Friday Night Fights Quick Picks

Sam Soliman vs. Jermain Taylor: Once again ESPN2 will bless fans with some mid week boxing action.  Tonight Friday Night Fights will put on a special Wednesday night card headlined by veterans Sam Soliman (44-11, 18 KO) and Jermain Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KO).  The two aging fighters are scheduled to go 12 rounds for Soliman's IBF middleweight title.  Soliman is an orthodox boxer who never seems to stand still.  Soliman has a nice jab but he does his best work to the body, especially with his right hand.  He also uses that right to land some impressive uppercuts.  What Soliman likes to do is get inside with his jab, punish the body then get back on the outside before his opponent can land anything significant in return.  That strategy makes him a good defensive fighter as does his chin.  Even though Soliman has eleven career losses he has only been knocked out once and that came back in 2007.  While Soliman doesn't have much power he is an accurate puncher and he is hard to hit.  There is no doubt that Taylor who is also an orthodox fighter has had a better career than Soliman.  He has wins over Raul Marquez and he beat Bernard Hopkins twice.  Things took a turn for the worse in 2007 when he first fought Kelly Pavlik who he lost back to back fights against then followed that up with losses against Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham.  If you look at the last notable wins for each fighter they tell you a lot.  Soliman beat Felix Sturm in 2014 while Taylor's last notable win came against Caleb Truax back in 2012.  Like Soliman, Taylor also has a very good jab but unlike Soliman, Taylir's chin is a big flaw.  In his four career losses he has been knocked out three times and he also doesn't move around the ring very well.  Taylor does have a solid left hook and he throws a nice right hand to the body but another question surrounding Taylor is his state of mind.  He was recently arrested for shooting his cousin and is yet to stand trial.  Also last week a video surfaced of Taylor firing a gun in his suburban neighborhood and acting very erratically.  This will probably be the last title shot Taylor is afforded so he may come out look very hungry but the awkward movement of Soliman will allow him to dictate the pace of this fight and win the fight by the way of unanimous decision.  


Andre Dirrell vs. Nick Brinson: The co-feature for tonight's card will most likely be a one-sided one.  That fight will be between Andre Dirrell (22-1, 15 KO) and Nick Brinson (16-2-1, 6 KO) and is set to go 10 rounds in the super middleweight division.  The reasons it will probably be a one-sided fight for Dirrell is because his opponent Brinson has never fought anyone near the talent level of Dirrell and he will also be moving up from middleweight for this bout.  Dirrell is a skilled southpaw with a stiff jab and a very good straight left hand.  In fact all of Dirrell's punches look good.  He throws a strong right hook upstairs and to the body and he also digs the left hand to the body well.  Dirrell's only career loss came against Carl Froch and a win tonight should get him a big name fight in the near future.  As for Brinson he is just at a different level than Dirrell is and it isn't a higher one.  Brinson has mostly fought journeymen and is coming off a loss in his most recent trip to the ring.  Brinson is an orthodox fighter whose best weapon is his work to the body.  His jab and straight right hand aren't great but he throws them to the belly which is a smart way to take gas out of an opponents tank.  However he also tends to get wild and doesn't always stay safe on defense.  There is little doubt that Dirrell will be the more skilled fighter tonight and he should win this fight fairly easily via unanimous decision.