Friday Night Fights Quick Pick

Willie Monroe Jr. vs. Brian Vera: This weekend will be a very exciting one for boxing fans and not just because of the hype surrounding the heavyweight title fight on Showtime this Saturday.  The excitement will kick off on Friday on ESPN2 with a stacked edition of Friday Night Fights.  Coming in to 2014 Willie Monroe Jr. (18-1, 6 KO) was an unknown fighter who had never gone passed 8 rounds.  Then he gained a lot of attention when he won ESPN's Boxcino Middleweight Tournament and now finds himself in a main event against veteran Bryan Vera (23-8, 14 KO) in a 10 round middleweight bout.  Vera's last fight was in Big Knockout Boxing when he lost to Gabriel Rosado but that fight doesn't count towards his actual boxing record so think of his last fight as being his second loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr..  Monroe Jr. is a patient southpaw who is good defensively.  He has fairly quick hands which he uses to land his jab and his very accurate straight left hand.  Monroe Jr. also has a short right hook which he will throw on the inside.  The southpaw isn't a very busy puncher but he does control rounds with his movement and jab.  Monroe Jr. and Vera do have a common opponent in Donatas Bondorovas who Monroe Jr. easily outpointed and who Vera forced to quit after the 7th round.  Vera will be the more powerful fighter come Friday night and he has much more experience but those may be his only advantages.  Vera does not move well in the ring at all and usually comes plods straight ahead.  He does have a good stiff arm type jab and a nice overhand right but his hands are much slower than Monroe Jr's.  Vera also has a solid left hook and he does go to the body well which could slow down the quicker Monroe Jr..  This fight will be a battle between experience and speed.  Vera has been in the ring with the likes of Chavez Jr., Serhiy Dzinziruk, Sergio Mora, Andy Lee, and James Kirkland and that experience may help him but it also means he has had a lot taken out of him.  Monroe Jr. has the speed and movement to frustrate Vera and that should lead to a unanimous decision win for Monroe Jr..