By Ian S Palmer
The vacant WBO Lightweight Title is on the line in Reno, Nevada this Friday, Feb. 16th as Raymundo Beltran of Mexico takes on Paulus Moses of Namibia. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. On ESPN and ESPN Deportes while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on BoxNation. Beltran was last in the ring in August when he beat Bryan Vasquez by a 10-round majority decision. Moses was last in the ring in September when he beat Saidi Mundi by a fifth-round TKO for the WBO African Lightweight Championship. This will be Beltran’s fourth crack at the WBO World Lightweight crown.
Beltran came close to winning the title in 2013 when he travelled to Scotland to face Ricky Burns, but was handed a controversial split-decision draw. He then fought Terence Crawford a year later and dropped a unanimous decision. Beltran fought Takahiro Ao for the vacant title in 2015, but he failed to make the weight. Beltran managed to stop Ao halfway through the second round, but the fight was ruled a no-decision when the Mexican failed a drug test.
Beltran is apparently trying to win a world title to prove he’s an elite boxer and remain in the USA with a green card, but missing weight and failing drug tests definitely isn’t the way to go about it. The 36-year-old will enter the ring with a record of 34-7-1 with 21 Kos to his name. Beltran stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and has a 68-inch reach. He’s fought 236 rounds since turning pro in 1999. Beltran likes to press the action as he’s aggressive, but has average power with a current knockout ratio of 49 per cent.
Beltran isn’t the quickest lightweight around and has been beaten by Crawford, Luis Ramos Jr, Sharif Bogere, Ammeth Diaz, Agnaldo Nunes, Steve Trumble, and Victor Manuel Mendoza with Diaz and Trumble both stopping him in the fourth round. His biggest wins have been against the likes of Vasquez, Jonathan Maicelo, Mason Menard, Arash Usmanee, Ji-Hoon Kim, and Henry Lundy with his draw coming against Burns. Beltran has won several regional belts as a pro including the USBA, NABF, WBO NABO and WBA International Lightweight Titles
Moses is now 39 years old and he’ll climb through the ropes with a an impressive record of 40-3 along with 25 Kos. Most of his opponents have been fellow Africans, but he also fought Ricky Burns for the WBO World Title in 2012 in Scotland and lost a unanimous decision. He had a shot at the WBA Lightweight Title two years earlier and was stopped by Miguel Acosta in the sixth round. His other loss came to Malcolm Klassen for the vacant WBO International Lightweight Title in 2015 by unanimous decision.
Moses was the WBA World Lightweight Champion in 2009 though and he lost the belt to Acosta in his second defence. He’s also held the WBO International, WBA Intercontinental and WBA Pan African Lightweight Titles in the past. Moses is the same height as Beltran at 5-foot-8, but has a 72.5-inch reach for a 4.5-inch advantage over the Mexican. Moses also has a better knockout ratio as it currently stands at 57 per cent, but he’s not known as a one-punch KO artist. He also has plenty of experience with 294 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2002.
Prediction…
This is a pretty even matchup when it comes to age, skill level, size and experience etc. However, if Beltran needs to win a world title to help his chances of staying in the USA then he’ll be more motivated. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and go with Beltran to take the vacant title.
