Fox Sports 1 Quick Picks

Orozco has been a knockout machine

Antonio Orozco vs. Martin Honorio: If you're a fan of action make sure not to miss this Thursday's Fox Sports 1 card.  The card will be headlined by the young power punching Antonio Orozco (19-0, 15 KO).  He will be challenged by veteran Martin Honorio (32-8-1, 16 KO) in a 10 round junior welterweight fight.  Orozco is 26 years old and is really coming into his prime.  While he hasn't yet fought any top talent he has bulldozed over some tough veterans.  Orozco has really been impressive lately winning his past seven bouts by the way of knockout.  Orozco is an orthodox fighter who puts his punches together very well.  He also has good power in both hands but his best punch would be his left hook.  Don't think of Orozco has a one trick pony with only a left hook though he also throws very good uppercuts and is the type of fighter that will always make an exciting fight.  The big question for Orozco going forward is his defense.  While he remains undefeated he has tasted the canvass in the past and has also been badly hurt in fights.  There is no question that he is a high level offensive fighter but as he climbs the ladder to tougher competition in the ring he will need to sure up his defense.  Honorio should be a good test for Orozco because even though he is coming off back to back losses he has faced a much higher level of competition during his career.  He has faced off against fighters such as Robert Guerrero, John Molina, Juan Carlos Salgado, and Argenis Mendez all of whom are better than anyone Orozco has fought.  As far as offense is concerned Honorio is nowhere near the level that Orozco is.  He doesn't have much power behind his punches and often throws wide, looping punches.  Honorio is must dangerous when he can cut off the ring and keep his opponent against the ropes where he can bully them.  Both Honorio and Orozco are flawed defensively.  While Orozco hasn't really been exposed yet, Honorio has.  Honorio has been knocked out twice and been dropped on many occasions.  Orozco doesn't move very well in the ring which is good because Honorio wastes a lot of energy chasing his opponents.  This fight should be toe to toe but Orozco will try to keep the action in the center of the ring while Honorio will be trying to keep the fight on the ropes.  While there is always a chance Orozco will finally be exposed and knocked out it probably won't happen against the fading Honorio.  There should be plenty of action in this bout with Orozco getting the better of it on his way to a unanimous decision win.

Avila will look to stay perfect

Manuel Avila vs. David De La Mora: The other notable fight on this card is scheduled for 10 rounds in the junior featherweight division.  It also has "showcase fight" written all over it.  The fighter who will be the showcase is the undefeated Manuel Avila (14-0, 5 KO).  He will be challenged by David De La Mora (25-5, 18 KO) who has gone 2-5 in his past seven bouts.  Also while Avila is not a big time puncher he may add a knockout to his resume because Mora has been knocked out three times in his five losses.  Mora started his career 23-0 until 2011 when the wheels fell off the wagon.  As for Avila he is an orthodox boxer who comes behind a good jab, a punch he uses very often.  Avila still has some improving to do and needs to expand his offensive attack but against the opponents he has been facing he can win fights with his good jab followed up by a right hand.  Avila's hands a very fast and he would win fights even easier than he has been if he threw more combinations.  Avila is only 22 and has a very high ceiling.  He moves around the ring well and has shown good defense, something that so far has made him impossible to beat.  Thursday night should give Avila a chance to look very good.  Mora does have some good pop on his punches and solid hand speed but he isn't a very accurate puncher and also has a lot of trouble finding the proper range to throw his punches from.  Mora should spend most of this fight frustrated, trying to figure out the defense of Avila.  Across the ring Avila should be able to land a lot of clean punches without taking too much return fire on his way to a fairly easy unanimous decision win.