Saturday, November 29, 2014, Omaha’s favorite son, Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KOs) defends his WBO title for the second time at the CenturyLink Center in Nebraska.
Crawford takes on rugged Mexican challenger, Ray Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KOs) in a 12-round bout.
The live action opens up with IBF Featherweight Champion, Evgeny Gradovich aka “El Ruso Mexicano” (19-0, 9 KOs), defending his title against against undefeated Puerto Rican contender, Jayson Velez (22-0, 16 KOs).
The fight card will be aired live on HBO and is preceded by a replay of Manny Pacquiao’s one-sided shellacking of Chris Algieri.
Read on for RBRBoxing’s staff predictions for each bout and let us know who you think will win!
[yop_poll id=”89″]
[table id=1 /]
Evgeny Gradovich
vs.
Jayson Velez
Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Lauren Pinkerston, Staff Writer
Yes, Jayson Velez technically has the better record here with three more fights and seven more KOs than Evgeny Gradovich, but I’m always a sucker for the more technical fighter, anyway.
Gradovich is going to work the ring like he always does, while Velez is going to try to do some fancy stuff for the first half. I predict that Gradovich will be able to hold him off long enough to tire him out before he drills him away with his technical mechanics. If he can get through the first half, I’d say it’s in the bag for Evgeny.
But in order to get there he’s going to have to maintain precise control and speed of the bout, and not let Velez land anything too powerful.
Prediction: Gradovich
Tony Calcara, Staff Writer
Both fighters are on the up and up and both are undefeated. I expect a rugged, tough, physical battle with Evgeny Gradovich winning.
Jayson Velez has only fought twice since December 2012. Although I see Velez as the stronger fighter, I expect Gradovich to continue his terrific body punching and superior boxing skills to earn the victory.
Prediction: Gradovich
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
This is a tough fight to pick and I’ve been on the fence all week. I think Jayson Velez has more natural ability, but the one intangible that can swing this thing in Gradovich’s direction is heart.
If Gradovich is to be successful in his title defense, he’ll have to walk through some fire. I like the Mexican-Russian by hard-earned decision.
Prediction: Gradovich
Terence Crawford
vs.
Ray Beltran
Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Brandon Glass, Contributing Writer
Terence Crawford possesses all the talent and skill to dominate this matchup, easily. What more do I need to say? Consider this fight to be an experience builder for Crawford, as he defends the WBO strap that Ray Beltran was robbed of in a disgraceful decision against Ricky Burns, whom Crawford bested for the title.
Either his handlers or the gods of the fistic arts hate Beltran. Despite him being an adequately skilled journeyman, his career has been a string of fights where the matchups are unfavorable to him, or he finds himself on the losing end of bad (I’d even say criminal) decisions.
Saturday will be no different unfortunately for Beltran, who is always a setback away from that big break. Just hope for Crawford’s sake that despite his tendency to start slowly, he has proven he can make fights exciting for his home crowd and will finish with an exclamation point against a crafty Beltran, who is nothing like Crawford’s last opponent. Crawford will take this one by eighth-round TKO.
Prediction: Crawford
Lauren Pinkerston, Staff Writer
These two are going to fight how lightweights fight–which is a lot of fun. But, on the topic of who uses the lightweight skills more effectively, Terence Crawford takes the cake.
The guy is just so dang fast. His head movement, footwork and punch combos outwork Ray Beltran’s. Raymundo will try and alter his fight tactics by working in some power punches, but this isn’t going to work.
Crawford’s head is just too quick to be surprised with a heavy hit. I foresee a fun fight with a lot of quick movements, that’s going to end in a UD given to Crawford.
Prediction: Crawford
Tony Calcara, Staff Writer
I like Terence Crawford. I expect Ray Beltran to pressure him from the outset and counter whenever he can. He wants the fight on the inside and would prefer to bang.
I see Crawford keeping Beltran at bay with an educated jab and good footwork. He must circle and use both his hand and foot speed staying out of the pocket and not allowing himself to stand on the inside.
Prediction: Crawford
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
In contrast to the main undercard fight, I believe this one is relatively easy to pick. Terence Crawford is too young, fast and talented to be beaten by Ray Beltran.
Beltran is a hard-nosed opponent and certainly deserves this shot, but I think this matchup is no good for him and if Crawford is looking to put an exclamation point on Saturday night’s show, he might even stop the tough Mexican.
Prediction: Crawford
