By Nick Bellafatto
Live from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California this Saturday night, to be televised on Showtime Championship Boxing, Marcos “El Chino” Maidana (33-3, 30 KO’s) of Buenos Aires, Argentina will in the main event defend his WBA Intercontinental Championship against Riverside, California’s own Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s).
And in what should be an excellent scrap for as long as it lasts, the question is, how long will it go? I mean both of these fighters seem to equally give it their all once inside the squared circle, but for me this is where the equality ceases.
Laid back and relaxed as could be in any setting, the hard hitting Argentinian Maidana is more apt to speak with his gloves than with his mouth, something that doesn’t bode so well for his opponents, to perhaps include Lopez by fights end.
I mean if ever “El Chino” were to reign supreme as a world champion, a certain aspiration of his, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to many considering the blend of power and subtle skill he possesses. And it’s that power combined with the fact that Lopez isn’t one to shy away from a challenge that I favor Maidana markedly.
On the other hand it’s no surprise either that the Riverside native would step up to face such a fearsome opponent, actually welcoming such a contest in the hopes of garnering another major title opportunity. Towards this end, what Lopez has going for him besides being the taller fighter, is that he is totally confident, he has deterrent force on his shots, and overall is quite skilled..
And with Josesito dispatching former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, to be followed by a seriously game but losing effort against the much bigger and stronger junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the confident Lopez should prove to be competitive at least in the short run.
But to go the distance or even give himself a chance at victory, Josesito must stick to his game plan of picking his spots to let loose, otherwise brawling constantly with the Argentine will prove to be his certain downfall.
Having said that, although Lopez will be somewhat at ease returning to a lower weight class after his lucrative but temporary foray into the 154-pound division, Maidana just tips the scales for me. I simply believe he hits harder than “Canelo” ever will, which again when you combine that with the fact that Josesito may be too game for his own good, well you get the picture.
The Mexican fighter will in my opinion have to come up with a flawless effort to offset the Argentinian’s power, otherwise finding a way to prevail over Maidana seems a tough proposition all the way around. Of course anything can happen once the bell rings so that it all comes down to execution in what is certainly an interesting clash.
Angulo looking to cash in against top rated Lara
Then there’s Mexicali, Mexico’s hard hitting Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (22-2, 18 KO’s) who is looking to cash in by way of toppling one of the most avoided fighters in top-rated Cuban Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11 KO’s). This when the two square off in the co-main event for the vacant WBA interim junior middleweight title.
Lara’s slick boxing style has frustrated many an opponent, something he will look to do against “El Perro,” the style of whom Erislandy mentions he’s seen many times over. To be specific, Lara plans to run the aggressive come forward slugger Angulo into his punches all night long. And with all of his 55% knockout ratio that’s just what Erislandy will have to do, using all the trickery he can muster to over the course of twelve rounds avoid becoming victimized.
But the Cuban is counting on Alfredo doing what he normally does where he let’s loose with the worst possible intentions. That said, I’m not so sure this will be the case as “El Perro” not only seems renewed after gaining his freedom from an ICE detention center, not to mention from former promoter Gary Shaw, but he seems subtly different as regards his ring presence.
It appears as if Angulo under the tutelage of current trainer Virgil Hunter has undergone a slight transformation, becoming more of a patient fighter as regards setting up an opponent. With this Lara could be in for a surprise. What may also factor in is that Alfredo has been sparring with the likes of the speedy Demetrius Andrade, the same Andrade whom Erislandy would defeat in a 2007 Pan American Games final.
Now even though both Lara and Andrade have come a ways since, I’m sure there are existing tendencies on the part of the Cuban so that Angulo may have in fact benefitted from having Andrade in his camp. Taking it a step further, in Virgil Hunter’s opinion Andrade is better than Lara, so that Hunter believes Angulo is sitting pretty.
Although it’s clear Andrade is perhaps quicker than Erislandy, I don’t know that Demetrius is better at this juncture so we’ll just have to see how things play out. Intriguing bout for sure where it’s quite possible that Lara may be distracted a bit with all the talk of the Cuban in victory having a possible go at former three-time world champion Miguel Cotto.
Whether that comes to fruition is pure speculation at this point, but the fact remains that Erislandy has been on the verge of a title shot for quite some time, a shot many feel he should have received by now. But because of his level of talent combined with the fact that he isn’t much of a draw, he’s been manipulated and relegated to the sidelines by those who wield control.
And when enough seemed to be enough, a WBC eliminator bout would be hurled his way, only to see Erislandy register a technical draw against Vanes Martirosyan, the result of a clash of heads. This would preempt a potential title bout with “Canelo” Alvarez, a man who for the moment has moved on.
Suffice it to say that the Cuban feels he has something to prove, as he’s determined to no end to gain the respect he feels he’s deserving of. All told however, I like Angulo’s chances here in a bout that has the potential to steal the show.
Also in action to complete what will be a tripleheader, Houston, Texas native and undefeated junior middleweight prospect Jermell Charlo (20-0, 10 KO’s) will be putting up his WBC Continental America’s belt against Demetrius Hopkins (33-2-1, 13 KO’s) of Philadelphia, PA, while Demetrius in turn, the nephew of Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins, will offer up his USBA 154 pound title. Tune in to see what should be an excellent fight card all around.
