PBC on NBC Quick Picks

James DeGale vs. Andre Dirrell: On Saturday afternoon boxing once again graces free TV.  Premiere Boxing Champions, known as PBC, will air a card on NBC in the hopes of attracting many new eyes to the sport of boxing.  The card will be headlined by James DeGale (20-1, 14 KO) and Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KO).  The two fighters, who are very similar in height, both southpaws, and both Olympic medalists, will be battling it out over 12 rounds in the super middleweight division for a vacant IBF title.  DeGale won his Olympic medal in 2008 winning gold as a middle weight, while Dirrell won his medal in 2004 earning a bronze also as a middleweight.  Both fighters have faced quality opposition but it is Dirrell who has been in with the better fighters in Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham, both better than anyone DeGale has faced.  DeGale's faced his toughest foe in George Groves back in 2011 and that fight accounts for DeGale's only loss.  DeGale is a good defensive fighter with a nice long jab and quality straight left hand.  While the right hook of DeGale isn't great and often comes in looping that doesn't matter much.  His real power comes in his left hand and he can hurt opponents throwing it straight or over the top.  One other thing that makes DeGale so tough to beat is his excellent footwork, something Dirrell will have to try and figure out.  For Dirrell what makes him so tough to beat is the fact that he can attack you as a southpaw or an orthodox stance, although he is probably better as a southpaw.  Dirrell carries with him a good stiff jab along with a strong right hook that he will bang to the body.  Much like DeGale, Dirrell's power also comes in his left hand.  He has a piston like straight left and it he throws a crooked left it usually doesn't end well for his opponents.  This is definitely a toss up fight that could go either way.  While DeGale is probably the slicker fighter with the better footwork it is Dirrell who holds the wildcard since he can switch his stance up and look good as a righty or lefty.  This is one of those fights that on paper looks like it will end in a draw and that very well may happen.  However, in part because of his ability to switch stances Dirrell is going to win an extremely close fight by the way of majority decision.


Edwin Rodriguez vs. Craig Baker: Saturday afternoon's co-feature brings an interesting matchup of two fighters who are in their very early 30's who are both looking for a big win.  That bout will pit Edwin Rodriguez (26-1, 17 KO) against Craig Baker (16-0, 12 KO) in 10-round bout in the light heavyweight division.  Rodriguez is a talented fighter who is probably best known for his days as a super middleweight where he went undefeated until running into Andre Ward who cruised to an easy unanimous decision victory against Rodriguez.  As for Baker he is undefeated but he has only ever faced two fighters with winning records and four of his opponents entered the ring without a win on their resume.  At 31 years old Baker is in need of a big win over a name opponent, unless he wants to remain a fighter who fights mostly in his home state.  Rodriguez is an orthodox fighter who doesn't have tremendous power but does have the ability to wear opponents down.  Rodriguez does have a nice long jab and straight right hand but he sometimes punches from too far away and doesn't always bring his hands back up for defense after throwing a punch.  Because of that Rodriguez does take a lot of clean punches upstairs and he is far from elite defensively, yet has made up for that by having a great chin.  On the inside Rodriguez shows a nice left hook and a strong right hand, and he will be the first real test for Baker.  Baker isn't a very busy fighter and he doesn't always look the most skilled but he waits for his opportunity to land his power punches and he does that well.  Baker is also an orthodox fighter who doesn't have a great jab and usually comes forward behind a high guard.  While he isn't the most skilled fighter he makes up for that with his power.  Baker has a very powerful right hand which he throws very nice as a straight punch and can also do damage when he throws it crooked.  Baker also has a wild but strong left hook he will take to the body and he has a very nice uppercut with his left hand.  Rodriguez will clearly be the more skilled fighter in the ring on Saturday afternoon but he needs to be careful.  Rodriguez gets lazy on defense and eats a lot of clean punches and if Baker can catch him with a right hand he may find himself on the canvas for the first time in his career.  As long as Rodriguez can avoid the right hand of Baker he will win this fight by the way of unanimous decision.