Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
LAS VEGAS — Tonight’s Showtime card is headlined by Erislandy Lara defending his WBA 154 pound title against Vanes Martirosyan in a rematch, and the Charlo twins in undercard bouts. Onto the predictions…
LARA: 153.5
MARTIROSYAN: 153.8
PREDICTION: When I went over my wish list of fights for 2016, this rematch was not one that made the cut. Lara and Martirosyan’s first bout was filled with awkward exchanges and clinching that made rounds difficult to score simply from boredom.
There’s no reason to think the rematch will be any different. Lara will be on the move and landing accurate, laser-sharp lefts hands whenever he decides to throw. Martirosyan will be stalking and hold an edge in the later rounds with a higher workrate. Don’t be surprised by wildly different scores, but Lara is a step above Martirosyan and should win this rematch by majority decision.
JERMALL CHARLO: 153.2
TROUT: 154
PREDICTION: Trout is a very capable fighter, but he’s outgunned in this one. He gets caught in every fight and in this case he’s facing the harder punching and more aggressive Charlo. To date, Trout has always got up from his knockdowns, but I feel his soft competition since losing to Lara means Charlo is catching him at the right time. Charlo KO somewhere in the middle rounds.
JERMELL CHARLO: 153.8
JACKSON: 153.5
PREDICTION: This is a solid fight for both guys. Jermell is the more technical boxer of the twins and will hold the advantage in most rounds. Jackson has good power, but not the otherworldly power of his father that he’d need to hurt Charlo with one shot. He’ll need an accumulation to get the job done, and Charlo will be a bit too elusive for him to pull it off. CHARLO WIDE UD.
JUNIOR WRIGHT: 199.6
SHUMENOV: 199
PREDICTION: This a cruiserweight title matchup that’s fallen under the radar (probably because it’s for the WBA strap). Shumenov is more experienced, hits harder, and been in with the better competition. Yes, Shumenov is still crude, but Wright has a tendency to go to the ropes too easily and that’s where we’ll see his undoing. SHUMENOV KO4
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 