Boxing Picks 2024- Jaime Munguia vs John Ryder (January 27th)

The last Boxing Picks were made a couple of weeks ago when Artur Beterbiev did a rock solid job of crushing Callum Smith.

There was plenty of whinging and insinuations from fighters after the fact, but those cannot be taken seriously. I mean the same people moaning won't say anything about Conor Benn failing multiple tests (Artur Beterbiev did not fail a test) nor will say mention 39 year old Natasha Jonas arguably producing her best career performances as she has aged.

With that in mind it just comes across being really bitter about a fighter who has beaten all 20 opponents inside the distance and especially as so many saw some signs of decline in his win over Anthony Yarde.

The reality is that Callum Smith is not as good as they thought.

We have also had news of the next big crossover fight in Saudi Arabia when Anthony Joshua faces Francis Ngannou, although the latter may have shown off enough Boxing ability in his loss to Tyson Fury to make that interesting. That is set for March 8th, but it is the chief support bout between Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker after both beat a couple of big name Heavyweights in 2023.

The winner of that one will certainly lead the line for any vacant World Title fight that comes up after the Undisputed Fight in February, which is expected to lead to a fracturing of the four Belts soon after.

An introduction to a new Undisputed Belt that will be given to the winner feels like an open move from the Saudi Arabian authorities to take over the sport as they mentioned it can be defended even when all other Belts have had to be given away.

I have a strong feeling that it will be a Belt that will always have to be defended in Saudi Arabia and soon may be the one that most fans focus on when it comes to determining the best fighter in a weight class.

And once you have that, you have a grip of the sport.

It may be a personal opinion, but after seeing what happened in Golf, it is a genuine way the control of the sport can be shifted to Saudi Arabia. The suggestion is that the Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev Undisputed Light Heavyweight bout will also be held in Saudi Arabia in June and if there is another new Belt given to that Winner, then you can see the plan formulating to control the biggest events and keep them within the country.

The positive for fans is that the big fights are being made, although the atmosphere at these events have been really below par.

Next step is to get more fans travelling to the events, but that still feels a little bit away and conditioning fans, journalists and broadcasters to accept the biggest fights will be in Saudi Arabia looks the first port of call. We are already someway down that path, and plenty more big events are lined up.

This weekend the big cards are in the United Kingdom and United States- the main focus is the bout that could provide Canelo Alvarez with his next challenger. There are just three weeks to go before the Undisputed Heavyweight Fight, but a couple of solid events to come before that and we should soon be given some official announcements for events to take place in the first half of the Boxing season.

Jaime Munguia vs John Ryder

There was plenty of controversy attached to John Ryder's loss to Callum Smith in 2019 and the Londoner will feel that he should have been a World Champion.

He followed up with four solid wins, including against Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker, and that gave John Ryder an opportunity to take on Canelo Alvarez.

A Points Decision defeat will not have whet too many appetites for any rematch, although Ryder came out of the bout with credit having got up from a Fifth Round Knock Down. The Gorilla has been given another chance to impress when travelling to Phoenix, but John Ryder knows that his time at the top may be over if he is not able to win this bout.

The favourite is unbeaten Jaime Munguia, a fighter who has had forty-two wins on the record, but who has not been pushed as far forward in his career as many would have hoped. The wins are against opponents who will not really leap off the resume, but Munguia did earn a win over Sergey Derevyanchenko in his one outing in 2023 and that is a solid win over a veteran.

A Twelfth Round Knock Down proved to be the key for Jaime Munguia and this has the hallmarks of being a very entertaining fight. The Mexican throws a lot of leather, but John Ryder is not known for taking a backward step and it would be a massive surprise if this one does not catch fire.

You have to give Jaime Munguia the edge when it comes to output, even if the fighter still looks flawed deep into his career. The problem here is that John Ryder may not have the pop to really give Munguia a reason to stop coming forward and he took plenty of shots against Canelo Alvarez, which may have taken something away from the British fighter.

He will leave it all on the line and that should mean we get plenty of action, but Jaime Munguia should still be the fresher fighter.

John Ryder has shown he is a warrior with some top performances, but it did feel like Canelo was breaking him down.

Someone like Jaime Munguia might be much rawer than Canelo, but he is a bigger fighter and may punch that little bit harder. This is an opportunity for the Mexican to show he deserves a shot at his compatriot next, but the backing wil come if he can go a little better than Canelo.

It was a dominant win on the cards for Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia is unlikely to replicate that with his style- however, Stopping Ryder will be making a big noise in the sport and he certainly has the volume and intensity to force a referee to jump in.

John Ryder himself won't want to go anywhere, but it felt Canelo Alvarez was a couple of punches away from closing the show. With a bigger man in front of him this time, Ryder may just be struggling to keep Munguia contained down the stretch.

Earlier in the night, DAZN will be broadcasting a card from Belfast which will feature some up and coming fighters.

Paddy Donovan has impressed early in his career and he will be facing a veteran from Argentina who has yet to be Stopped. However, Donovan has shown he carries power and he may be able to get the job done in the second half of the fight.

The same can be said for Cheavon Clarke against Tommy McCarthy, who has been beaten by Stoppage twice in his last four fights. Both have been in the second half of those contests against Chris Billam-Smith and Michal Cieslak, the latter just a couple of months ago, and Cheavon Clarke has shown he carries power late into a fight.

He is a big Welterweight and so it is perhaps not a surprise that Lewis Crocker has missed his mark and unable to win a vacant Title this weekend. Size should be a factor when he takes on Jose Felix, who upset Gary Cully in May 2023, but who is also moving up a couple of Divisions and who has not operated in this weight class before.

This looks to be another bout that could end in the second half of the contest as Crocker looks to at least make a statement even after missing the chance to win a Title.

MY PICKS: Jaime Munguia to Win Between 7-12 @ 6.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Paddy Donovan to Win Between 6-10 @ 3.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Cheavon Clarke to Win Between 6-10 @ 2.87 Coral (1 Unit)

Lewis Crocker to Win Between 6-10 @ 3.25 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Boxing 2024: 2-2, + 1.06 Units (7 Units Staked, + 15.14% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2023- Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez (June 10th)

The end of May had three terrific cards around the United Kingdom and it is perhaps a shame that one of those was not moved into a relatively empty slot last week.

World Titles changed hands over that Bank Holiday weekend and it has just rearranged the top of a couple of Divisions.

Chris Billam-Smith winning the Cruiserweight World Title against Lawrence Okolie was arguably the biggest upset on the night, even more so than Leigh Wood's redemption against Mauricio Lara, and it has really changed the trajectory that both seemed to be on.

For Okolie it really is a case of going back to the drawing board- he was talking about Unifications and soon moving up to Heavyweight, but it was another ugly display of jab and grab and I think the paying public are simply not interested in seeing that. However, if he had kept winning it would have been one thing and now the defeat has really dropped his stock, and increases the importance of the rematch.

Doors will be opened for some mega fights for Billam-Smith if he is able to back up the first victory and beat Lawrence Okolie again. The obvious fight is the rematch with Richard Riakporhe, which could be for multiple World Titles if they are looking for that to happen in the Spring/Summer of 2024, while some of the other Champions will also likely be keen to take on the new King.

Michael Conlan disappointed, but Leigh Wood was good to his word and is another who has some big opportunities in front of him. The question for Wood and his promoters is whether he can get those big fights in before having to take on a mandatory, while Mauricio Lara has to be moving up a weight and out of the Division having dropped the World Title on the scales.

In the time between this weekend and the one at the end of May we have been given the confirmation of a truly massive fight in the Welterweight Division when all of the marbles are on the line in Las Vegas. Both Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr need to be given credit for finally getting the fight over the line and I do think it is going to be a memorable week in late July with Naoya Inoue taking on Stephen Fulton just days before the Spence Jr-Crawford card.

We should soon have news about movement in the Heavyweight Division, which has been on hold after talks broke down between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury for an April Undisputed fight, and I think all of the World Titles will be defended in the next three months. It is a shame that inactivity has taken over the marquee Division, like many others, but I am hoping that seeing Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury all going out by September will at least tick that Division over before the expected Saudi money for the December mega-fights they are hoping to put together.

It has been a difficult May for the Boxing Picks and I can't get away from that.

Some poor decisions have been made, but I have also just talked myself out of a couple of selections, which made a lot more sense in hindsight.

We are only just heading towards the halfway mark of the year so there is plenty of time to get things right and back up the strong 2022, but it would be nice to start getting things moving in the right direction as soon this weekend.

A big couple of cards take place, but the headliner is coming from New York City where Josh Taylor defends the last of the World Titles he had Unified.

Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez

There were rumours of this being a potential fight in the Light-Welterweight Division back in May 2021 after Josh Taylor Unified the Division and became the Undisputed World Champion, while at the same time Teofimo Lopez held onto all of the World Titles in the Lightweight Division having beaten Vasyl Lomachenko a few months earlier.

Back then it would have almost certainly been a fight in the main room at Madison Square Garden or in the Barclays Center, but they will meet in June 2023 in the smaller room.

That should underline where the careers have gone for the two fighters in the last two years.

Josh Taylor is still a Light-Welterweight World Champion, but he is returning to the ring for the first time since February 2022 when he was given a controversial Decision win over Jack Catterall. Many felt the challenger had done enough to win the World Titles so Taylor wanted to run it again, but injuries and mandatories have been in the way and over the last sixteen months the British fighter has been forced to give up three of the four World Titles and is left with the WBO strap.

He defends that this weekend having had two rematches with Jack Catterall cancelled, while there was talk that Josh Taylor had been struggling to make the 140 pound limit and would choose to move into the Welterweight Division.

My feeling is that his stock had dropped off enough for the big names to not actively be seeking him out if Josh Taylor had moved up, but this is a big fight for him and the chance to just remind the Boxing world that he is still the man to beat.

While Josh Taylor remains undefeated even as his career has just hit a wall, Teofimo Lopez has had a much tougher time.

A year after winning the Undisputed Lightweight Titles, Teofimo Lopez was upset by George Kambosos Jr and several months later he decided his time at 135 was over. While Devin Haney has become the big name in the Division that Lopez left behind and who might be heading into the Light-Welterweight Division with a big World Title fight of his own, Teofimo's career has seen him produce two uninspiring wins at 140 pounds.

A 7th Round Stoppage against Pedro Campa and a Split Decision against Sandor Martin, a fight where Lopez was put on the floor and one many felt he might have lost, including himself at one point, has not exactly prepared the American for a fight of this size.

Teofimo Lopez was also put down early by George Kambosos Jr and it is a slight worry that he has been dropped by a couple of opponents that may not possess the kind of firepower he is going to be seeing on Saturday night.

The Knock Down against Martin was more of a flash one than anything too worrying, but the Spaniard is not exactly known for punching power. His southpaw stance caused problems for Teofimo Lopez and now he faces an elite southpaw with a lot to prove to his fans, and himself, after the last showing.

I do think there are questions for Josh Taylor to answer- he has long spoken about the effort it takes to get down to 140 pounds, although he has looked really good this week, while the long lay-off between fights and the change in trainer are far from ideal.

In saying that, I do think Teofimo Lopez is a fighter that has been walking a tightrope in his personal life and asking his team if he 'still got it' immediately after the Martin win is worrying. He has really struggled to back up the win over Vasyl Lomachenko and going up in weight to face a big Light-Welterweight may be too much for him.

The last performance is hard to shift from memory, but Josh Taylor is a lot better than he showed against Jack Catterall in 2022 and I do think this fight will have gotten the juices going.

I have to say that Teofimo Lopez has shown resiliency and toughness late in fights that have not felt like they were going his way, but those were in the Lightweight Division and he has not impressed heading up in weight. This also feels like a big step up in class and I can see Taylor just working his way through the early Rounds and wearing out Lopez.

It will take a bit of time and Josh Taylor may need to be patient, but he can begin to break down and wear down the younger fighter, who may not be ready mentally to compete with the World Champion. We have seen Taylor put down bigger men than Lopez and in elite level fights and I think he may be able to force a Stoppage somewhere around the Ninth or Tenth in this one.

There are other cards of interest on the night, even if most eyes will be on the 140 pound World Title fight in New York City.

Someone who should be operating on a bigger level is Jaime Munguia who remains undefeated at 41-0, but who has not been managed or promoted as well as many would have hoped.

It has been five years since Munguia was not allowed to fight Gennady Golovkin for the Middleweight World Title and he has moved forward since then, but not as far as he perhaps should have.

Avoiding taking mandatory World Title fights and moving between 154 and 168 has become a feature of his career, but at 26 years old he finally looks to be taking a step up.

Sergey Derevyanchenko looks to have his best days behind him at 37 years old and has largely fallen short, even narrowly, when involved in the biggest fights. He has shown toughness to get off the floor in a Split Decision loss to Daniel Jacobs and in an Unanimous Decision defeat to Gennady Golovkin, while the Ukrainian has also been the distance with Jermall Charlo and Carlos Adames, albeit more losing efforts.

I think he can at least stand up to the power that the younger fighter has, but the fresher fighter and the 'A side' will likely get the nod in a tough fight on the cards.

Sunny Edwards should defend his World Title in London, but everyone is expecting that to be on the cards, even if his opponent does have some dangerous looking tools.

I think Olympian Cheavon Clarke may have to go a few Rounds again before breaking down David Jamieson as he continues building his way up the Cruiserweight World Rankings. The only two losses suffered by Jamieson have been against Mikael Lawal, the second by Stoppage, and I think Clarke has shown his power can carry through the early Rounds.

Earlier in the night, Youssef Khoumari is a big favourite to beat Reece Bellotti- the latter has been out of the ring for a while, but should be looking to make this into a fight and that could see the two produce a fun encounter while it lasts.

MY PICKS: Josh Taylor to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 3.50 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Jaime Munguia to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 2.20 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Cheavon Clarke to Win Between 6-10 @ 3.00 Coral (2 Units)

Youssef Khoumari-Reece Bellotti Fight To Go Distance- No @ 2.30 William Hill (2 Units)

Boxing 2023: 27-50, - 19.40 Units (144 Units Staked, - 13.47% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2023- Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara (February 18th)

Since the last set of Boxing Picks at the beginning of the month we have started to see a Heavyweight April being announced as the likes of Anthony Joshua and Joe Joyce return.

The heavily rumoured Unification between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been targeted for the end of that month too, while the DAZN schedule was announced until the end of May and it looks like we are going to have some good cards.

Of course Boxing wouldn't be Boxing if we were still not waiting on some big announcements.

The Heavyweight Unification is one, but we are still waiting to hear if Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia will finally agree to also meet in April. The likes of Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford are still waiting, although likely facing other opponents rather than each other, and of course Canelo Alvarez should soon be announcing his May return.

One fight that has seemingly come out of left field is Josh Taylor vs Teofimo Lopez... Eighteen months ago that was a monster fight, but both have lost some of their stardom after controversial wins.

Even then, it is a big fight that could be announced for late May/early June.

Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara

There hasn't been the kind of fanfare around this fight that it really deserves, and I really don't think that is fair on Leigh Wood.

After the storming comeback to beat Michael Conlan, Leigh Wood should be given a whole heap of credit for taking this fight as one he has chosen.

And the fact he has suggests the team feel they have seen something to exploit in Mauricio Lara, who is most famous for demolishing Josh Warrington. The Mexican has continued his upward trend after that win and this is an extremely dangerous fighter and not one that would have expected to have been given an opportunity without forcing a mandatory.

Unsurprisingly the Lara camp feel that Leigh Wood and his team have made a massive mistake and I would be extremely disappointed if the styles don't gel.

Both are going to want to land power punches and I really would not be surprised if both fighters hit the deck.

However, I think the pressure that Mauricio Lara will come with is going to prove to be decisive, despite Leigh Wood carrying plenty of power of his own.

The home fighter has that ability to really hurt a wild Lara, but I can't shake how badly Leigh Wood was hurt by Michael Conlan and the Mexican in this one is expected to hit that much harder. If he hits Wood and hurts him like Conlan did, Mauricio Lara has more than enough in his arsenal to make sure the Champion is not able to get out of trouble and I think it will be another disappointing home outing for a British World Champion against Bronco.

In other fights on the card, Dalton Smith should show why there are levels to Boxing as he prepares for the a homecoming in April with a routine win.

Another who should not have to work the distance is Gary Cully who has been put on the card to further enhance his reputation before fighting back at home on the Katie Taylor card in May. He will want to impress his new promoters to show he deserves to be on that card and can beat his unbeaten American opponent.

Cheavon Clarke has yet to be pushed beyond Four Rounds as a professional and I think that may be unlikely on Saturday.

MY PICKS: Mauricio Lara to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.50 Bet365 (2 Units)

Dalton Smith to Win Between 1-4 @ 2.40 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Gary Cully to Win Between 1-5 @ 2.62 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Cheavon Clarke to Win Between 1-4 @ 1.61 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Boxing Update 2023: 2-5, - 5.40 Units (13 Units Staked, - 41.54% Yield)