PBC on CBS Quick Picks

Omar Figueroa vs. Ricky Burns: For those boxing heads looking to get their fix, Saturday will be like a slice of heaven.  Not only will there be a fight on Saturday night on HBO that promises to be a war, but also an action packed afternoon of fights on CBS.  Saturday afternoon the Premier Boxing Champions will once again come to CBS and the main event of that card should be a good one between action fighter Omar Figueroa (24-0-1, 18 KO) and veteran Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11 KO).  The fight will take place in the junior welterweight division, a new weight class for both men, and it is scheduled to go 12 rounds.  In recent years Figueroa has become a fan favorite because of his penchant to stand and trade.  Figueroa is an orthodox fighter who doesn't jab often because he is usually standing head to chest with his opponent.  Figueroa carries a very good left hook into the ring and he also has a heavy right hand.  The all-action Figueroa isn't very good defensively but he will walk through two punches to land one of his own and he always brings the excitement.  As for Burns, he has had some tough luck lately, going 1-2-1 in his past four fights, and that draw against Raymundo Beltran should have probably been a loss.  Burns is a very tall fighter for his division and will have three inches on Figueroa, although he does have the shorter reach.  Burns doesn't have much pop on his punches and likes to box, unlike Figueroa who is a slugger.  The best punch for Burns is probably his jab which is long and lands often.  He also has a nice left hook and straight right hand, the only problem is that those punches don't have much on them.  While Burns has never been knocked out he has been knocked down numerous times and he will need to Figueroa on the end of his jab if he wants to win.  Burns may have some early success in this bout but eventually Figueroa will start to land and he will win the fight by the way of split decision.


Jamie McDonnell vs. Tomoki Kameda: While the main event won't have any titles on the line, the co-feature will.  That fight is one between Jamie McDonnell (25-2-1, 12 KO) and Tomoki Kameda (31-0, 19 KO).  The bout is scheduled to go 12 rounds and the winner will walk away with McDonnell's WBA "regular" bantamweight title.  Neither fighter is very well known in the United States. with all but one of McDonnell's fights taking place in the U.K., the other being in France, and while Kameda has fought a few times in the U.S., most of his bouts took place in either Japan or Mexico.  McDonnell is a tall, lanky bantamweight who fights out of the orthodox stance.  He has a nice long jab and another weapon in his tool bag is a good straight right hand.  One thing McDonnell doesn't mind doing is fighting off of his back foot but he can also lead the action from time to time.  While McDonnell does use a left hook that lands, it doesn't have much on it and it is really his straight punches that make him effective.  While McDonnell will take some clean punches he usually shows a good chin and his defense isn't terrible.  The last time McDonnell lost a fight was back in 2008, but that loss followed his only other career loss which came late in 2007 against Chris Edwards, a 10-12-3 fighter.  Like McDonnell, Kameda is also tall for the bantamweight division.  Kameda will be the heavier handed fighter on Saturday afternoon and he also has a nice jab.  Along with heavier hands Kameda also has an advantage in hand speed and his jab is very effective upstairs as well as to the body.  In fact one of Kameda's best attributes is his dedication to body work.  He has a very nice looking left hook, especially to the body and he also has a  good right hand he lands upstairs or down.  While it is McDonnell whose belt will be on the line, Kameda is probably the more skilled fighter.  Kameda has heavier hands, faster hands and he will not lose his perfect record on Saturday afternoon, getting the win by the way of unanimous decision.