Leo Santa Cruz vs. Manuel Roman
As far as true boxing heads are concerned one of the biggest fights to be made in the sport today would be a bout between high volume puncher Leo Santa Cruz and elusive counter puncher Guillermo Rigondeaux. Fans were hoping that fight would be on the undercard of the highly anticipated rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana on Showtime PPV. Instead that fans will get is a fight between Santa Cruz and the relatively unknown Manuel Roman. The pair of 26 year old fighters are scheduled to fight 12 rounds in the junior featherweight division for Santa Cruz's WBC title.
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| Santa Cruz is one of boxing's busiest punchers |
Santa Cruz is a joy to watch for boxing fans. He is an orthodox fighter who throws an incredibly high number punches and is also accurate with them. Santa Cruz will usually work behind a high guard and a very nice jab which allows him to control the distance in the ring. His right hand is also a good weapon and he lands it more often when he throws it straight but it has more power behind it when he throws it wildly over the top. Another weapon that Santa Cruz likes to use is a left hook to the body which is a punch he throws often. It isn't only the busy offense that makes Santa Cruz an exciting fighter though, his lack of elite defense also entertains. Santa Cruz likes to trade punches and he will take his fair share of punishment because he doesn't move his head often enough. Still even with his lack of great defense he has never been knocked down and has been in against some very tough fighters.
While Santa Cruz may look like a 17 year old who just grew his first mustache he fights like an old pro. At only 26 years old Santa Cruz is already a fan favorite and has beat many top fighters. He has done battle with Eric Morel, Victor Terrazas, Cesar Seda, and Cristian Mijares and he has beaten them all and usually makes it look pretty easy. As a professional Santa Cruz has am unbeaten record of 27-0-1 with a solid 15 knockouts and his lone draw came in only his second pro fight. Compared to his most bouts against tough opponents this bout looks more like a stay busy fight. But Santa Cruz needs to be careful not to fall into the trap of looking past his opponent and onto Rigondeaux if he ever wants that fight to happen.
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| If Roman wins it would be a massive upset |
Roman is also an orthodox fighter with a good jab but he will be at a disadvantage in the hand speed department against Santa Cruz. His best punch is probably his short left hook which he counters with fairly well. Roman also has a solid right hand however his footwork isn't great so Santa Cruz shouldn't have a very tough time controlling the pace and distance of the fight.
Compared to Santa Cruz who has already fought some top fighters and won the resume of Roman is not so impressive. His toughest opponent to date is Randy Caballero and he lost that fight. He has also recently had back to back draws, one of which came against a fighter in only his second professional fight. The record of Roman isn't overly impressive and as it stands now is 17-2-3 with only 6 knockouts. Not only will this be the toughest opponent of Roman's career but it will also be the biggest stage he has ever been on and may overwhelm him.
How entertaining this fight turns out to be really relies on Roman. Fans know Santa Cruz will bring his usual exciting action to the ring but the unknown is Roman. It would be nice to see Roman stick and move a little more than usual and really make Santa Cruz put in some work but that won't be easy. Santa Cruz is relentless with his punches and should be able to keep Roman exactly where he wants him. It seems like the only real chance Roman has to win is if Santa Cruz isn't taking him seriously and is just looking to what may be ahead.
PREDICTION: The real question for this fight is whether or not Leo Santa Cruz can be the first man to knockout Manuel Roman. Roman is a massive underdog and doesn't even really deserve such a high profile fight and it will show. Santa Cruz is going to control every aspect of this fight on his way to a wide unanimous decision victory.
Miguel Vazquez vs. Mickey Bey
Another fight on Saturday's card should provide fans with the perfect opportunity to take a bathroom break or grab some food because it isn't expecting to be very exciting. That fight will feature longtime lightweight title holder Miguel Vazquez putting his IBF title on the line against the Mayweather promoted Mickey Bey who will be getting his first title shot. While fans shouldn't expect much excitement they should expect the most competitive fight of the night and one that resembles a high level chess match.
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| Vazquez seems to always get the job done |
Vazquez is a lanky, orthodox boxer who fights nothing like the most Mexican fighters. Mexican fighters have a proud tradition of getting into absolute wars in the ring and trading heavy leather toe to toe but Vazquez is the opposite. Vazquez is a defensive fighter who doesn't seem to care about providing action, all he wants to do is win. Vazquez has a very good long jab that keeps opponents at bay and his movement is constant. He is also awkward to watch because he keeps his lands fairly low and punches from such unusual angles. Along with his jab Vazquez has a nice left hook and a good straight right hand and at times with throw awkward uppercuts. However none of his punches have much behind them and he just looks to win fights on the scorecards.
As a professional Vazquez has only lost three times the last being back in 2008. Two of those losses came against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez one of which was Vazquez's professional debut. His only other loss came against Timothy Bradley in 2007. Since 2008 Vazquez has done nothing but win and has a record of 34-3 but with only 13 knockouts. While his style isn't very fun to watch it is highly effective which is why he has been a champion for so long. Now Vazquez will need to get past Bey if he wants to keep his hard earned title belt.
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| Bey's chin is a big question mark |
Much like his opponent Bey isn't the most exciting fighter in the sport, or even in his division. He doesn't have much power and prefers to stick and move instead of standing toe to toe but he is very good at what he does. Bey is an orthodox boxer with a good stiff jab and straight right hand. The jab for Bey is probably his best weapon and he will double and even triple it up at times. On the inside Bey will throw a left hook that doesn't do much damage and a nice right uppercut but he isn't a high volume puncher. Although Bey is 31 years old he is still inexperienced which was evident when he was hurt badly by John Molina and didn't clinch which ultimately led to him being stopped. Bey was also dropped in his last fight by a counter left hook. Luckily for him Vazquez carries almost no power but he still needs to be smart defensively in what should be a close fight.
Bey turned pro back in 2005 and has been brought along at a snails pace and didn't fight at all in 2006 or 2012. Also the only real name fighter Bey has been in the ring with was Molina and although he was easily controlling that bout he was eventually stopped. That loss and a draw are the only blemishes on Bey's resume and he holds a record of 20-1-1 with 10 kockouts. The late rounds could play a huge role in determining the outcome of this fight since Bey has only gone 10 rounds three times and has never been in the championship rounds, which are rounds Vazquez is very familiar with.
This is a toss up fight that could easily go either way. Vazquez has the advantage in experience and is better defensively but Bey is the sharper puncher and should be able to counter Vazquez's looping shots. This will probably be a very tough fight to score because neither fighter throws a tremendous amount of punches so other factors will come into play to determine the winner. Look for Vazquez to use his jab and footwork to stick and move while Bey should look to counter Vazquez's looping punches with jabs and straight right hands of his own. This may not be a very exciting fight but it should be an interesting one.
PREDICTION: Miguel Vazquez has been a champion for a long time and for a reason, he is good at what he does. However he does tend to throw wide punches and Mickey Bey should be able to counter him nicely and win a very close split decision.
Alfredo Angulo vs. James De La Rosa
The fight that will open the actual PPV telecast features one of the most exciting punchers in the sport, Alfredo Angulo. Angulo will be back in action following his March loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. He will be in the ring against the unknown James De La Rosa in a 10 round middleweight fight. This will be Angulo's first fight as a middleweight and he is in desperate need of a win following back to back losses.
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| Angulo looked terrible in his most recent fight |
Angulo is the classic Mexican fighter. He is very aggressive and always looks to end fights early. He is an orthodox fighter with a distance finding jab and plenty of power on his crooked punches. Angulo likes to put in work on the inside and goes very well to the body especially with his powerful left hook. Angulo also has a strong right hand but it is his left hook that he does the most damage with. While Angulo's hands aren't very fast he makes up for that by cutting off the ring very nicely and keeping his opponents where he wants them. The problem for Angulo has been his defense, he takes a lot of punches and tends to swell and bleed in most of his fights. That is one reason Angulo has been so exciting is seems all of his fights end in a knockout one way or the other.
The first loss of Angulo's pro career came in 2009 against Kermit Cintron. Angulo followed that loss up by knockout out five straight opponents including Gabriel Rosado and Joachim Alcine. Things have not gone well for Angulo recently however as he has lossed his past two bouts. His record now stands at 22-4 with an impressive 18 knockouts but out of his four losses three of them have come by the way of knockout. Although it isn't as if Angulo has a glass chin. His knockout loss to James Kirkland was due to an accumulation of punches and also the fact that Angulo had punched himself out. Then against Erislandy Lara it looked as if he was thumbed in the eye and refused to continue. Next came his loss to Alvarez where he looked very sluggish and that loss too was from an accumulation of punches and was a questionable stoppage at the time. Now Angulo moves up a weight class and hopes to get back to his dominating ways against De La Rosa.
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| De La Rosa is a big underdog |
De La Rosa is a quick fighter with a very good overhand right. He is an orthodox fighter with a pretty good jab and short left hook that starts off like a jab. However he will sometimes throw that punch to wide and can get countered. The problem for De La Rosa is that he doesn't react very well to getting hit and he has been dropped many times in his career. Although he has quick feet he doesn't always use them very intelligently and doesn't seem to have a great idea of what he wants to do in the ring. He may have a punchers chance but he feels more like an opponent than a true threat.
There will be a huge gap in experience in this fight because De La Rosa has never fought anyone near the level of Angulo. While he has faced off against some quality opponents the majority of his fights have come against sub par pugilists. His record as a pro is 22-2 with 13 knockouts but he may be in over his head against the very powerful Angulo.
This fight may be a showcase fight for Angulo if he looks like the Angulo who fought Lara and not the one who fought Alvarez. If Angulo looks like his old aggressive self whose punches land with thudding power he should be able to handle the inexperienced De La Rosa pretty quickly. However this is boxing where anything can happen and Angulo comes out looking sluggish like he did against Alvarez, De La Rosa could capitalize and pull off the upset.
PREDICTION: James De La Rosa will come to fight and not just be an opponent but he won't be ready for Alfredo Angulo. Angulo should look strong as a middleweight now that he doesn't have to work as hard cutting weight and he will win this fight by the way of 8th round knockout.
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