Deontay Wilder vs. Johann Duhaupas: For the fans hoping that after his biggest career victory over Bermane Stiverne that Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KO) would be taking on consistently better opponents Saturday on NBC will be a letdown. Sure many fans are exciting to see Wilder do his thing, but they certainly won't be happy he is doing it against Johann Duhaupas (32-2, 20 KO) instead of a Alexander Povetkin or any other top 10 heavyweight. Saturday's fight is scheduled to air in prime time and is set to go 12 rounds for Wilder's WBC heavyweight title. After beating Stiverne, Wilder took on, and beat, Eric Molina. Molina came without much name recognition and Duhaupas doesn't have much either. Also, the fact that Duhaupas is from France and most of his fights have taken place there doesn't help matters since France is about as far off the boxing map as you can get. Still the prospect of seeing Wilder demolish another opponent is exciting, even if that opponent isn't a fellow top 10 heavyweight. In his fight against Stiverne, Wilder showed what many people questioned if he had, boxing skills. Wilder didn't run through Stiverne and instead boxed with him and did so impressively out of the orthodox stance. Wilder's height is a big advantage and he has a long jab to keep opponents at a safe distance. While Wilder will flash a left hook that does have power his real weapon is his right hand. Whether he throws that as a straight punch or a wild, looping shot, it has the power to turn anyone's lights out. Wilder, who goes by the nickname "The Bronze Bomber" does open up a bit too much on offense which leaves him open to be countered but most opponents can't even do that because they are so worried about that deadly right hand. Don't be fooled by the impressive record of Duhaupas. His resume is far from impressive and he has faced some tomato cans. The same criticism can be leveled against Wilder but even he has faced a better quality of opponents than Duhaupas has. Duhaupas is a big orthodox heavyweight who stands at 6-foot 5-inches tall but all that does is make him 2-inches shorter than Wilder. Duhaupas is a fighter who likes to work his jab from the outside and follow it up with a straight right hand but his hands are far from fast. However, he does use his jab very well and he has shown a good chin in his career having never tasted the canvas as a pro. When Duhaupas throws his right hand crooked it comes in very wide and his slow hands make it easier for opponents to slip punches. Against Wilder, Duhaupas will be better suited sticking with straight punches. As for his left hook, it isn't a great weapon and he is certainly not a heavy hitting heavyweight. At close range Duhaupas will fight behind a high guard however, from the outside he will often leave his left hand hanging below his waist which will leave him open for Wilder's best weapon, his right hand. Duhaupas has never been knocked down or out, but he has never faced a fighter with the power of Wilder. This fight won't be very exciting at the start with Duhaupas playing it safe and Wilder being content to box. Later in the fight though Wilder will start to open up more and he will finish Duhaupas off with a 7th round knockout.
Dominic Breazeale vs. Fred Kassi: It is no secret that heavyweights fights usually garner more attention from casual boxing fans and general sports fans. That is why Saturday's PBC card on NBC should be so fun. The co-feature of Saturday's prime time card will be a 10-round heavyweight fight between the undefeated Dominic Breazeale (15-0, 14 KO) and Fred Kassi (18-3-1, 10 KO). This will be an important fight for Breazeale to help him gain some better name recognition. Breazeale is a former Olympian and at 30 years old he has only been fighting as a pro since 2012 and is still only a prospect. If Breazeale can look good on a major network it will only help his career going forward, and he needs to speed things up since he is already 30. Breazeale is a massive heavyweight at 6-foot 7-inches and he regularly enters the ring between 250 and 260 pounds. That size advantage will be even more evident against Kassi who is only 6-feet tall and who entered his last fight weighing 225 pounds. From the outside Breazeale likes to work his jab but when he gets in the pocket he really opens up and defense seems to go out the window. Also from the inside Breazeale does a nice job of landing uppercuts but he will take some clean punches upstairs. The heavyweight prospect does have some serious power and he flashes that power with left hooks and right hands both capable of knocking opponents out. Having power will help Breazeale against Kassi who was knocked out the last time he faced a power puncher in Amir Mansour. Kassi is an orthodox fighter who can also switch to southpaw, something that could give Breazeale problems. Kassi has a nice jab from both stances but it is much stiffer coming as a southpaw. With that jab Kassi also has a good straight right hand as an orthodox fighter and a solid right hook as a southpaw, although he doesn't carry a tremendous amount of power in either hand. The ability to switch stances could help Kassi early in this fight but his lack of power and size could doom him. Kassi is a tough fighter who always gives a good account of himself but Breazeale will simply be too big for him. Kassi will look alright early but Breazeale will eventually wear him down and win the fight by the way of 6th round stoppage.
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