HBO Fight Preview

Timothy Bradley vs. Brandon Rios

Two of the most exciting fighters in boxing will meet this Saturday on HBO.  In the fight "Desert Storm" Timothy Bradley will be putting his WBO welterweight title on the line against Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios.  A few years ago this fight would have looked drastically different but both fighters are at different places in their careers now and this fight could end up being something special and even a possible Fight of the Year candidate.

Bradley survived a late scare against Vargas

Bradley's best qualities continue to be his stamina, heart, and toughness.  "Desert Storm" has shown time and time again that he can walk through hell to get a win and his recent performances have earned him a legion of new fans.  The problem is that while those performances have earned him new fans they have also seen him take a tremendous amount of punishment.  In the past Bradley has relied on his defense and high ring IQ to win fights.  Recently however, Bradley has been more willing to stand and trade despite having no real power to speak of.  Bradley is an orthodox boxer with a good jab and good defense.  He also has a nice looking left hook, although one devoid of power, and an accurate straight right hand.  If he wants to beat Rios though, Bradley will have to go back to his old ways.

The change in Bradley seemed to occur after his win over Manny Pacquiao.  Most intelligent people who watched the fight though Pacquiao won, although it was a fairly close fight.  After that win Bradley received a lot of hate so when he stepped in against the "Siberian Rocky" Ruslan Provodnikov he may have been trying to prove something to those haters.  While Bradley beat Provodnikov he also paid a serious price and was badly hurt multiple times during the fight.  He followed that win with a beautiful throwback performance against Juan Manuel Marquez before losing a rematch to Pacquiao.  Then he let Diego Chaves get off too much and the fight was ruled a draw.  In his most recent fight against Jessie Vargas, Bradley looked extremely sharp.  However, late in the fight the light hitting Vargas rocked him and had him in bad shape before referee Pat Russell stopped the fight early when he mistook the 10-second clap for the final bell.  For Bradley it is pretty simple, when he sticks and moves he wins, when he stands and trades he still may win but he pays the price for the victory.  Despite some recent sub par performances Bradley's career record is an impressive 32-1-1 but he only has 12 knockouts so he needs to stop pretending he has power because Rios loves a good brawl.

Rios was better than ever in his last bout

Rios is an orthodox fighter who may love to brawl more than any other fighter outside of Provodnikov.  In fact Rios would problem welcome a fight in an actual phone booth, if one could be found, because he does his best work on the inside.  The best weapons Rios possesses are his uppercuts which snap opponents heads back with both hands.  Along with those uppercuts Rios also has a nice left hook and a stiff right hand but he doesn't spend much time thinking about defense and he has never really needed too because his chin is unbelievable.  Rios certainly has one of the best chins in all of boxing and someone should open it up to see what it is made out of.  The problem for Rios is that he doesn't cut off the ring very well and will often follow opponents around the ring which is why he has had problems against classic boxers.

"Bam Bam" was having himself a nice career but that career rose to new heights after his stoppage win over Mike Alvarado in their first fight, a fight that would earn Big Time Boxing's 2012 Fight of the Year.  Rios then lost a close fight to Alvarado before earning a big payday against Pacquiao in a fight he was never really in.  Then Rios followed up that loss with a sluggish looking outing against Chaves, another Bradley opponent, before getting the win when Chaves was disqualified.  In early 2015 Rios took on Alvarado in a rubber match of their brutal rivalry and looked better than he ever had before.  Rios was extremely sharp, especially with his uppercuts but it was clear that Alvarado hadn't properly prepared for the fight.  As it stands now Rios holds a career record of 33-2-1 with a solid 24 knockouts and may need to get knockout number 25 if he wants to beat Bradley.

This fight will come down to how Bradley decides to fight.  He recently parted ways with the only trainer he has worked with as a pro, Joel Diaz.  Bradley now has veteran trainer and television analyst Teddy Atlas in his corner and he hopes the change will be a positive one.  However, many people point out that Bradley often dismissed, or simply ignored Diaz's instructions during recent fights and instead chose to stand and trade so it remains to be seen how much Atlas can help.  If Bradley fights like he did pre-Provodnikov he should get the win.  Bradley is the better boxer and is much better defensively.  However, if Bradley stands and trades with Rios he could be in for some trouble.  When Rios gets hit he actually seems to enjoy it and he does do subtle things defensively in close that he doesn't get much credit for.  From the pocket not many fighters are better than Rios, especially with his uppercuts and if Bradley doesn't use his feet he may end up getting stopped by Rios.

PREDICTION: This fight will play out one of two ways.  Either Timothy Bradley will stick and move and get the unanimous decision win or he will be sucked into a brawl and Brandon Rios will stop him late.  The difference will come down to Teddy Atlas and whether or not he has gotten through to Bradley.  The best bet is that he has and Bradley will go back to boxing which is why he will win this fight by the way of unanimous decision.

Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Romulo Koasicha

Bradley's title won't be the only one on the line this Saturday night.  Vasyl Lomachenko will also put his belt up for grabs when he takes on Romulo Koasicha in a 12-round bout for his WBO featherwweight title.  This will be a huge opportunity for the 24-year-old  Koasicha and for Lomachenko he hopes another win on a big stage brings him closer to some big name fights, especially one against Big Time Boxing's current number one pound-for-pound fighter Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Lomachenko just gets better and better

Although Lomachenko hasn't cracked Big Time Boxing's P4P list yet that is only because of his limited resume.  Watching Lomachenko fight it is clear he is one of the most talented pugilists in the sport.  His hand speed and accuracy are both incredible and if he can add some power he may be unstoppable.  Lomachenko is a southpaw and if you;re a fan of the sweet science he is your wet dream.  He has a great jab and his movement is phenomenal because he has some of the best footwork in boxing.  With that jab Lomachenko also flashes a nice left hook and strong right hand but if he wants to grow his fan base he needs to fight more like a pro and less like an amateur, meaning he needs to sit down on his punches and throw more combinations with bad intentions.

The career of Lomachenko has really just started at the professional level but he is one of the best amateurs to ever lace up a pair of gloves.  As a pro his record is deceiving because it contains a loss and stands at 4-1 with 2 knockouts.  That loss came in the second fight of his professional career when he took on tough veteran Orlando Salido.  The fight was one Lomachenko should have probably won, he hurt Salido late but was also the victim of  more low blows than have probably ever been seen in a boxing ring but no points were ever taken by inept referee Laurence Cole which helped Salido get the win.  The problem for Lomachenko is that no top fighters seem to want to step in the ring with him because at this point he doesn't bring any money to the table of his opponents chance of losing is extremely high.

This is the biggest fight of Romulo's career

Koasicha is an orthodox fighter with a busy jab.  He will also turn that jab over at the last second to land a left hook and while that punch scores him points it doesn't have much on it.  Although the left hook does land with more force when he commits to it and it is dangerous to the body.  Along with those weapons Koasicha also has a strong right hand but it is the left hook downstairs that has been his best weapon.  One problem for Koasicha coming into this fight is that he has never faced anyone nearly as talented as Lomachenko.

Koasicha has much more experience than Lomachenko does as a pro but that experience hasn't come against many top fighters.  His best opponent was Lee Selby and Koasicha lost that fight by a wide unanimous decision.  He also has losses to sub par fighters with records of 4-3, 9-2-1, and 10-6 on his resume.  His career record is 25-4 with 15 knockouts but he will need a huge upset if he wants to be Lomachenko.

This fight is all about Lomachenko.  Not that Koasicha is a bad fighter, he isn't, he just simply isn't anywhere near the level that Lomachenko is.  For Koasicha to win this fight he will need to consistently land his left hook to the body and hurt Lomachenko but with Lomachenko's excellent movement that left hook may never land.  For his part Lomachenko needs to not only win but he needs to look spectacular if he wants to force other top fighters to enter the ring with him.

PREDICTION: This is one of those fights that probably should have never been made because Romulo Koasicha has no real shot at winning.  This fight is going to be all Vasyl Lomachenko from start to finish and he is going to cruise to a mile wide unanimous decision victory.