Tag Archive for: boxing

Logan Paul Goes the Distance with Floyd Mayweather

Logan Paul is one of the biggest Youtubers’ on the platform with 23 million subscribers. In 2018, Paul fought in his first ever boxing match against fellow youtuber, KSI. After a tie in that match, they fought again in 2020 and Paul barely lost by split decision.

On the other side of the ring was Floyd Mayweather. He is arguably THE BEST boxer of all time. He is a lightweight fighter who was 50-0 in his professional career, winning by KO 27 times. Along with being a huge fighter, Mayweather is a very large social media influence, racking up 23 million followers on Instagram. Mayweather is one of the richest athletes on earth, and shows off his wealth whenever possible.

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Although Logan Paul was the bigger man, weighing 34.5 pounds more, and 6 inches more than Mayweather, he was also much less experienced in comparison. While Mayweather had been a professional fighter for just over 20 years and Paul had only fought for 3.

In the end, Logan Paul, the underdog, ended up going the distance with Mayweather in this exhibition bout. Even though many felt that Mayweather won the fight, Logan Paul survived 24 minutes with the obviously better fighter. Paul was also very aggressive the whole time, and was able to hit Mayweather many times. In my book, this is a win for both fighters as Mayweather made A LOT of what he loves most, money, and Logan Paul exceeded everybody’s expectations.

photos by Jim Rodriguez of Five Reasons to Bet (@JRodShow)

Errol Spence Jr. vs Danny Garcia Main Card Pick & Predictions

Main Event: Errol Spence Jr. vs Danny Garcia for WBC & IBF Welterweight Title 

 

Pick: Errol Spence Jr

By: Decision

Fight Goes the Distance: Yes                                                                                                                                                                      

Breakdown: Errol Spence Jr. makes his long awaited return to face the tough Danny Garcia for both the WBC and the IBF Welterweight titles. On one side you have potentially the pound for pound greatest boxer today in Spence Jr. taking on a very game Danny Garcia who’s only two losses have come versus Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman, two of the best in the division. Spence is a southpaw who likes to work behind his jab. He starts off with a jab to gauge distance, then proceeds to add to it with body hooks and then uses his footwork to back you into the corner. Garcia has that excellent counter left hook, which will be interesting to see if he is able to figure out the puzzle of Errol. Garcis is undoubtedly a great fighter however it seems like the days of his prime are behind him. His last two fights have shown that he still has the ability to get the win and his ring iq is very high, however, it’s a different game when you’re facing someone such as Errol Spence. He is too defensive and is way better at controlling distance and pace. What makes Errol one of the pound for pound greats is his striking diversity, while most other fighters look to headhunt, Errol prefers to keep you guessing which allows for more holes. We see this in his fight against Carlos Ocampo when in the first round he won with two perfectly placed body hooks. The ability for Errol to wear fighters down and get better as the fight goes on is one that gives him an edge. At times we have seen Garcia just look to bide his time and try to work just enough to get a decision win, instead of going for the kill. And sure that makes you get knocked out less but versus fighters whose volume is very high such as a Spence Jr, you cannot allow yourself to get behind in the cards and just look to throw 1 or 2 punches for every 5 or 6 from Spence Jr. If Garcia wants any chance to win this fight, he will need to start first early and often and get a lead on the scorecards. However with his excellent timing and distance management, look for Errol to outbox Garcia over the course of the fight and get this one by decision. 

 

Co-Main Event: Habib Ahmed vs. Sebastian Fundora

Pick: Sebastian Fundora

By: TKO Round 7

Fight Goes the Distance: No                                                                                                                                                                  

Breakdown: We have an interesting fight at welterweight when we will see Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora taking on Habib Ahmed in a Super Welterweight Title Eliminator in the co-main event. Sebastian is the way bigger fighter at a towering 6’6 compared to Ahmed’s 5’8. This fight is going to be very hard for Ahmed to win due to the fact that he will always be out of range when Fundora is in range. Fundora has great boxing abilities and the winner of this fight will get a shot at the Super Welterweight Champion. For Sebastian to win this fight, he will have to work the jab to continue to make Ahmed keep his distance. He will need to make sure that he avoids the counterpunches from Ahmed to win this. Look for Fundora to capitalize on Ahmed overextending himself to get into range. Fundora by TKO Late

 

Fight #3: Francisco Santana vs. Josesito Lopez

Pick: Josesito Lopez

By: Decision

Fight Goes the Distance: Yes 

Breakdown: Josesito Lopez does what more boxers should do. Regardless of his record, he continues to try and line up the best possible fight and continues to show his guts. Having faced Keith Thurman and Canelo Alvarez, He has great experience coming in. Santana Has not faced anyone at the level of Lopez nor has he shown the ability to get the win. Lopez has much better footwork and pace in the ring, whereas you will see Santana get sloppy and not be able to lead the dance. Look for Lopez to have a masterpiece in this fight where we will get to see him showcase his abilities and work in and out of range to get the win. 

 

Fight #4: Miguel Flores vs. Eduardo Ramirez

Pick: Eduardo Ramirez

By: Decision

Fight Goes the Distance: Yes 

Breakdown: Ramirez is coming in as the underdog in this fight, but watching his film, it shows that he is able to elevate himself to another level at times. He is a boxer that does carry some risk with his aggressiveness and volume at times, but if we see the best Eduardo Ramirez come in, it is likely we can see him take this fight. In the other corner, we have Miguel Flores who’s’ coming off of a loss vs Leo Santa Cruz. As we know, Santa Cruz is one of the greats at his weight so no shame in that loss. But we did not see the Miguel Flores that we wanted to see in that fight. He was slow and it was clear that the speed of Santa Cruz was too much. Look for Ramirez to dance around Flores and get the win in the cards. 

 

Parlay of the Week: Spence Jr., Fundora, Lopez

 

You can follow Johnathan on Twitter  @ThreePieceCombo 

Three Piece Fight Picks: Devin Haney vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa Card

Main Event: Devin Haney vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa for WBC Lightweight Title

 

Pick: Devin Haney

By: Decision

Fight Goes the Distance: Yes                                                                                                                                                                      

Breakdown: Devin Haney looks to continue his title reign and add another known name to the hitlist when he takes on Yuriorkis Gamboa. Haney is coming in undefeated and at only 21 years old taking on a legend in the sport in Gamboa, he can continue to build his name for himself and keep bringing in the money. For Gamboa he is coming in off of a valiant effort vs Gervonta Davis where he tore his achilles tendon and continued to fight with the knockout artist all the way to the 12th round until he took a loss. The former champ was dominant against top competition in the early 2010s but it seems like he’s on the back end of his career and is steadily declining. Haney is coming in super fresh and light on his feet and is able to put together great combinations. His 2 and 3 piece combinations are lightning quick and going against someone who is coming off an injury, we could see a lot of those fast combinations get through. Gamboa is a warrior, and will most likely do enough to see the judges, but this fight is more than likely going to be a showcase for Haney as he works his way to a decision win. 

 

Co-Main Event: Filip Hrgovic vs Rydell Booker

Pick:  Filip Hrgovic 

By: Knockout

Round: 3

Group of Rounds: (7-12)

Fight Goes the Distance: No                                                                                                                                                                       

Breakdown: Future Heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic is coming in to take on Rydell Booker. Filip has looked great knocking out most of his opponents within the first few rounds. Just creeping into his prime at 28, he looks like all he will need is a few more fights until they put him into a title shot. We may very well see that happen in the next 2 or 3 fights. Rydell Booker is coming in at almost 40 years old and for him, this is a tough outing. He’s had a long layoff due to having a drug bust after taking the first loss of his career. It’s going to be hard for him to come in even with a few other fights under his belt but after coming out but for Filip, his power will carry him like it has over the last few fights and he should get a KO in the first few rounds. Gypsy King Tyson Fury touting him as “a future World Champion”, keep your eye on the talented Filip Hrgovic. 

 

Fight #3: Devin Vargas vs. Zhilei Zhang

 

Pick: Zhilei Zhang

By: KO

Round: 3

Group of Rounds: (1-6)

Fight Goes the Distance: No  

Breakdown: Olympic Medalist Zhelei Zhang is coming in undefeated to take on the 22-6 Devin Vargas. Zhang has shown the ability to knock people out left and right with 16 of his 21 wins coming by knockout, most of them in the first few rounds. After starting his career 17-0, Vargas has now lost 5 of his last 8. His last loss was against former champ Andy Ruiz and all 5 of those losses have been by knockout. While building his streak he was showing to be able to use his power without weighing in the risk and taking risky punches without getting caught. Now that he has faced higher talent, those risks he takes sometimes do not pay off, and with someone as disciplined and as the power to counter punch as well as Zhang, it is more than likely a KO comes out for Zhang. 

 

Fight #4: Reshat Mati vs. Marcos Mojica

 

Pick: Reshat Mati

By: TKO

Round: 4

Fight Goes the Distance: No  

Breakdown: The 22-year-old prospect Reshat Mati comes in looking to build to his undefeated 7-0 record when he takes on Marcos Mojica. For Mojica, his last 3 losses have come by knockout in early rounds. Mati has gone to decision before because but with this one, he’s facing someone who has shown to be hittable. Mati’s talent will be on display because Marcos is a fighter who will come in and try to work his offense and while he does that, he leaves himself somewhat open. More than likely we will see Mati get to show out and will pick up another good win vs Mojica. 

 

Fight #5: Juan Jose Martinez vs. Movladdin Biyarslanov

 

Pick: Movladdin Biyarslanov

By: Decision

Fight Goes the Distance: Yes

Breakdown: With this fight only scheduled for 6 rounds, this one is quite likely to see the cards. Movladdin is coming in after getting a comeback win after a couple of losses in a row. He does have the power to be able to win fights with his punches, but he is not as fast as Movladdin. In this fight, we will see him use his fast footwork and his pressure to get the win against Juan Jose. 

 

Fight #6: Darren Cunningham  vs.  Juan Gabriel Medina

 

Pick: Darren Cunningham

By: Decision

Fight Goes the Distance: Yes

Breakdown: Cunningham is a 23-year old prospect out of Las Vegas, and is undefeated at 11-0. He has shown to use an amount of patience that keeps his risk low and works him to decisions. Over his last 4 fights, 2 of them have gone to decision. He is a technical monster and is able to defend, use his footwork, and use combinations to get himself a win. Cunningham is a budding star and you can see with a style like his that he can take himself far and in a few years we can see his name headlining a card. 

 

JR’s Picks on the Davis vs. Santa Cruz boxing card

Main Event: Gervonta Davis vs Leo Santa Cruz for WBA World Championships

Pick: Gervonta Davis
By: KO/TKO
Single Round: 7th round
Winning Group of Rounds: (7-12
Fight Goes the Distance: No
Breakdown: Leo Santa Cruz is coming in as the biggest challenge of Gervonta Davis so far in his career. He has the pace and the volume to throw him off as much as anyone he has faced so far. With that being said Gervonta is coming in the much bigger fighter and the much stronger fighter. The power of his punches has ended all but one of his opponents and that’s when he’s fighting men his own size. Leo Santa Cruz fights mostly at 122lbs and 118lb and is moving up to challenge someone who is much bigger. The fighters in the bantamweight divisions don’t have the same strength and pop in their punches as the 135ers. In this fight, Santa Cruz is going to have to be perfect to win. His defense is going to need to be on point at all times and he needs to be throwing volume to win rounds. The difference is that Davis only needs to be perfect for a few seconds to put Santa Cruz out and have his hand raised at the end of the night. Santa Cruz keeps a high guard so this fight may end up playing out with Davis working the body until those hands fall and then in a later round get those knockdowns that put Santa Cruz out.

Co-Main Event: Mario Barrios (C) vs. Ryan Karl, 12 rounds, WBA super lightweight title
Pick: Mario Barrios
By: Decision
Fight Goes the Distance: Yes
Breakdown: Mario Barrios comes in with what seems to be a much better feel inside the ring than Ryan Karl. This is shown throughout Mario’s fights where he dictates the pace, moves in and out of boxing range and does a good job of cornering his opponents and putting them in the danger zone. Karl allows himself a lot of the time to get backed up into the corner and edges of the ring and then starts to swing from there. His swinging is the most accurate and crisp strikes so it will leave himself open to counterpunches which Barrios is more than capable of doing. Ryan Karl will be able to stand in there for all 12 rounds but he will lose the majority of them, therefore Mario Barrios will pick up a decision win.

Fight #3: Regis Prograis vs. Juan Heraldez, 10 rounds, super lightweight

Pick: Regis Prograis
By: TKO
Round: 8-10
Fight Goes the Distance: No
Breakdown: Former WBA World and WBC Diamond Super Junior Welterweight Champion Regis Prograis is finally making his return to the ring after taking his first loss to IBF Champion Josh Taylor. Looking to avenge his first loss, he is going to be taking on the unbeaten Juan Heraldez. For Juan, this is the toughest competition of his career taking on a former champ. 20 of 24 wins for Prograis came by knockout, with 10 of those being in the first two rounds. His power is going to keep Juan at bay and even though both fighters might be coming in with a little ring rust, Prograis should be able to put combinations together later in the fight as he gets more comfortable. Prograis by a late TKO to get this one done.

Fight #4: Isaac Cruz vs. Diego Magdaleno, 12 rounds, IBF lightweight title eliminator

Pick: Magdaleno
By: Decision
Fight Goes the Distance: Yes
Breakdown: We will get a challenger for the IBF lightweight title after this fight is over when Two-time world title challenger Diego Magdaleno takes on Isaac Cruz Gonzalez. Cruz has reportedly been working against southpaws in this camp to better prepare him for the stance of Diego Magdaleno. For Magdaleno, this is a step down in competition in comparison to the world title fights that he has had previously. His ring IQ is good enough to be able to control the pace of the fight and keep Isaac Cruz uncomfortable. It’s unlikely we see Cruz impose his will in this fight and thus Diego Magdaleno gets it done by Decision.

You can follow Johnathan @ThreePieceCombo

Crawford/Khan: The good ole days are back

Where to watch: Saturday, April 20th, 2019, Madison Square Garden, Available on ESPN PPV.

At one point in time, the Welterweight Division in boxing boasted the likes of Hall of Famers, Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benítez, Roberto Durán, and Thomas Hearns. Super Fights were made, legendary nights existed, and stay imprinted in our memories. In today’s Boxing, those moments are few and far between, and sometimes, you can spot the hustle before they try to hype you to pay $79.99 for the latest Pay Per View debacle. But, those “good ole’ days”, are making a comeback.

Let’s get this out of the way. Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan is yet, another hustle. Crawford is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, while Khan is the “consummate opponent”, a term used in Boxing circles as a pejorative to describe guys that may have a “name’ and could press the action, but do not have a chance of winning. How he got this fight, nobody but his management knows. Amir Khan, after riding a wave of hype as the latest great British fighter, and posting legitimate wins vs. Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah, dropped a decision to Lamont Peterson, and then got embarrassed by super star Danny Garcia. The Hype was not real.

If there is something to admire from Amir Khan and his team, it’s their resilience, and knack for finding the latest “big fight” to insert Kahn into, for yet another pay day. After some uninspiring performances after his two back to back losses, he still managed to find himself with yet another pay day, this time in a fight with Boxing’s biggest draw Canelo Alvarez. Knocked out in the 6th round, we surely saw the last of Khan? No. He finds his way back into a big PPV with one of Boxing’s biggest stars, and on ESPN’s initial foray into the PPV world in partnership with Top Rank Boxing.

I think at this point you may be confused with my line of the good ole’ days making a comeback, after spending two paragraphs eviscerating this matchup. Well, yes, this fight should not be competitive , as the odds show (Crawford is anywhere from -2000 to -2400 depending on where you find it, while Khan is 9-1 to 12-1 to win.) but this fight is about an introduction of Terence Crawford to the sporting conscience. A coming out party, sort of speak.

After leaving the Light Welterweight division seeking greener $$$ pastures, Crawford has impressed with convincing wins to win the WBO Welterweight title versus Jeff Horn and then defending against José Benavidez Jr. He is truly the latest and greatest addition to a stacked division. The cynic in me, tells me that these guys are all going to avoid each other to “massage” the dollars from the fans pockets into theirs while not giving us what we want. That does not seem to be the case so far with rumors abound of a Errol Spence, Shawn Porter fight set for September.

So, while this fight does not excite me, the introduction of Terence Crawford to the Welterweight scene to join the likes of champions Keith Thurman, Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, and contenders Danny Garcia, Kell Brook, Yordenis Ugas, all the while old man Manny Pacquiao is still around makes for some legendary nights ahead. The “good ole days” are back.

Prediction: Terence Crawford by KO/TKO in 8th round.

 

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