Bradley-Chaves Triple Header Preview

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    Bradley_Chaves_PC_141020_004aHappy holidays to all the boxing fans out there as this weekend HBO and Showtime will be televising a pair of events from Las Vegas. For this article I’ll be going over the Top Rank card that involves a triple-header of solid fights. Timothy Bradley Jr. will be stepping into the ring against Diego Chaves, but also there is a pair of title bouts as Matt Korobov will be facing Andy Lee for the vacant WBO middleweight title and Mauricio Herrera will be defending his interim WBA Junior Welterweight belt against Jose Benavidez Jr.

    Bradley (31-1 with 12 KOs) has a resume that is unmatched by anyone in the sport today aside from Bernard Hopkins. If you look at his last 7 years of fights, his opponents include Miguel Vazquez, Junior Witter, Kendall Holt, Nate Campbell, Lamont Peterson, Luis Carlos Agbeko, Devon Alexander, Joel Casamayor, Ruslan Provodnikov, Juan Manuel Marquez, and 2 fights against Manny Pacquiao. And when you think that he’s won every single one of those fights except against Pacquiao, you realize that he has a hall of fame resume and is a top 5 p4p fighter at age 31.

    On what can be looked at from the other side of the spectrum is Bradley’s opponent on Saturday night, Diego Chaves. He will be stepping in to the ring with a record of 23-2 with 19 KOs. He punches with a purpose and will definitely be looking to try to end this fight as early as he can before Bradley’s skill takes over. The perfect tape he should be studying is the approach that Ruslan Provodnikov took against Bradley. He must attack constantly and don’t let up. It will be his only chance.

    I think the aggressive style of Chaves will make this a good fight. Will Bradley try to stand there and trade like he did with Provodnikov or will he use his jab and great footwork to keep Chaves off of him? Chaves has never faced anyone with near the skill level of Bradley, so this could be one of those fights where even though Bradley doesn’t have much power, he just may beat Chaves in to a stoppage from the ref. It likely will result in a unanimous decision for Bradley, but I’ll call for a 10th round stoppage.

    Another fight that might not involve big names, but I think it will be a good scrap is the undefeated Matt Korobov (24-0-14 KOs) squaring off against Andy Lee (33-2 with 23 KOs) for the WBO world middleweight belt. This matchup of two southpaws could possibly decide who the next opponent for Gennedy Golovkin will be, assuming he beats Martin Murray in February. We kind of know what Andy Lee is at this point, but Korobov is more of an unknown. He has stepped up one time and won that fight against Jose Uzcategui, until we see his ceiling, I think I’ll take a shot and say Korobov wins in what I think will be an exciting unanimous decision.

    Lastly on this card will be “The Boxing Fan’s Champion” Mauricio Herrera (21-4 with 7 KOs), as he defends his interim WBA junior welterweight belt against the undefeated Jose Benavidez Jr. (21-0 with 15 KOs). This is a huge step up for Benavidez and I don’t know if he’s ready for this. This is his 1st big fight and he facing the person who many people think beat the best current 140 lb fighter in the world, Danny “Swift” Garcia. Herrera doesn’t have much power, which is probably what cost him in the Garcia fight, but Benavidez is going to have to show me he’s the real deal before I pick him. So until that happens, I’m going with Herrera, but I do think it could be close on the cards, right around 115-113.

    This Saturday is a boxers dream. You have both of the biggest promotional companies going head to head, which may annoy some fans, but I think it gives you different options. If you are seeing a boring fight, you can switch back and forth. I think the Showtime card has bigger names if you’re into that, but I think this card will have the better overall fights for the hardcore fan. Either way you look at it, everyone should have something for them to be entertained by and isn’t that what everyone wants? So sit back, relax, bring in the boxing holidays, and enjoy the fights.