Willie Monroe Jr. vs. Brandon Adams: The championship fight for the lightweights will feature two fighters with only one loss between them. Those fighters are Willie Monroe Jr. (17-1, 6 KO) and Brandon Adams (14-0, 9 KO) and they bring vastly different styles into the ring. Monroe Jr. is a slick boxer who puts rounds in the bank with his strong jab and good movement. Monroe Jr. moves so well in the ring because of his quick feet and his hands are just as fast. While the southpaws best punch is his jab he also has a nice right hook to go along with it. Monroe Jr. can control rounds with his jab and movement but he is at his best when he is throwing fast combinations and getting off first. He will do most of his damage with the right hand but will also sneak in a quick left hand every so often. During the tournament he has shown himself to be a good defensive fighter but he will sometimes go straight back on defense which is a good way to get yourself knocked out. Look for Monroe Jr. to fight from the outside where he can flash his hand speed and dance out of danger. While Monroe Jr. will be playing the role of slick boxer Adams will be playing the role of power puncher. Adams has a good jab but it is the power punches he brings behind it that make him dangerous. He also isn't the busier fighter and tends to just flash the jab and wait for opportunities to land his power. For an orthodox fighter Adams has a solid left hook but his real power is in his right hand. Also for such a young fighter Adams changes his attack up from the head to the body very well and he will need to work hard to the body of Monroe Jr. to slow him down. Adams has only fought a southpaw once before in his career but luckily for him it came in his last fight against Raymond Gatica, a fight he won. This fight really will come down to who controls the distance. Monroe Jr. has fast hands and better footwork so if this fights stays on the outside he should be able to outbox Adams. However if Adams can go to the body early on Monroe Jr. and slow him down he may be able to make it a phone booth fight and use his power to win. Another thing to watch out for is the fact that Monroe Jr. does go straight back on defense at times and if Adams catches him doing that he should be able to knock him out. I expect this to be an incredibly close fight that could easily go either way but the faster hands and better lateral movement of Monroe Jr. will allow him to win this fight by the way of unanimous decision.
Petr Petrov vs. Fernando Carcamo: Much like the lightweight fight the middleweight championship bout will feature two fighters with very different styles. Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 16 KO) is the most experienced fighter in the middleweight tournament and has also looked liked the best. He will be challenged by young slugger Fernando Carcamo (17-5, 13 KO) who has already been in two exciting fights in the tournament. Petrov is an orthodox fighter who is good defensively and comes forward behind a high guard. Perhaps because of his veteran experience Petrov is able to box equally well from the outside or at close range and is a very crisp puncher. Petrov also does a good job of going to the body, especially when he is in the clinch with a hand free. Petrov throws a lot of jabs and will also mix in some left hooks which is the only punch he doesn't throw very well because he tends to throw it wide. His best punch and his most powerful one is the right hand which he throws very short and quick making it seem like it came out of nowhere. Carcamo's best punch is his monster left hand which nearly ended his last fight against Miguel Gonzalez in the 1st round. Carcamo caught Gonzalez with that left hand and nearly knocked him out of the ring, the referee jumped in to call it a knockdown since the ropes held Gonzalez up but Carcamo thought he was waiving the fight off and jumped up on the ropes to celebrate. It took him a few rounds to get back in the fight mentally but he worked through it for the win. Carcamo also has a nice uppercut and is the type of fighter who likes to stand in the pocket and trade power punches. While that style makes for exciting fights it doesn't make Carcamo much of a defensive fighter and he has been on the canvas many times in his career. Carcamo is a confident fighter but they may actually hurt him against Petrov. Petrov is the slicker fighter and much better defensively of the two so if Carcamo chooses to stand in the pocket and trade he may be the one taking most of the punishment while Petrov slips his head out of danger. This has the chance to be a very exciting fight of Carcamo can catch Petrov early and get his respect. Even if Carcamo can catch Petrov and make him respect his power he still may need a knockout to win because Petrov is a very sharp offensive fighter and at a much higher level defensively. I think the defense of Petrov will be the difference in this fight and while it will be Carcamo landing the heavier leather Petrov will have a higher percentage of connected punches and will win this fight via unanimous decision and may even stop Carcamo late.
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