**** Kirk's ESB Championships 2011 ****

04/09 - Danny Garcia vs. Nate Campbell - Garcia TKO
04/09 - Robert Guerrero vs. Michael Katsidis - Guerrero TKO

 

Meh, I'm so tempted to pick Gutierrez and Katsidis to win.. Had it not been for this competative league, I'd have choosen them with no hesitation....

..... hmmmmm

 

Ah screw it.

All the japs by UD
Lemieux by KO

 

Man I have no idea who to pick between Hasegawa & Gonzalez. Well I do have a hunch, but as a Hozumi fan I wish I didn't. Gonzalez' losses came ahead on the cards when he was caught good, he's a pretty good boxer-puncher who was beating Penalosa, Vazquez and Nishioka, inflicting some damage and earning rounds before his opponents got to his fragile body and blasted him out. If not for punch resistance, Jhonny would've gone places, but the question in 2011 is not what if, but if Hozumi can exploit this weakness. Hasegawa's power didn't seem to carry up to 126, so he has to land really accurate and land first, because he also didn't look as fast which is bad news considering his risky open defense that requires reflexes. At this moment I find it hard to see him safely going 12 without tasting Gonzalez' power that's been dropping featherweights left and right, he must get to Jhonny first and somehow finish the job, or else. I can see a tactical start, and around round 4-5-6 one of them landing a biggie and ending matters in mere seconds. And at this moment I slightly favor Jhonny to do so. Give me Gonzalez by TKO Kirk! And for the rest, Ao by UD, Nishioka by TKO and Lemieux by TKO. Damn I hope I'm wrong. Go Hozumi! Go Japan!

 

Makes my job easier. Pretty much agree, you pretty much covered everything. Hasegawa's leaky D, lack of power at 126, Gonzalez' resume, Gonzalez' power, etc. Good job. :good

I'm still undecided of who I'm taking though.

 

That was my fear, overthinking it... it cost me in the past. So I just decided Gonzalez is going to take it and I'm sticking with that :yep

 

Hozumi Hasegawa vs. Jhonny Gonzalez- Hozumi Hasegawa by UD
Toshiaki Nishioka vs. Mauricio Javier Munoz- Toshiaki Nishioka by UD
Takahiro Aoh vs. Humberto Mauro Gutierrez- Takahiro Aoh by UD
Robert Guerrero vs. Michael Katsidis- Robert Guerrero by UD
Paulie Malignaggi vs. Jose Miguel Cotto- Paulie Malignaggi by UD

The first fight I'll start off with is the Hasegawa-Gonzalez fight. Reason being is I don't have to break it down much. BigBone already did that and I agree with everything he said. I do think though Hasegawa will do enough to win the fight on points. Hasegawa I believe is feeling motivated and really wants to win for Japan. This is a big fight for him and I do think he will have his shady moments, but will be able to overcome them and win by UD.

Easier fight to call. I believe Nishioka is way too good for Munoz. Munoz has fought nobody and has two losses, and only 9 KO's in 21 wins. Don't think he has anything to bother Nishioka and Nishioka will probably win by very wide UD or may'be even a corner stoppage late in the fight.

Then we got the Aoh-Gutierrez fight. This is another 50/50 fight in my eyes. Very good fight in Japan, to start off we got Gutierrez, tall southpaw. Good pop in both hands, isn't aggressive and likes to box from the outside. Which is actually a good thing, but the problem is he doesn't use his jab. He has no jab. He only comes aggressively forward when he gets hit hard, but with this fight Aoh likes fighting on the oustide fighting off the back foot. So, I say Gutierrez will the aggresser for most of the fight. Then we got Aoh, and he fights a lot like who Gutierrez recently fought and that is Vitaly Tajbert. Tajbert is very fast, gets in and out, leaky D, limited power. So, this fight I can see it going like that. It was a tough fight where both had their moments and it was a good fight, and a close fight. Dang, very close fight I want to take Gutierrez to win by stoppage, because Aoh is good, but ahhhh....I'll take Aoh by UD. May end up changing my pick though.

Then we got on the otherside of the pond a very good card in the States. We got Paulie and Jose Cotto going at it. I think this has the potential to be a closer than expected fight. I think Paulie will win using volume and his boxing ability on the outside. I've got him winning somewhere in the 97-93 range. I think both have their moments, but Paulie has more and wins by UD.

Robert Guerrero and Michael Katsidis is a great fight. Really looking forward to seeing how this will play out. Guerrero is a nice basic typical fighter. Uses the one, one, two combo on a regular basis and stays on the outside. Katsidis comes straight forward winging punches, and doesn't mind getting hit once or twice just to get in some of his punches. I think Guerrero will have to take the majority of the rounds early on and get Katsidis to respect his power a bit, because later in the fight when Katsidis is still there on him like a shirt that is when Katsidis will have his moments and start taking the rounds. I think Guerrero wins this by very close UD in the 115-113, 116-112 range. The early rounds will be key though. If Guerrero doesn't win the majority of the rounds or if Katsidis doesn't feel his power, he will be in for a long long night and will have to pull out all the stops and have to use big heart to pull it off against the Aussie warrior.

Should be a great great night of fights this weekend. I know I'll be getting some sleep here in a few hours to watch the Japanese card. And then we got Lemieux on ESPN2, ShoBox, Telefutura, and on Saturday the big PPV in the States. Should be fun! :yep :good

 

Is the Stieglitz fight going to count? It's not on the official list in the last update.

 

Dropping down my offer: I got

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on Maidana.

 

4/16: Lopez

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Salido
4/16: Berto

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Ortiz

 

It's not. He took it off a couple of days ago:good

 

Wakey wakey eggs and bakey! Who's ready to see a nice tripleheader!? :happy :deal :bbb

 

Ahhhh, ok cool beans.

 

You mean the Japanese card?
Unfortunately I'm "working", so I can't see it... Going to follow IB's RBR though.

 

Ah dang, well hey it is better than nothing though.