Photo by Porfirio Barron Jr./Round By Round Boxing
Saturday, March 1, 2014 marks a big return for the sweet science with three major fights taking place.
First, Terence Crawford (22-0, 16 KOs) invades the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, also known as Ricky Burns’ (36-2, 11 KOs) home turf, to try and win the WBO Featherweight title.
The bout–which will be television on AWE in the United States–could have very well captured a major audience in the U.S., but instead, Crawford’s first title bid will generally fly under the radar.
Crawford is a dynamic young talent and with a win over Burns he will surely make a case to face the biggest names in the Featherweight division.
The AWE telecast begins at 2 pm EST and will also be available on Playstation Network on PS3 and PS4 via pay-per-view.
HBO Championship Boxing kicks off at 9:45 pm, EST with an interesting doubleheader.
First up, two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO) challenges veteran tough guy, Orlando Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs).
This matchup is intriguing on multiple levels, most of all because Lomachenko is looking to win Salido’s WBO strap in only his second professional fight.
In the main event, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (47-1, 32 KOs) and Bryan Vera (23-7, 14 KOs) square off in a rematch of their highly controversial fight from September of 2013.
Chavez Jr. walked away with a unanimous decision the first time, but most ringside observers, including Round By Round Boxing’s Gabe Rivas, saw the fight in favor of Vera.
Vera was in top shape for the first fight, but this time he says he’s pushing himself harder than ever (via Banner Promotions press release).
“I did all of my training times two. This has been the longest camp of my career. I sparred against heavyweights to get ready for Chavez Jr.”
Chavez on the other hand left a lot to be desired in terms of conditioning and training before facing Vera for the first time. For the rematch, he told Box Azteca that he has been training hard and vows to win in crowd-pleasing fashion.
Will Vera be able to notch the biggest win in his career or will Chavez Jr. live up to his championship name and score a convincing victory this time around?
Read on for Round By Round Boxing’s staff predictions for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Bryan Vera, Orlando Salido vs. Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford vs. Ricky Burns.
Round By Round Boxing Staff Predictions - 2020
| Name | Win | Loss | Total Fights | Win Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Burgos | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.5 |
| Hans Themistode | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.66666666666667 |
| R.L. Woodson | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.8 |
| Robert Contreras | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
