This Thursday, WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade will be headlining a show at the Meridian of Island Gardens in Miami, Florida, in looking to successfully defend his title against Irish challenger Luke Keeler.
Keeler engineered a world title opportunity for himself with a seismic upset over Cuban-American contender Luis Arias in August, dropping the heavily-favoured Milwaukee native in the opening round and then outworking him thereafter throughout twelve rounds, en route to a well-deserved unanimous decision victory.
Whether Keeler’s tenacious, stubborn approach as the underdog will be able to pay dividends against Andrade is a matter yet to be determined, however. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the defending champion has been in similarly impressive form, having outclassed Poland’s Maciej Sulecki in his last outing; a matchup that was portrayed pre-fight as a potentially difficult affair.
A win over Keeler will mean that Andrade has retained his title on three occasions since dispatching of Namibian Walter Kautondokwa for the vacant title in October 2018, and will also enable the Providence native to stake his claim as one of the division’s most active and skilful fighters, in pursuing the unification fights that he so desperately covets.
Ultimately, Andrade’s know-how and sniper-like punching from the southpaw stance should prove to be the difference between the pair, as the American lights the challenger up with his slashing, accurate combinations before putting together the necessary shots to secure the win inside the distance.
In accordance with the trend of YouTubers inexplicably making forays into professional boxing, Jake Paul will be making his professional debut against rival YouTuber Ali Ebson Gib.
After defeating ‘Deji’ in what essentially amounted to a white-collar showdown in September 2018, the bout against Gib will be a highly-anticipated affair as the pair both enjoy immense social media followings, respectively.
However, Jake will obviously be hoping that his professional debut is decidedly more auspicious than his older brother Logan’s, who lost to KSI via split-decision in November.
IBF super-featherweight champion Tevin Farmer will also be defending his title against former WBC featherweight challenger Jojo Diaz in what is a thoroughly interesting matchup between two fighters who have been trading barbs on social media for several months.
The pair will now trade their figurative jabs for literal ones, as the Philadelphian southpaw hopes to claim arguably his biggest scalp as a champion since he unseated Billy Dib on away soil in August 2018 to capture the IBF strap.
Diaz, meanwhile, has accrued four straight wins since his sole career defeat to Gary Russell Jr in May 2018; and will be looking to use the lessons learnt from the setback to find methods of closing the distance more effectively and unleashing his trademark body shots for a more favourable outcome at super-featherweight.
Farmer, meanwhile, having dispatched of Guillerme Frenois in a one-sided drubbing in July, will be largely looking to replicate the tactics employed by Russell Jr against Diaz, eighteen months’ ago, to pick the challenger off with surgical hand-speed and prevent himself from becoming embroiled in any risky exchanges.
Perhaps this could be the fight where the title changes hands, as it is unquestionable that in Diaz, Farmer – as talented as he is – is facing someone who represents a significant step-up in quality and someone who has a point to prove after falling short the first time of asking.
Newly-unified super-bantamweight champion Daniel Roman is also facing undefeated Uzbek national Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Roman added the IBF title to his collection with a points victory over TJ Donehy, while his challenger Akhmadaliev has only had seven professional fights, something which speaks sheer volumes as to the amount of confidence his team possesses in his ability to dethrone the Californian champion.
The Uzbekistani fighter, although unheralded as a professional, is a former Olympic bronze medallist and his team are naturally confident that his skills are sufficient for him to succeed in the pro ranks by vanquishing a seasoned professional in Daniel Roman.
Super-middleweight hopeful Anthony Sims Jr will also be looking to extend his winning record against heavy-handed former title challenger Roamer Alexis Angulo, while former multiple-weight world champion Amanda Serrano participates in a featherweight bout against Brazillian counterpart Simone da Silva.
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @DarkMan________