MMA/Boxing

Pavlik/Taylor and WEC Previews

The world of combat continues to excite fans in this new year.

Last Saturday, Carlos Quintana upset Paul Williams for the WBO welterweight title in an entertaining battle. Williams never looked comfortable with his substantial height advantage. He was unable to find his distance or rhythm for most of the bout. It seems like every time Williams started to pump his jab, he would move one step too close to Quintana and the fighters would inevitably get tied up. Quintana tagged Williams with several left crosses throughout the fight and deserved the win.  

 Andre Berto, a 2004 Olympian and a highly toughted welterweight, stopped Michel Trabant in five rounds, with Trabant calling it quits on his stool after the round.  Berto continued to show good hand speed and a nasty uppercut.  Look for him to fight a big name in his next fight.

This Saturday promises big fireworks as Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor meet in their highly anticipated rematch.  Their middleweight fight last September was, in my mind, the second best fight of 2007. This fight, at the catch weight of 166 pounds, won’t be for at title, but the winner will be sitting pretty in terms of commanding future big paydays. I expect both fighters to start a bit more cautious than last time since both men have a healthy respect for each other’s power.  Ultimately, I see the fight taking a similar flow to their first fight, with both men trading rounds before Pavlik taking control late, winning with a late TKO or decision. Email me your pick at nobradovich@enterto.com.

Notes:  Versus features the WEC live on Wednesday night.  Here are my picks for the televised fights:

-Carlos Condit (Welterweight champion) over Carlo Prater
-Razor Rob McCullough (Lightweight champion) over Jamie Varner
-Miguel Torres over Chase Beebe to win the Bantamweight title
-Manny Tapia over Antonio Banuelos

Just like the past three televised WEC events, this is a solid card. Condit and McCullough are legit starts in their weight classes. Beebe is an excellent 135lber as well, but I’m going with Torres in the upset. Torres has only one pro loss in over thirty pro fights (a loss that he avenged), and he’s long been recognized by hard core fans as one of the most skilled fighters in the world. I’ve had the opportunity to see Torres fight in his native Northwest Indiana a few times and he displayed sensational Muay Thai skills and jiu-jitsu skills. This is his big opportunity to win a world title and I don’t see him blowing his big shot. 

I have to appologiz for not having the Matt Hughes book review posted this week. I have finished the book, along with Chuck Liddell’s book, and I should have the reviews posted very soon. Both books are good, but Liddell’s book definitely doesn’t disappoint if you are looking for the Iceman’s critiques on his past UFC fights and party stories. 

Until next week…