PBC on Fox Fight Preview

Danny Garcia vs. Robert Guerrero

Fans who are critical of Danny Garcia's career certainly weren't happy when it was announced the former junior welterweight champion would be fighting Robert Guerrero for a vacant WBC welterweight title.  The fight will air on Fox in prime time on Saturday and it will be the first time a PBC card has been on Fox after previously airing fights on Fox Sports 1.  In this fight Garcia will be looking to remain perfect while Guerrero will just be looking to remain relevant.  

Garcia will be looking to stay perfect as a pro

When you talk about Garcia the first thing you have to mention is his world class left hook.  Garcia has the type of left hook that can put opponents to sleep with one shot if it lands clean.  The Philadelphia native fights out of the orthodox stance and likes to fight behind his jab and has also shown a solid right hand.  However, Garcia also has a tendency to fight down to his level of competition and he isn't the busiest puncher.  In recent fights Garcia has done enough to win but just barely.  

The criticism of Garcia started after the biggest win of his career in 2013 against Lucas Matthysse.  Garcia followed that up by taking a fight in Puerto Rico that was billed as a "homecoming" fight since he has Puerto Rican roots.  In that fight Garcia took on the underrated Mauricio Herrera and although he was awarded the majority decision win, most fans thought that was a decision Herrera deserved.  "Swift" as Garcia goes by then chose to fight Rod Salka who was ranked outside the top 50 and was a division below the junior welterweight champion which turned a lot of fans off.  For his career Garcia has been a perfect 31-0 with 18 knockouts and although he dominated a passed his prime Paulie Malignaggi in his most recent fight the bout before that against Lamont Peterson could have easily gone Peterson's way.  Now for the second time in a row Garcia will face a fighter passed his prime, coming off a bad performance.

Guerrero needs a win to stay near the top

Guerrero is a southpaw who was much slicker as a lighter fighter.  In the lower weight classes Guerrero earned the nickname "Ghost" and he fought like one and wasn't easy to hit.  However, in recent years Guerrero has been known more so for going toe to toe and giving fans good action fights, but clearly those wars have taken their toll.  Guerrero has a good jab and on the inside does a nice job of landing uppercuts.  Also, Guerrero has a nice straight left hand but nowadays he eats way too many clean punches upstairs.

In Guerrero's last five fights he has put together a record of 3-2 but that could easily be 2-3 since many people felt he lost his most recent fight against Aaron Martinez in June.  In that time Guerrero also has losses to Floyd Mayweather and Keith Thurman, so while he is losing he is losing to top fighters.  Against Thurman, Guerrero looked like he might get stopped early but came back nicely late to give a better account of himself.  However, he has had to get up off the canvas in his two most recent fights so he needs to watch out for Garcia's left hook.  As a pro Guerrero holds a record of 33-3-1 with 18 knockouts but a loss on Saturday would seriously hurt his career going forward.

How good, or bad, this fight turns out to be really depends on Guerrero.  If Guerrero can turn back the clock for one more night he could give Garcia some problems.  However, judging from his performance against Martinez that doesn't seem likely.  Garcia needs to not only beat Guerrero but do so in dominant fashion if he wants to win back some of the fans that have been jumping ship.  If Garcia fights down to the level of Guerrero it could also be a fun fight but that wouldn't be a good thing for Garcia.

PREDICTION: Three of four years ago this fight would have been much more interesting.  Now it just seems like a fight where fans will wait to see how long it takes Danny Garcia to stop Robert Guerrero.  Guerrero will come to fight like he always does but that won't be nearly enough as Garcia will win this fight via 10th round stoppage.

Sammy Vasquez vs. Aaron Martinez

Saturday's PBC on Fox co-feature should end up being much better than the main event.  That is because the fight will pit rising prospect Sammy Vasquez up against veteran Aaron Martinez.  The fight is scheduled to go 10 rounds in the welterweight division and a win for Vasquez could mean big things for him in the near future.  Also, both fighters are known to be very TV friendly, especially Vasquez, so fans should get a good show.  

Vasquez is a rising undefeated prospect

Vasquez fights out of the southpaw stance and has good pop on his punches.  The 29-year-old likes to use his jab as a measuring stick for his power punches and while he isn't a one punch knockout type fighter he does do a good job of breaking opponents down.  Vasquez likes to keep his hands fairly low but he moves well in the ring and does a nice job of getting his punches off.  His right hook is short and dangerous and he can surprise opponents with uppercuts with his left hand.  Another thing the prospect does well is score points with his straight left hand but once he gets an opponent hurt he is like a shark with blood in the water.

While Vasquez doesn't have any top names on his resume he has stepped up his level of competition the past two years.  "The Who Can Mexican" which is Vasquez's nickname has only been fighting professionally since 2012 and since that time has put together a a perfect record of 20-0 with 14 knockouts.  If Martinez doesn't represent the toughest test of his career he is damn sure close and this is without a doubt the biggest fight Vasquez has ever had.

Martinez got a huge win over Alexander in 2015

Martinez is a veteran who fights out of the orthodox stance and with the way he fights a ring isn't even needed, a phone booth would do just fine.  Martinez loves to get inside and trade heavy leather toe-to-toe which should be just fine by Vasquez.  Don't expect Martinez to jab much because he usually isn't a position where it makes sense to throw it.  Martinez likes to rough things up on the inside where he tries to land his strong overhand right but he also has a solid left hook and does a good job of always attacking the body.

As far as resumes go Martinez has a much better on than Vasquez does.  Martinez turned pro in 2004 and has fought the likes of Robert Guerrero, Devon Alexander, Jessie Vargas, and Josesito Lopez.  In his two most recent fights, against Guerrero and Alexander, Martinez has gone 1-1 but many fans think he beat Guerrero and should be 2-0.  For his career Martinez holds a record of 20-4-1 with only 4 knockouts so while he doesn't knock opponents out he can put a hurting on them over the course of a fight.  

This fight has war written all over it.  Vasquez is younger and the better boxer but he likes to trade power punches and Martinez is more than happy to square up on the inside and battle it out.  If Vasquez is smart he will use his jab and accurate straight left hand to keep Martinez at bay.  However, that isn't really Vasquez's style and on a big stage like this he will probably be gunning for the knockout.  As for Martinez he needs to do what he always does, get inside and make his opponent pay with hard body shots.

PREDICTION: Aaron Martinez is not an easy out for anyone and he won't be for Sammy Vasquez.  Vasquez will start off boxing but eventually Martinez will pull him into a war and "The Who Can Mexican" will be more than happy to oblige.  Vasquez won't stop Martinez but he will hurt him multiple times on his way to a unanimous decision win.