HBO2 Quick Picks

Amnat Ruenroeng vs. Zou Shiming: Most weekends boxing fans have to wait until around 10 o'clock Eastern Time for the action to start.  This weekend things will be much different.  The PBC card on NBC will start in prime time and the HBO2 card from Macau, China will start at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.  The main event of that HBO2 card will be a 12 round flyweight title fight between Amnat Ruenroeng (14-0, 5 KO) and Zou Shiming (6-0, 1 KO).  Both fighters will be trying to keep their perfect records intact and chances are that this fight goes the distance since neither one has any power to speak of.  Ruenroeng has fast hands and a nice jab that he uses early and often.  The best punch that the orthodox Ruenroeng has is probably his left hook which comes in quick and can get wide at times.  As for his right hand, Ruenroeng tends to pull the punch so while he can score with it he doesn't do much, if any, damage with it.  Trained by Freddie Roach, Shiming has developed a style similar to that of Manny Pacquiao except Shiming does is out of the orthodox stance.  Shiming is a very busy fighter and loves to constantly move his head and feint.  His jab is a nice weapon he uses to control the pace and distance with and he also has a nice left hook.  The problem for Shiming is that he has absolutely no power and can sometimes fall back into his amateur style.  This fight may not be one that gets U.S. fans talking but it should be a close competitive bout.  Ruenroeng may have more power than Shiming but the work rate of Shiming will be the difference and he will win a close unanimous decision.


Glen Tapia vs. Daniel Dawson: The co-feature of Saturday afternoon's HBO2 card is a tale of two very different prizefighters.  Glen Tapia (22-1, 14 KO) will be trying to win his third fight in a row after being stopped by James Kirkland in 2013.  Tapia looked good early in that fight but the power of Kirkland was too much as the rounds wore on.  Tapia's corner did a horrible job in that fight by continuing to let their fighter answer the bell even after he appeared to doze off in the corner.  Now Tapia is working with Freddie Roach and is 2-0 with 2 knockouts under his tutelage.  Now Tapia will be taking on the veteran Daniel Dawson (40-4-1, 26 KO) who is just looking to stay relevant.  The two fighters are scheduled to go 10 rounds in the junior middleweight division and could bring the fireworks.  Dawson's last fight was against the talented Austin Trout who he dropped twice in the 3rd round before hitting the deck himself in the 8th and losing on the cards.  So now we have this fight, the battle of young contender and aging veteran.  Tapia is an orthodox boxer-puncher with a heavy right hand.  As far as the jab goes Tapia's isn't all-world and he really just uses it to set up his right hand.  Tapia also has a nice left hook and is skilled at landing uppercuts but his right hand is his best weapon.  Defensively Tapia isn't elite but he is solid and as he showed against Kirkland he has a ton of heart.  Dawson is also an orthodox fighter and has a very nice short straight right hand.  Dawson also has a decent left hook but you will rarely see him throw a jab.  The more aggressive of the two is Tapia who likes to come forward while Dawson likes to counter and move.  This should be a competitive fight but one that Tapia wins by the way of unanimous decision.