beIN Sports Quick Picks

Sammy Vasquez vs. Alberto Mosquera: Friday night should be a good one for boxing fans.  Iron Mike Productions will be putting on an action packed card dubbed "The Pride of Pittsburgh II."  The card will feature many Pennsylvania based fighters and will be headlined by Sammy Vasquez (16-0, 12 KO) and Alberto Mosquera (21-1-2, 14 KO) going head to head in a 10 round welterweight bout.  Neither fighter has faced any elite level opponents and both are looking to make a name for themselves in the crowded welterweight division.  Vasquez has shown himself to be a talented southpaw with a busy jab and strong right hook.  One thing that has certainly helped Vasquez during his young career is his attention to the body.  Vasquez puts in a lot of work to the body and really does a nice job of digging in his left hand downstairs.  He is an aggressive fighter who likes to step in and attack from different angles but will also stand and trade if he gets on the inside.  While Vasquez doesn't have one punch power he does have a good knockout percentage due to his constant attack.  Across the ring from Vasquez will stand another southpaw in Mosquera.  Mosquera is also a very aggressive fighter but he isn't as sharp as Vasquez.  Mosquera rarely throws a jab and typically just walks right in on opponents.  He does have a nice short left hand but his right hook is miles wide and should leave him wide open to be countered by the left hand of Vasquez which is his best punch.  These are two tough fighters who should provide fans with plenty of action but the crisper punches of Vasquez will be the difference as he wears Mosquera down on his way to an 8th round stoppage.

Monty Meza Clay vs. Rod Salka: The co-feature of Friday's card will be a matchup of puncher vs. boxer when Monty Meza Clay (36-3, 22 KO) takes on Rod Salka (19-4, 3 KO) in a 10 round lightweight fight.  Meza Clay is an orthodox puncher who at 5'2'' is very short even for the lightweight division.  He is a very aggressive fighter and that aggressiveness may be due to a Napoleon complex.  Meza Clay usually chooses to do battle from the pocket and he shows surprisingly good defense on the inside for a fighter that has been stopped two times in his three losses.  He doesn't throw his jab often and that may be because it isn't a very good punch.  Instead he looks to land his powerful overhand right or wild left hook.  One problem Meza Clay does have is that he tends to headhunt and against Salka he needs to make sure to work the body to slow down the boxer.  As for Salka he is also an orthodox fighter but unlike Meza Clay he has absolutely no power.  His most recent fight was a blowout against Danny Garcia in a fight he should have never been in but he showed a ton of heart in that fight despite being knocked out.  Salka does put in good work to the body and he moves around the ring pretty well.  Salka does have a good jab he throws a lot and he also has a very good short left hook.  His right hand isn't bad either and if he had any power he might be a top fighter.  One thing Salka has over Meza Clay is that he has fought the better opposition.  However Meza Clay is a relentless fighter and will be the busier fighter come Friday night which will allow him to get the victory by the way of split decision.