight will be in Philadelphia, Cunningham's hometown so he should have plenty of fans there supporting him.  In 2012 Cunningham moved up to the heavyweight division and while his first fight was a win over journeyman Jason Gavern his next two bouts came against top fighters Tomasz Adamek and Tyson Fury both of which he lost.  His last fight was only scheduled for 8 rounds and if he hopes to stay relevant and maybe even get a title shot he needs to get through Mansour.  Mansour is already 41 years old and is trying to fast track his career after multiple stints in prison.  While his level of opposition isn't nearly as good as Cunningham's he does have the great equalizer, power.  Cunningham doesn't have one punch knockout power but his boxing skills are very sharp and his jab is elite.  Mansour needs to be careful not to let Cunningham put him in a trance with that jab because Cunningham has fast hands and a good overhand right, the punch he dropped Fury with.  Cunningham's defense is good and he has only been stopped once in six losses.  That defense also allows him to be a pretty good counter puncher, something he will do a lot of against the more aggressive Mansour.  One thing that could frustrate Cunningham besides the power of Mansour is the fact that he is a southpaw.  Mansour has short arms that allow him to throw crisp punches but he has almost no jab and Cunningham has a big reach advantage and will use his jab often. In Mansour's last fight he beat another fighter with a big reach advantage in Kelvin Price but Price isn't nearly as talented as Cunningham and has much slower hands.  Mansour throws a lot of crooked punches but he can get wild from time to time and he may have to knockout Cunningham to win because Cunningham should be able to control most of the action.  I expect Cunningham to look sharp in this fight and use his jab to stay at a safe distance which will allow him to cruise to a unanimous decision victory.

Curtis Stevens vs. Tureano Johnson: The co-feature on Friday night promises to be full of action from the opening bell.  The fight is headlined by Curtis Stevens (26-4, 19 KO) who should be very well known by big time boxing fans for his knockouts and courageous performance against Gennady Golovkin.  Stevens will be challenged by Tureano Johnson (14-0, 10 KO) in a 10 round middleweight showdown.  Stevens lost his fight to Golovkin but took his punches well for the most part and even backed Golovkin up on a few occasions before his corner ultimately stopped the fight at the end of the 8th round.  Stevens is at a very important point in his career, a win would keep him near the top of the middleweight picture but a loss could see him have to face off against young prospects as he works his way back to relevance.  He did look good against Patrick Majewski in his first fight after losing to Golovkin and blew him out in the 1st round.  Stevens likes to fight on the inside where he can land short powerful punches but he also takes his fair share of punishment.  The reason this fight promises to be so good is because Johnson also loves to fight on the inside.  While Stevens hands may be heavier it is Johnson who has the faster hands and he also moves his head more effectively when he is in the pocket.  Johnson hasn't fought anyone even close to the level of Stevens and he might end up getting completely exposed.  The safe money in this fight is definitely on Stevens who has been fighting at a much higher level than Johnson ever has.  However if this fight takes place in a phone booth it will be Johnson who will be more adept at slipping punches and he may land at a higher rate since he has the superior hand speed.  This fight really comes down to whether or not Johnson can handle the power of Stevens.  Fans should find out in the very 1st round of Johnson has what it takes.  If Johnson takes Stevens punches well to start the fight I think he will be able to box his way to a unanimous decision win.