Showtime Fight Preview

Jesus Cuellar vs. Abner Mares

Originally the fight between Jesus Cuellar and Abner Mares was supposed to take place in New York City.  However, an old eye injury suffered by Mares put an end to that fight because the New York State Athletic Commission would not clear Mares to fight.  Luckily other states don't feel the same and now the two men will meet in California this Saturday on Showtime for a scheduled 12-round bout with Cuellar's WBA regular featherweight title on the line.  

Cuellar is riding an 11-fight win streak

While he may not be the most polished pugilist in the sport, Cuellar does have some serious power out of the southpaw stance.  He is an aggressive puncher whose fan friendly style always makes for great TV.  Cuellar likes to work on the inside and he doesn't jab much but when he does it is to measure the distance for his power punches.  Those power punches, in the form of a wild right hook and left hand, are Cuellar's best weapons and he has plus power in both hands.  That power should play a big role in the outcome on Saturday night because Mares also likes to trade heavy leather. 

Although he had racked up some impressive victories previously, Cuellar really made a name for himself when he knocked out Vic Darchinyan in 2015.  Since his lone career loss, which came back in 2011, Cuellar has gone 11-0 with seven knockouts and his career record is an impressive 28-1 with 21 knockouts.  Along with his win over Darchinyan, Cuellar also holds victories over Juan Manuel Lopez and Jonathan Oquendo and Mares is around that same level, making him one of Cuellar's best opponents to date.

Mares is fresh off an exciting loss to Santa Cruz

Like his opponent on Saturday night, Mares is also an aggressive fighter who doesn't mind going toe-to-toe.  Mares fights out of the orthodox stance and he likes to work behind a nice jab and pile on the punches.  While Cuellar has one-punch knockout type power Mares usually scores his knockouts from an accumulation of punishment.  His best punch is his left hook but he also puts in solid work with his right hand.  Mares will need to be careful though not to be too aggressive or he could end up on the canvas like he was against Jhonny Gonzalez.

It wasn't that long ago that Mares found himself at the bottom half of the top 10 pound-for-pound rankings.  However, a first round knockout loss to Gonzalez changed that and really altered Mares' career.  Still, Mares has victories over Darchinyan, Joseph Agbeko, Anselmo Moreno, and Daniel Ponce De Leon among others.  For his career Mares has put together a record of 29-2-1 with 15 knockouts and in his last five bouts he has gone 3-2 while scoring one knockout and being knocked out once himself.

It seems nearly impossible that this fight won't provide fireworks.  Both Cuellar and Mares love to work on the inside and neither fighter is adverse to trading heavy leather.  Neither fighter's defense is anywhere near elite and they are both aggressive punchers which could result in a late Fight of the Year candidate.  That really depends on what form Mares is in.  While Cuellar hasn't fought in just over a year it has been 16 months since Mares last entered the ring and that resulted in a close decision loss to Leo Santa Cruz.  Mares might be better served trying to box more than usual but being more defensively minded hasn't always worked out well for him in the past so expect him to be his aggressive self.

PREDICTION: Even though Abner Mares is probably more skilled than Jesus Cuellar, he isn't overwhelmingly so.  Cuellar is no slouch and he seems to be in better current form and has much more pop on his punches than Mares does.  This will be a very exciting fight that goes back forth but it will be Cuellar who consistently gets the better of the action on his way to a 10th round stoppage of Mares.

Jermall Charlo vs. Julian Williams

Fights don't get much more intriguing than the one this Saturday between Jermall Charlo and Julian Williams.  Both fighters are only 26 years old and are seemingly just entering their primes and both bring unbeaten records into the ring.  Their fight is scheduled to go 12 rounds with Charlo putting his IBF junior middleweight title on the line.  Charlo won that title in 2015 and has defended it twice and for Williams this will be his first title shot.

Charlo is fresh off a big win over Austin Trout

Between the Charlo twins it is Jermall who is the bigger puncher, although he is less skilled than his brother.  Charlo works out of the orthodox stance and he uses his jab to set up his best punch, the straight right hand.  That punch comes in quickly and can do damage, as can Charlo's left hook.  Late in fights Charlo will put more pop on his jab which makes it even better preceding the straight right hand.  Defensively Charlo is fine but far from great.  He doesn't use his legs that much so he isn't that hard to hit as long as you can avoid return fire.

When it comes to resumes Charlo's is more impressive than Williams'.  Charlos has wins over Cornelius "K9" Bundrage, Wilky Campfort, and most recently Austin Trout.  That win over Trout was the biggest of Charlo's career and could help him against Williams since both Williams and Trout are skilled counter punchers.  For his career Charlo has a perfect record of 24-0 with a strong 18 knockouts but Williams will definitely be one of the toughest tests of his career.

This is Williams' first career title fight

Williams works out of the orthodox stance and like Charlo his best punch is his straight right hand.  Although his record shows he doesn't have as much power as Charlo, Williams has scored two knockout wins in a row and has seven knockouts in his last nine fights.  The jab of Williams is a good one he can score points with and his left hook is steadily improving.  On the inside Williams also throws a crooked right hand to the body and that punch can take a lot out of opponents.  

The resume of Williams lacks the notable names that appear on Charlo's.  His resume is filled with names of veteran fighters past their primes and the most notable name on his resume is probably Joachim Alcine.  Outside of a draw that came early in his career Williams has been perfect and his career record is 22-0-1 with 14 knockouts.  There is no question that Charlo will be the best fighter Williams has ever been in the ring with but the time could be now for Williams who seems to get better with each fight.

This fight could have been billed "The Battle of Straight Right Hands" because that is both fighter's best punch.  The movement and jab of Williams may be better than Charlo's but it is Charlo has carries more pop on his punches so this is a true toss-up fight.  The winner of this bout could go on to a number of big fights because the junior middleweight division happens to be one of the best in boxing.  Whatever happens it should be a fun fight between two skilled fighters in their primes.

PREDICTION: The smart money is probably on Jermall Charlo in this fight.  He has a better resume and more power and has already beaten skilled veterans like Austin Trout.  However, Julian Williams seems to improve with each fight and his jab and movement will be the difference in this bout as he squeaks by with the disputed split decision win.