Fox Sports 1 Quick Picks

McWilliams Arroyo vs. Froilan Saludar: Usually big time boxing fans have to wait for the weekend to get their boxing fix but not this week.  Fox Sports 1 will be putting on a boxing card this Thursday.  The main event is an IBF flyweight title eliminator scheduled to go 12 rounds from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.  That fight will be headlined by native Puerto Rican McWilliams Arroyo (14-1, 12 KO) as he takes on Froilan Saludar (19-0-1, 12 KO).  Many fighters in the smaller weight classes are known to have fast hands but not much power but that isn't the case with Arroyo who has plenty of power but not the fastest hands in the world.  Arroyo doesn't have much of a jab and instead relies on his crooked punches.  One straight punch he does throw is his straight right but he has a horrible habit of lunging in with that punch from to far away but throws it much better on the inside.  Arroyo is very aggressive and fights very well on the inside where he digs hard to the body.  The scary thing about Arroyo is that he does have such good power for a smaller fighter and he has it in both hands.  Arroyo's best punches are his left hook and his short straight right hand, both of which can end a fight in an instant.  It bodes well for Arroyo that this fight is in Puerto Rico because his only fight outside of the country resulted in his only loss and he will be trying to give Saludar his first career loss in his first fight outside of his native Philippines.  This should be a very good fight because Saludar also has heavy hands and this should be the toughest fight either pugilist has been involved in.  Saludar will have the fast hands in this fight and like Arroyo has a very good straight right hand and a quick left hook.  Unlike Arroyo, Saludar throws a very good sharp jab and likes to fight from the outside as opposed to the pocket.  Because Saludar has the faster hands he would be better suited staying on the outside where he can land his jab and straight right hand but keeping the aggressive Arroyo from making this a phone booth fight won't be easy.  Saludar is the sharper offensive fighter but his level of competition has been very poor so he may not be as good as advertised.  I think Arroyo will look good in his native Puerto Rico and win this fight by the way of unanimous decision.

Cesar Seda vs. Alex Rangel: The co-feature of Thursday's card will renew the greatest rivalry in sports, and no that doesn't mean Yankees vs. Red Sox or Duke vs. North Carolina, it means Puerto Rico vs. Mexico.  The talented Puerto Rican fighter Cesar Seda (25-2, 17 KO) will be taking on Mexican pugilist Alex Rangel (15-2-2, 9 KO) in a 10 round fight in the junior featherweight division.  Seda is looking to get back on track following his loss to Leo Santa Cruz in December of 2013.  His only other career loss came against Omar Narvaez and he seems to only lose against the best but when he faces a lower level of competition he shines.  Going forward Seda will need to prove he isn't just a talented B-level fighter but can also compete with and possible be the A-level fighters.  Seda is a southpaw with a nice jab and very awkward left hand that he throws from every conceivable angle.  Defensively Seda still have some question marks surrounding him because although he has never been knocked out he has been dropped on a few occasions.  This is really a "look good" fight for Seda because his opponent Rangel won't bring much, if anything to the ring.  While Rangel has a solid record it has come against fighters who are nothing more than tomato cans.  He has beaten fighters with records of 1-21, 1-18, and 4-11 but had fights end in a draw or loss against fighters with records of 3-2, 10-4, 4-0, and 14-3-1.  Rangel has only fought outside of Mexico once and that was in Arizona and it won't be easy for him to get a win in Puerto Rico against a native Puerto Rican who also happens to be far and away the most talented fighter he has ever faced.  Seda is looking to get back on track following a loss and he may have picked the perfect opponent to do so.  I expect Seda to look very sharp and bother Rangel with his awkward left hand on his way to a 7th round stoppage win.