Foot Action (Footlocker)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Clashes in the Lightweight Division

Forget Pacquiao-De La Hoya for the moment.

This Saturday, September 13, 2008 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, WBA / WBO / IBF lightweight champion Nate Campbell (32-5, 25 KOs) of the United States will trade punches with undefeated WBO super featherweight champion Joan Guzman (28-0, 17 KOs), a native of the Dominican Republic and moving to a higher class.

While I say they are equally matched in terms of reach and height, Guzman possesses more athleticism than Campbell. Guzman is faster, more agile, and a harder puncher in contrast to Campbell. But one cannot count the older guy out. 36-year old Campbell has proven himself a tough warrior on the ring and against a younger Guzman, who is 4 years his junior, I think he can hold him off.

That said, I do not dismiss the high probability of a Guzman stoppage in the middle part of the fight. A proven power puncher with speed on his side, no doubt there will be a showcase of punching barrages courtesy of the Dominican.

The odds? 70-30 in favor Guzman.

Another fight slated on the same evening will be the Juan Manuel Marquez-Joel Casamayor bout. Marquez (48-4-1, 35 KOs) will be climbing the scales to the lightweight division in an attempt to wrest The Ring’s Lightweight belt from Casamayor (36-3-1, 22 KOs).

A tactical and more polished fighter than his Cuban opponent, Mexican native JMM is the heavy favorite to win this matchup (so do I). But I do not think Casamayor will go down easily in this fight. If Casamayor falls this 13th, JMM will surely have a hell to go through first. With all that said, a Casamayor victory is still possible, but not likely.

2 comments:

Martin Bolima said...

if campbell has his head in the fight, he has enough skills and savvy to defeat guzman..

as for marquez, he has to find a way to neutralize casamayor's dirty tactics and rough-housing tricks..casamayor is known to be a dirty fighter at times, and if marquez gets affected by it, he'll lose..but i want marquez to win.

sure, i'll link your blog to mine.. thanks

Kenneth Ragpala said...

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