Saturday, March 15, 2014, live from Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Danny Garcia takes on Mauricio Herrera in a 12-round WBC Super Lightweight World Title fight.
The bout will air as the main event of the Showtime Boxing Telecast at 9 pm, EST.
In the co-main event, hard-hitting Heavyweight Deontay Wilder takes on Malik Scott, in a 12-round WBC Final Heavyweight eliminator bout
Kicking off the night on Showtime Extreme at 7 pm, EST will be Puerto Rican favorite, Juan Manuel Lopez and tough-nosed Mexican, Daniel Ponce de Leon in a 10-round rematch for the WBO International Junior Lightweight title.
Read on for Round By Round Boxing’s staff predictions for Saturday, March 15’s exciting triple-header on Showtime.
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Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Daniel Ponce de Leon
Lenin Acevedo, Photographer
These fighters are both on a race to the end of their careers, and Juan Manuel Lopez is definitely on the lead. The fact is that, JuanMa is a stubborn boxer who does not change his bad ring habits. Yeah, he’s knocked out Ponce de Leon but that was 6 years ago. Lopez hasn’t remain competitive nor consistent. Daniel Ponce de Leon by late TKO.
Prediction: Ponce de Leon
Gino Garcia, Contributing Writer
Lopez vs. Ponce De Leon is the fight that should steal the show this Saturday. It would seem that Ponce De Leon has had years to reflect on the mistakes made resulting in his first defeat. Lopez on the other hand coming off a huge loss to Mikey Garcia may just have a chip on his shoulder and eagerness to empress the home crowd with a solid victory. If Lopez can pressure Ponce De Leon to exchange in the ring- this battle is all fireworks. This scenario however, is exactly what has the highest probability of changing the fight. Lopez rushing the fight to gain glory will be his downfall. In the end, I feel that Ponce De Leon will avenge his loss returning the favor to Lopez. This fight ends by TKO in round 7 in favor of Ponce De Leon.
Prediction: Ponce de Leon
Juan Carlos Burgos, Contributing Writer
Juan Manuel Lopez hopes to keep his career alive by fighting Daniel Ponce De Leon. This is a rematch of one
of JuanMa’s signature wins years back when he explosively knockedout Ponce. In recent fights JuanMa has seemed like a shell
of his former self while Ponce has suffered some defeats but has been very competitive vs world class opposition. I honestly
think JuanMa is shot…his legs seem gone and he is not the same fighter he once was. Ponce will bring the fight to him and
we will find out quickly if JuanMa has anything left. I don’t think he does.
Prediction: Ponce de Leon
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
Back in 2008 when Juan Manuel Lopez took on Daniel Ponce de Leon, he was an undefeated fighter considered by many to be the next Puerto Rican star. Juan Ma dispensed of Ponce de Leon in an exciting one-round bout where both men were dazed. Since then, it can be argued that Ponce de Leon has had the more fruitful career. Juan Ma is coming off of an ugly beating at the hands of Mikey Garcia and a loss against Ponce de Leon could pretty much wrap up his career. Many people are considering him done, but while Lopez may not be elite or ever be a Puerto Rican legend, I think he musters up a tough and brave performance against Ponce de Leon and delivers a victory in front of the partisan crowd.
Prediction: Lopez
Brendan Montenegro, Senior Corespondent
This might be the show-stealing fight of the night. Six years is along time to settle somewhat of a beef, with one of the fighters’ career still being considered legit in Daniel Ponce de Leon and the other fighter who is being considered past his prime in Juan Manuel Lopez. I see this fight going into the late rounds with a possible knockout by Ponce de Leon and Lopez laying on his back, enjoying the Puerto Rican sun and a possible ride into retirement.
Prediction: Ponce de Leon
Deontay Wilder vs. Malik Scott
Lenin Acevedo, Photographer
I don’t care how many tomato cans Deontay Wilder has fought. 30 fights and 30 knockouts? Now that’s power. Scott is a highly skilled boxer and he’s going to make this fight an obvious cat and mouse chase game but against a power puncher it’s only a matter of time. Wilder by KO.
Prediction: Wilder
Gino Garcia, Contributing Writer
Wilder vs. Scott should be an action packet fight from the opening bell. After these two close distances on their range, it is evident that both will attempt to end the fight early. For this bout, I don’t think it will go the distance. Wilder wins this fight by TKO no later than round 6.
Prediction: Wilder
Juan Carlos Burgos, Contributing Writer
Deontay Wilder continues to take baby steps in his opponents. Malik Scott is a true pro and it will be interesting if he can take Wilder into deep waters and
drown him. Wilder will come out throwing bombs…this we know. Scott has to somehow survive the early onslaught. Scott is good defensively and will need to be on
Saturday night, especially early on. If Scott can take Wilder in deep he has a chance…but he is going to have to take chances early and try and earn some respect…he can’t just rely on his defense. I think Wilder grows up and beats Scott by applying pressure and eventually catching Scott in the mid to late rounds.
Prediction: Wilder
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
Deontay Wilder is a beast. It’s hard to tell how much of a beast he is because his opposition has been less than stellar up to this point. Malik Scott is a masterful boxer with the athleticism and movement to give Wilder some trouble early on. I’m tempted to pick Scott because he’s been in camps with Wilder before and he really knows what he’s up against. But, ultimately I think that Wilder’s power will lead him to victory with an exciting Heavyweight matchup.
Prediction: Wilder
Dominique Silva, Contributing Writer
Deontay Wilder vs. Malik Scott is the must see matchup of this fight card. Wilder is finally fighting someone with a pulse. My prediction, close early, but the Bronze Bomber wins by sixth-round KO.
Prediction: Wilder
Brendan Montenegro, Senior Corespondent
I’ve had the pleasure of watching both guys fight in person and see how they conduct themselves both in and out of the ring. I honestly believe that this will be Deontay Wilder’s toughest test as Malik Scott is a Heavyweight that fights somewhat like a Middleweight. Scott is quick and evasive with his defense and although his chin has never been tested by someone with Wilder’s power, I don’t see him winning this fight. Unless Scott comes out from the opening bell, throwing bombs and forcing Wilder to fight backwards, this fight isn’t going past seven rounds. Yes I did say seven. Wilder knows Scott has good defense and knows how to box, so he may not look for a knockout as he knows doing this would put him in a position to get caught by Scott and give him his first pro loss. Look for Wilder to show his boxing side and get a knockout in the later rounds.
Prediction: Wilder
Danny Garcia vs. Mauricio Herrera
Lenin Acevedo, Photographer
There’s really not much to be said about this fight. It’s very simple, Garcia needs to win by knockout if he wants to maintain a respectable hype. Considering his opponent, delivering a knockout is the only pressure he’ll face on fight night. “Swift” has the fundamentals and the power. He shouldn’t disappoint. Garcia by TKO.
Prediction: Garcia
Gino Garcia, Contributing Writer
Danny Garcia vs. Mauricio Herrera seems likely to be a less than exciting fight. Due to the counterpunching styles of both fighters, it is unlikely that we will see any explosive exchanging until the mid-point of the bout. Although Garcia’s signature left look has a high probability of sending his opponent to the canvas- for this particular fight, I just don’t see it happening. Given that Herrera has been battle tested against hard hitting current champions- I think this fight will go all 12 rounds favoring Garcia by unanimous decision.
Predictions: Garcia
Juan Carlos Burgos, Contributing Writer
Danny Garcia looks to continue to solidify himself as a pound for pound caliber figher this week vs Mauricio Herrera. This could be a trap fight for Garcia.
He can’t look past Herrera in anticipation of bigger more high profile fights but at the same time if if anybody desereves a “soft” fight…it’s Swift.
Garcia does not do anything in spectacular fashion…he just does everything really really good. Herrera for his part is on a two fight winning streak but he will
need Danny to be distracted and not focused for me to give him any chance of dethroning Garcia. I see Danny doing what he does…using his good quickness and slight movement to
easily defeat Herrera.
Prediction: Garcia
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
Danny Garcia’s fight against Mauricio Herrera will be much like Canelo Alvarez’s fight against Alfredo Angulo turned out to be, a showcase. Enjoy the beach, enjoy the weather and oh yeah enjoy the one-sided beat down that Garcia gives Herrera. Sure, Herrera has said all of the right things in the build up for folks to consider him a live dog, but I just don’t see things going his way. If Herrera’s victory over Ruslan Provodnikov in 2011 is the best reason one can give for picking him, that says a lot, or actually not much at all.
Prediction: Garcia
Dominique Silva, Contributing Writer
The Danny Garcia-Mauricio Herrera mismatch is the main event for Showtime’s triple-header fight card Saturday Night. I don’t expect a tough fight or even a close one. My prediction is Danny Garcia wins an easy fifth-round TKO.
Prediction: Garcia
Brendan Montenegro, Senior Corespondent
This fight was definitely made to make Danny Garcia look good for the people of Puerto Rico. Mauricio Herrera is a tough-nosed fighter who has fought good competition with wins over Mike Dallas Jr. and Ruslan Provodnikov, but has also had hard fought tough loses to Mike Alvarado and Karim Mayfield. He will not stand there and be a punching bag for Garcia, but his fighting style will allow Garcia to display his finesse and his ability to adjust to any style. Garcia will seem to toy with Herrera until about the sixth-round before he turns it up to “wow” the crowd and put Herrera down for the KO and win in the eighth-round.
Prediction: Garcia
