HBO Latino Quick Picks

Johan Perez vs. Dmitry Mikhaylenko: On Saturday night HBO Latino will provide fans with an interesting main event.  That fight will feature Johan Perez (20-2-1, 13 KO) and Dmitry Mikhaylenko (19-0, 8 KO).  The two fighters are set to go 12 rounds in the welterweight division and both have taken different paths to get to this point.  Perez hails from Venezuela and he has taken on a slew of veterans including Mauricio Herrera, Yoshihiro Kamegai, Steve Forbes, and Pablo Cesar Cano, among others.  Meanwhile, Mikhaylenko comes over from Russia where most of his fights have taken place.  The only real notable names on his resume are Ronald Cruz and Sechew Powell.  Perez is an orthodox fighter who doesn't like to stay in the pocket too often.  Perez looks to counter with his jab but it isn't a very good punch, mainly because his hands aren't very fast.  The Venezuelan will also throw a straight right hand that doesn't have much speed behind it and a short left hook.  The best punch for Perez may be his uppercut which he seems to put the most mustard on.  One thing Perez does have is a solid chin, he has never been knocked out, or knocked down as a pro.  Mikhaylenko is also an orthodox fighter and while he doesn't have the fastest hands either, he does throw very short, crisp punches.  Unlike Perez, Mikhaylenko looks comfortable in the pocket.  He also has a nice left hook and right hand, but is without much of a jab.  Mikhaylenko has also shown a good chin and has never been knocked out, or down.  This is a fight that will come down to distance.  Perez will be looking to fight from the outside while Mikhaylenko will try to make this a phone booth type fight.  Whoever is able to control the real estate should win the fight.  Neither of these fighters looks like they would be capable of making much noise at the top of the welterweight division but they should make a good fight against each other.  Mikhaylenko is the more relentless fighter and his pressure will allow him to make this a phone booth fight and one that he will win by the way of majority decision. 


Yoandris Salinas vs. Manuel Avila: The co-feature of Saturday's HBO Latino tripleheader will showcase two fighters with only one loss between them.  Those fighters are Yoandris Salinas (21-1-2, 14 KO) and Manuel Avila (17-0, 7 KO).  They are scheduled to go 10 rounds in the crowded junior featherweight division where Salinas has already had a title shot and where Avila hopes to get one.  That title shot for Salinas came back in 2013 when he ventured over to the U.K. to take on Scott Quigg on scored a draw on Quigg's home turf.  However, he followed that impressive performance up with a knockout loss to Enrique Quevedo, a fighter with a record of 15-7-1 at the time.  At 23 years old Avila is still on the rise and has remained undefeated against average and sub par competition, but he is climbing the ladder and Salinas should be a good test for him even if he is 1-1-1 in his past three bouts.  Salinas is an orthodox fighter who is more aggressive than many of his fellow Cuban pugilists.  He has quick hands and an impressive jab but his defense might be what is most impressive.  When some fans hear "defense" they think of running but Salinas is able to stay in the pocket and make opponents miss.  Along with his jab Salinas also features a nice left hook and a decent right hand.  However, against Enrique Quevedo the defense of Salinas let him down and he was dropped three times en route to a stoppage loss.    He did follow that loss up with a 1st round knockout win but it came against a 7-4 fighter and wasn't anything more than a tune-up.  Avila has also been in the ring with Quevedo and he fared much better, getting the unanimous decision victory.  Avila is a young orthodox fighter with a seemingly high ceiling.  He doesn't have very heavy hands but he likes to play the role of aggressor and has a good jab and a very good straight right hand.  Avila does need to be careful on defense because he has some flaws, like keeping his front hand low, and dropping his off hand when he throws a punch.  Avila's best punch may be his left hook and he goes to the body well and the only real question is whether or not he is ready for the next level, which Salinas represents.  Because of the defensive flaws of Avila it isn't difficult to imagine Salinas using his hand speed to counter all night and cruise to a wide decision win.  However, this is a very important fight for Avila and he may be catching Salinas just at the right time.  This fight will be tough to score but Avila will come away the winner via split decision.


Tevin Farmer vs. Dualis Prescott: The opening bout of Saturday's card will be a stark contrast in styles.  Tevin Farmer (19-4-1, 4 KO) is a boxer, not a puncher, and he does not have heavy hands.  Meanwhile, his opponent Dualis Prescott (30-2, 22 KO) is a fighter who isn't very slick but is heavy handed.  Prescott will also be Farmer's best opponent to date considering Farmer has mostly fought prospects, good prospects, but prospects nonetheless.  What is impressive for Farmer is that he has won 12 fights in a row and he has been one of the busiest fighters in the sport, entering the ring seven times in 2013.  Farmer is a southpaw and along with moving well in the ring he flashes a quick jab and likes to follow it up with his straight left hand.  The right hook from Farmer is a decent punch but usually he likes to keep it simple, a lot of one-two combinations and movement.  However, he has been stopped twice in his four losses so his chin is still a question mark.  Prescott has spent most of his career fighting tomato cans with horrendous records.  In fact so many of his opponents have zero or one win that there are too many to list.  Yet he has faced one elite fighter in Nicholas Walters, but he was dropped three times in that fight on his way to a stoppage loss.  Prescott is an orthodox fighter and he doesn't have a very high skill level and can even look uncomfortable in the ring at times.  Prescott doesn't jab much and instead throws a lot of wild left hooks and right hands.  A typical exchange for Prescott goes something like this, wild left hook, wild right hand, falls into his opponent, pushes off, and repeats.  The Columbian Prescott does have heavy hands but he may not be able to land many punches on Farmer who brings more skills into the ring.  In this fight Prescott stands a punchers chance but Farmer will come away with the unanimous decision win.