Saturday night features one of the best fights of the year as Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will face off for the fourth time. However, there a few interesting fights before that to keep fans interested.
From top to bottom, the entire fight card features talented boxers. The matchups should be exciting to watch.
Still, the biggest draw is obviously the main event, where people want to see if Marquez has the ability to finally defeat Pacquiao.
Here are predictions for the entire fight card for the big pay-per-view event.
Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Michael Farenas
There are few boxers more physically talented than Yuriorkis Gamboa. The former Olympic gold medalist has won all 21 of his career bouts, many with ease.
However, the Cuban has not competed since September of 2011 when he defeated Daniel Ponce de Leon. This inactivity could hurt him if the match goes long and his conditioning becomes a problem.
Michael Farenas will likely be the aggressor early, but this could backfire against the experienced Gamboa.
Still, Farenas' best chance at winning might be an early knockout while his opponent is still shaking of the rust from his time off. Otherwise, this should be easy win for Gambo.
Prediction: Gambao wins by TKO
Miguel Vazquez vs. Mercito Gesta
A boxer is often judged exclusively by his record. However, despite his three losses, Miguel Vazquez has shown more in his career than the 26-0-1 Mercito Gesta.
Only Timothy Bradley and Canelo Alvarez have defeated the 25-year-old Vazquez, and he has performed well lately in winning and retaining his IBF Lightweight World Title.
Although he is talented, Gesta is relatively untested. He has not faced anyone of Vazquez's magnitude and that could get him in trouble if he is too cocky.
Vazquez will not have any easy time in this match, but he knows what it takes to win and should be able to stay ahead in the minds of the judges.
Prediction: Vazquez wins by decision
Javier Fortuna vs. Patrick Hyland
Both fighters enter with undefeated records, but only one has proven himself against high-level competition.
Patrick Hyland has been boxing in Ireland for a number of years. Unfortunately, none of his wins on either side of the Atlantic have been particularly impressive, and he has sometimes struggled with these lesser opponents.
On the other hand, Javier Fortuna has looked dominant at times and could be one of the next big stars in the sport. He is only 22 years old, but he already has 15 knockouts in 20 career matches.
Fortuna is simply much better than his competition. This should be over in a hurry.
Prediction: Fortuna wins by TKO
Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
The battle comes down to Manny Pacquiao.
He needs to show that he has not lost speed with age, that he is still focused on his fights, that he is over the loss to Timothy Bradley and that Marquez did not deserve to win any of the previous fights.
Marquez is the fighter who is coming in with nothing to lose. Dinamita does not have to prove much at this stage in his career, but he wants to be able to get his hand raised just once against Pacquiao after coming close three times.
In an effort to keep the fight out of the judges' hands, Marquez will likely be looking to go for the knockout. Unfortunately, Pacquiao is simply too quick to allow this to happen.
The Pacman will come out firing like he always does, and his aggressive nature will help him earn points with those scoring the match. He will not be dominant, but he should be able to do enough to defeat his rival for a third time.
Prediction: Pacquiao wins by decision
Follow @TheRobGoldberg
Read more Boxing news on BleacherReport.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment