On the Pascal vs. Jack & Davis vs. Gamboa undercard on Saturday @ State Farm Arena in Atlanta. I'm yet to determine whether or not it will be televised on the Showtime broadcast (their website indicates only the championship double-header). Uzcátegui continues his march onward after losing his IBF super middleweight title against Caleb Plant in January. He initially rebounded with a blitz KO against Mexican tomato can Robert "Hercules" Valdéz (now with a .500 record), and here faces his first real step up in class in nearly a full calendar year. He is powerful, tall, rangy, well-schooled and still in his prime at only 28...but it does feel like something one can not quite put one's finger on is missing with him. Thompson is a very capable fringe contender, who thus far has faced plenty of decent opposition and been competitive with everybody that isn't a prime Sergey Kovalev (who Krushed him within the first several minutes of their contest). Of his four other losses, three were by split decision and the only defeat by unanimous decision (against Edwin "La Bomba" Rodríguez) was still very close. He doesn't have power in Uzi's league, but is a natural full-fledged 175lb, if not a light heavy/cruiser tweener in much the same way Uzcátegui straddles the "big SMW to regular LHW" range.
I'm actually leaning Lionell here. The Ooze Cat isn't going to be getting any favors on the scorecards, and I'm not sure he has the power to hurt a big ass durable guy like Thompson. Quite frankly Thompson winning outright without any controversy wouldn't shock me either.
Also in my opinion he beat Parker and got robbed, as far as the Hot Rod match goes, a draw wasn't out of the question.
