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Saturday 29 October 2022

Boxing Picks 2022- Vasyl Lomachenko vs Jamaine Ortiz (October 29th)

The fallout from the Conor Benn failed VADA tests, yes tests as in plural, continues to dominate the Boxing headlines in the United Kingdom to the point that you would be forgiven for failing to remember that Katie Taylor is headlining a card in London on Saturday.

I've talked about the Benn situation before, but I think they are now being poorly advised after deciding to rip up his British Boxing licence earlier this week.

Smoke and mirrors looks to be the approach to handling two flagged tests and Matchroom have plenty of fans who will lap up everything they say and treat it as the gospel truth. The idea may be to get them rallied behind the narrative and hope Benn can return in the second half of 2023 having 'cleared' his name without actually going through any real process to answer the questions about why he failed a test twice for the same substance?

Personally the PR to try and shift the blame onto the BBBC and suggest they 'had it in' for Benn is quite staggering and anyone with any sense of intelligence should be able to read through that without too much thought.

And hopefully one day we will hear someone from that side of the fence admit that there truly is no one to blame but either their own team, the fighter himself or a number of people that are not related to any Board outside of their own circle.


The return of Vasily Lomachenko will be the focus for the majority of Boxing fans this weekend and the Ukrainian will be looking for a win that could set up a potentially huge bout against Devin Haney for 2023.

He is getting older and he has been out of the ring for a long time, but beating Lomachenko still feels like the only way that Devin Haney will truly be given respect as the Undisputed Lightweight Champion and it would be surprising if that is not the direction Top Rank are looking to travel.

Other cards in the United Kingdom and the other side of the pond also have some fascinating fights scheduled for Saturday evening with DAZN and Sky Sports the channels over here covering the cards we want to see.



Vasyl Lomachenko vs Jamaine Ortiz

The last time we saw Vasyl Lomachenko in the ring was before the Russian invasion of the Ukraine which saw the veteran return home to join his compatriots in defending his country.

A big decision was made by Lomachenko to turn down the opportunity to fight George Kambosos Jr for the Undisputed Lightweight World Titles and that was one grasped by Devin Haney who is now king.

But now Lomachenko is back and the target is the clash with Devin Haney in early 2023.

He can ill-afford to overlook Jamaine Ortiz with the unbeaten American having nothing to lose and looking to take advantage of a 34 year old who has been out of the ring for ten months.

However, Oleksandr Usyk showed the mental strength of a fighter when returning from a long lay-off of his own and also a stint with his countrymen in the Ukraine to defeat Anthony Joshua pretty handily in their Heavyweight rematch in August. It certainly makes me confident that Vasyl Lomachenko will be 'right' going into the ring on Saturday night.

Jamaine Ortiz had a solid win over Jemel Herring in his last fight in May and he has been built up effectively by his promotion team, although this is a considerable step upwards.

Being called 'The Technician' is not really ideal with the unorthodox style of Vasyl Lomachenko likely to cause Ortiz all sorts of problems.

He is the naturally bigger man, but Jamaine Ortiz will likely be broken down by Lomachenko in his time in the ring and I can see the Ukrainian turning on the gas to try and end this one before needing the cards. You just hope he shows a bit more of a finishing instinct than he did against Richard Commey when Lomachenko was urging someone else to stop the fight rather than putting his combinations together to do that himself, but this time he wants to make a point that he is ready for the Undisputed World Title fight and I think the fight ends in the second half.


With a number of cards being run on the same night, there are a few fights of interest that may be worthy of being backed here.

The main event in the United Kingdom should see Katie Taylor win comfortably, but the chief support looks an intriguing scrap between Jordan Gill and Kiko Martinez.

There have been high hopes around the development of Gill and he is coming off a one punch hitter-quitter after looking all at sea and about to be stopped himself, but this is a massive step up. He is facing a veteran who might be towards the end of his career, but Martinez has been operating against World Title level opponents and he still carries the power to be dangerous.

Of course Jordan Gill could box rings around him and make this safe, but at some point I think he is going to be having to deal with the Spaniard's power and I think Martinez is a huge price to win this one by stoppage.


A lot of people are excited about William Zepeda, but I think he had a few flaws exposed last time out and now faces a solid test in Joseph Diaz.

Being unbeaten will always give a fighter confidence, but Jo Jo has only been beaten by Gary Russell Jr and Devin Haney and has shown plenty of toughness throughout his career.

The upset looks a big price, especially if we do get to the cards.


No, Jake Paul is not a serious Boxer right now, but I do think this is someone who is trying.

He is being seriously well managed and the promotion has been spot on for this fight with Anderson Silva with many feeling it is Paul's biggest test.

Something has not been quite right about the 47 year old though and I have a feeling he is ripe for the KO defeat to try and add legitimacy to Jake Paul as he continues to rake in some big numbers from casuals tuning in.

Good for him even if the PR isn't aimed to appeal to me, but the price for the KO is appealing enough for a small interest here and I will be happy enough if he returns the winning selection.

MY PICKS: Vasyl Lomachenko to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Kiko Martinez to Win by KO/TKO/DQ @ 4.50 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Joseph Diaz to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 3.75 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Jake Paul to Win by KO/TKO/DQ @ 3.10 Bet Fred (1 Unit)

Boxing 2022: 32-61, + 6.41 Units (162 Units Staked, + 3.96% Yield)

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