Friday, January 9, 2015, ESPN’s Friday Night Fights kicks off the year with an interesting Lightweight matchup featuring Darleys Perez (31-1, 20 KOs) of Colombia, taking on Jonathan Maicelo (21-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC) of Peru, for the interim WBA World lightweight title.
The 12-round bout will be televised on ESPN 2 starting at 9:00 pm EST.
Perez–whose only loss came against Cuban slickster, Yuriorkis Gamboa–won the interim title by defeating Argenis Lopez back in June of 2014.
In Maicelo’s only loss–and first appearance on ESPN2–he was taken into deep waters by rugged Russian, Rustam Nugaev, and eventually knockout out.
The winner will certainly take a step up in the talent-rich Lightweight division and set himself up for a title shot.
Read on for Round By Round Boxing’s staff predictions for Perez vs. Maicelo and let us know who you think will win this South American battle.
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Darleys Perez
vs.
Jonathan Maicelo
Photo courtesy of WBA via Twitter
Lou Catalano, Senior Writer
Interesting clash of styles here, where Jonathan Maicelo is the aggressor while Darleys Perez likes to take his time and counter.
Perez’s only loss is to Yuriorkis Gamboa, and I think he’s the better fighter overall. I see him countering Maicelo all night long on his way to a win.
Prediction:Perez
Tony Calcara: Staff Writer
Both fighters appear confident and both say they had a great training camp. I like the veteran Darleys Perez to win in an entertaining matchup.
His only loss was a competitive, somewhat controversial one to Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Prediction: Perez
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
This is a solid matchup to kick off 2015’s Friday Night Fights season. I think that Jonathan Maicelo is athletic and has good skills, but Darleys Perez holds the edge in experience and is definitely technically better.
If Maicelo can pace himself and not try to put 200 percent into every punch through the first couple of rounds, we make get an exciting fight down the stretch, one that he can pull out.
If Perez gets off to an early lead, he could frustrate and out-point Maicelo the whole night. I’m going to give Maicelo the edge in a close bout that could come down to how much he’s learned from his only loss at the hands of Rustam Nugaev.
Prediction:Maicelo
Omar Martinez, Photographer
Darleys Perez wins over Jonathan Maicelo to keep his WBA interim Lightweight title.
Prediction: Perez
