Estrella TV Quick Picks

 

Eddie Gomez vs. John Karl Sosa: On Friday night Golden Boy Promotions will once again air a card headlined by prospects on Estrella TV.  The main event of that card will be a 10-round fight in the welterweight division between Eddie Gomez (18-1, 11 KO) and John Karl Sosa (13-1, 6 KO).  Both men have suffered recent losses, Gomez losing three fights ago and Sosa losing his most recent fight.  Also, Gomez only fought once in 2015 and neither man has fought this year.  Gomez is an orthodox fighter whose best punch is his jab.  He will often double that jab up and follow it with a straight right or overhand right, finding success with both.  Gomez also has a decent left hook, although he isn't a massive puncher.  Gomez usually likes to fight from the outside where he can control things with his jab but when he does get in close he does a good job of attacking the body.  As for Sosa, he will be the fighter with the faster hands on Friday night.  He too carries a good jab and he has a quick straight right hand to go along with it.  The left hook of Sosa is also a good punch but he tends to keep his hands low.  Another thing Sosa does is get too aggressive at times and forget about defense.  In this fight Sosa should be the busier fighter but Gomez is a good counter puncher which will allow him to catch Sosa on the way in.  As long as Gomez stays close to as busy as Sosa does he will win this fight by the way of unanimous decision. 


Fidel Maldonado Jr. vs. Art Hovhannisyan: The co-feature of Friday's Estrella TV card with be a matchup of a young fighter taking on a veteran.  That young fighter is Fidel Maldonado Jr. (21-3, 18 KO) who is riding a two-fight win streak.  Maldonado will be taking on Art Hovanhannisyan (17-2-2, 9 KO) in a 10-round bout in the lightweight division.  All three of Maldonado's losses have come against quality fighters in Amir Imam, Michael Perez, and Fernando Carcamo.  Meanwhile, Hovhannisyan has lost to Jonathan Maicelo and Alejandro Perez.  Maldonado fights out of the southpaw stance and he has an accurate jab and straight left hand.  However, Maldonado also has slow hands and when he throws his straight left he has a tendency to really square up to his opponent.  Maldonado does put in good work to the body though, especially with that left hand.  He is at his best when he can stay on the outside and use his jab to keep his opponent off of him.  Hovhannisyan meanwhile, is an orthodox fighter who is nearly 10 years older than Maldonado.  Hovhannisyan is a tough fighter but he wouldn't be classified as a skilled pugilist.  The veteran fighter has a decent jab and he usually keeps his jab hand very low.  One thing he does nicely is that he always keeps his right hand planted on his chin to protect it from incoming fire.  Hovhannisyan has a pretty solid left hook and an overhand right that can do some damage but he tends to get wild with both of those punches.  He has also had trouble when opponents are able to back him up and throw a lot of combinations but in this fight Hovhannisyan probably won't have to worry about that too much.  This probably won't be the prettiest fight but as long as Maldonado can establish his jab early and stay on the outside he will win this fight with a unanimous decision.