By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/ricardo-sandoval-vs-jayson-mama-betting-odds-and-prediction/22852/
Jayson Mama of the Philippines meets up with Ricardo Sandoval of America this Thursday, February 15th in a 10-round flyweight contest. The clash comes from Commerce, California and can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Mama was last in the ring in June when he beat Robert Paradero via a 10-round unanimous decision. Sandoval last saw action in October when he downed Victor Sandoval by a 10-round unanimous nod.
The 25-year-old Sandoval hails from Montclair, California and enters the fight with a fine record of 23-2 with 16 Ko’s. He has 127 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in Mexico in 2016 as a teenager after a good amateur career. As an amateur he reached semifinals of the 2014 USA Junior Olympic National Championships where he was beaten by Keyshawn Davis. Sandoval stands 5-feet-6-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach.
As far as his power is concerned, Sandoval has pretty heavy hands for a flyweight as 70 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but he’s gone the distance in three of his past four fights. His first defeat came at the hands of Alonso Ceja by four-round majority decision in 2016 in his fifth pro outing. He then reeled off 16 straight wins before dropping a 12-round majority decision to David Jiminez in July, 2022. Jiminez was deducted a point in round seven for holding and Sandoval was decked in the 11th round.
Sandoval captured the vacant WBC Youth Inter-Continental Flyweight Title in 2019 when he stopped Christian Orenday in the sixth round. He also has wins over Brent Venegas, Oscar Vasquez, Marco Sustaita, Gilbert Gonzalez, Carlos Buitrago, Raymond Tabugon, Jay Harris, Jerson Ortiz and Rocco Santomauro. Sandoval has been pretty as he has 25 fights to his name and is just 25 years of age.
The 26-year-old Mama also has a fine mark as he’s 19-1 and has 10 Ko’s to his name. He made his pro debut in 2016 and has boxed 121 rounds since. He enjoyed a fine amateur career as well as he won a gold medal in the Youth Division at the Palarong Pambansa in 2015 and gold in the youth division at the Philippine National Games the same year. He also won the youth division at the Manny Pacquiao Sports Challenge Mindanao Amateur Boxing Tournament in 2015.
Since turning pro Mama is 1-1 against former, current, and future world champions as he stopped former WBA Minimumweight Champion Kwanthai Sithmorseng in the third round in 2019 but lost a unanimous decision to Sunny Edwards in a shot at the IBF Flyweight Title in December, 2021. He’s 2-1 when fighting outside of his native Philippines and previously won the vacant WBO Oriental Youth Flyweight Title in January, 2018.
Mama measured 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 63-inch reach so is two inches shorter than Sandoval. He also carries less power as 52.6 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage and has been the distance in three of his past four contests. He has a good chin but has mainly been fighting domestic level opponents in Asia other than his world title bout with Edwards.
Prediction…
Mama and Sandoval were both good amateurs and have also been successful in the pro ranks. Sandoval has the edge in height and power but this is more or less a pretty even matchup. I’m expecting it to be quite close but I do think Sandoval has a slight edge in overall skills and will have his hand raised at the end of this fight.
