08.02.2007 – by Yero Moody: As a fan, a fighter, a journalist and boxing analyst I’m overjoyed at the thought of some of the great fights that I will be witnessing this year. Finally, a year full of great, competitve fights. This year we will seperate the authentic from the hype and the contenders from the pretenders. Although some of these fights have not technically been finalized I still want to offer my predictions in anticipation of these great fights.
I will begin with the fight scheduled for February 10, 2007 between Shane Mosley and Luis Collazo for the WBC welterweight championship. This is a very intriguing matchup due to Mosley’s age and Collazo’s southpaw style. Mosley is the odds on favorite due to his experience and proven track record in big fights. Collazo still has to prove himself. He left alot of questions unanswered in this writer’s mind in his last outing aginst Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. Hatton is clearly not strong a 147lbs. which is why he immediately abandoned his WBA welterweight belt and went south to campaign again at junior welter.
Mosley in comparison took on a bigger, stronger fighter in Fernando Vargas and dominated him twice. Many are very quick to write off Vargas but he has only lost to elite level competition (Mosley twice, De La Hoya & Trinidad) and is one of the few fighters to own wins over Winky Wright; albeit controversial, Raul Marquez and Ike Quartey. My prediction for this fight is: Mosley by knockout in 10 rounds or less! Too much speed, ring experience with bigger, tougher fighters and most importantly he’s back to “powerboxing” with his father in his corner.
March 17, 2007 brings us Juan Marquez v. Marco Antonio Barrera for the WBC superfeatherweight championship. I feel that Marquez is one of the most underestimated and overlooked fighters today. He has excellent boxing skills, stamina and tremendous heart. He came back from being knocked down three times in the first round against Manny Pacquiao and fought him to a draw. Barrera has been through war after war and came out on top most of the time. This is truly going to be a battle. Barrera showed that he still has tremendous heart and a great work ethic in his last win against Rocky Juarez. In their first meeting Barrera looked old and lethargic leading many to say he was nearing his end. In his last fight against Juarez he looked completely rejuvinated and put on a boxing clinic. My prediction for this fight is: Marquez by UD! Marquez is too hungry and seems to be able to neutralize stronger punchers by utilizing his excellent counterpunching ability. It is a very tough fight to call because Barrera is such a great fighter.
May 5, 2007 brings us the biggest fight, possibly ever, in terms of viewing audience. Oscar De La Hoya v. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. for the WBC superwelterweight title. This is an extremely intriguing matchup against the pound for pound best fighter of today versus a former pound for pound best fighter in the world. Mayweather has been pursuing De La Hoya for years and finally gets his big shot at securing his legacy. In so eagerly pursuing this fight with De La Hoya, Mayweather has given De La Hoya almost every concievable advantage. The fight will take place in Las Vegas which is De La Hoya’s hometown in the boxing world. De La Hoya has chosen Reyes gloves which are punchers gloves and very hard on the hands.
This could be disastrous for Mayweather who has a history of brittle hands. They are also fighting in a small ring which takes away from Mayweather’s lateral movements and allows De La Hoya to cut off the ring with more ease. They are also fighting at De La Hoya’s natural fighting weight of 154lbs. stretching Mayweather 14lbs. past his premium fighting weight of 140lbs. Why would Mayweather give up so much in order to fight De La Hoya? The answer is; the pursuit of greatness. He knows he has not yet fought an elite fighter and is eager to prove to himself and the boxing world that he truly is the greatest fighter in the world today. The advantages that Mayweather has are age, speed and overall boxing skills, especially in the area of defense. My prediction for this fight is: Mayweather scores a technical knockout.
I will further elaborate on this prediction because to some it may seem completely outlandish. This is a matchup based on styles and technical skill. De La Hoya has shown time and time again almost an uncanny ability to adapt to win against fighters of various styles. However, he has shown a weakness against slick, fast boxers i.e. Pernell Whitaker (who was past his prime at the time) and Shane Mosley. Mayweather will use his tremendous speed and counterpunching to land hard and consistently. Mayweather’s conditioning coach has already stated that Mayweather will not be bulking up for this fight and will weigh around 149-150lbs. for the fight thus ensuring his maintenance of speed. Speed will kill in this fight.
June 2007 brings us either Antonio Margarito v. Paul Williams or Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight championship. It has been announced that Bob Arum will sue Margarito, his management team and Goosen-Tutor promotions if Margarito goes forward with his fight with Paul Williams. Margarito’s manger Mr. Diaz has stated that they were not satisfied with the deal Arum presented for the Cotto fight. So when Goosen-Tutor promotions won the purse bid to promote Williams v. Margarito fight Diaz says that they were inclined to pursue that fight so that the WBO would not strip Margarito of their belt. It’s no coincidence that both Mayweather and De La Hoya left Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotions citing poor business practices by Bob Arum. I admire Margarito’s willingness to step up and take big fights and he deserves credit for that. It seems as if the true culprit is and always has been Bob Arum. Now, onto the business of predicting his possible fights.
Paul Williams who is the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt which Margarito now holds. So if he is to keep his belt he must face Williams. Many feel that Margarito has the edge against Williams due to ring experience, power, granite chin and the tremendous pressure he puts on his opponents. This writer feel that these are all the reasons why he will lose. Margarito relies on those aspects of his fighting style too often and has not shown anything that resembles defense or lateral movement. Williams has an 82″ reach that would clobber any fighter who constantly comes forward and especially if that fighter has little to no defense. Williams has shown chinks in his armor but he still has the advantage of speed and deceptive power. My prediction for this fight is: Williams by knockout in 9 rds. or less! When Margarito comes forward with his pressure style he’s going to get hit hard and often. Williams will simply follow the blueprint Joshua Clottey laid out and execute it rather brutally.
Cotto has shown tremendous improvement in his offense. When he moved up to welter he gained tremendous confidence and easily outgunned Carlos Quintana. A Margarito v. Cotto fight is very compelling and bigger than a Margarito v.Williams matchup. It will be a classic toe to toe battle with two fighters who both abandon defense all too often. Margarito has the clear edge in ring experience but both have faced a similar class of opposition with a slight edge to Margarito. Cotto is the better all around boxer and throws his punches more accurately and well balanced. Margarito throws wide looping punches and is often off balance when he throws them. My prediction for this fight is: Cotto by knockout in 7 rds. or less! Too much power against a very agressive one dimensional pressure fighter who lacks defense.
July 2007 brings us Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins v. Ronald “Winky” Wright. This could be an extremely tactical matchup that some would call boring. I love to see great tacticians figuring each other out to see who prevails. Clearly, Winky is the younger, faster fighter. B-Hop is the older, stronger fighter. Both fighters are extremely crafty and arguably the smartest fighters in the sport today. They are able to adapt to any fighting style to find a way to win. Both share incredible dominating wins over the great Felix “Tito” Trinidad in which he was the favorite to beat both of them. Winky in his last fight against Taylor looked puzzled at times, as did B-Hop, on how to solve the Jermain Taylor puzzle.
Bernard Hopkins has been spending too much time contemplating on who he wants to fight. First, it was Oleg Maskaev, then Joe Calzaghe and then Roy Jones,jr. this takes away from your focus. Meanwhile, Winky has been waiting patiently for his next big fight. My prediction for this fight is: Winky by split decision! This is a very tough fight to call but due Winky’s speed he has the advantage.
Thank you for reading! If you ahve any questions or comments you can e-mail me at yero_m@yahoo.com