The boxing lineup this week is a bit thin, so let's look at a match-up that might otherwise fall through the cracks, but warrants attention as perhaps the most interesting prizefight of the weekend (assuming Lemieux simply does what he's supposed to against Ayala). Both are pretty much one-win wonders. Julio Cesar Miranda has been on the radar since his upset win over then-ascendant Omar Salado (in what was supposed to have been a filler mismatch on the Mijares-Munoz undercard), which was as brutal as it was surprising. He proved to be a strong and determined slugger if nothing else, and that was enough to be the better man on the night...if, ultimately, not a successful contender at the world level (he's failed in both his flyweight championship bids since). Richie Mepranum stepped up in his last fight against Mexican banger Hernan "Tyson" Marquez, and if you looked at footage of the two you'd have been nuts not to pick against the young southpaw from the Philippines. Everything available on him showed a fundamentally very poor fighter with little power and some cringeworthy defensive liabilities. According to accounts of those who saw it, he earned the decision over Marquez by simply outworking him. So who wins in this matchup of second-tier talents vying for the vacant WBO 112lb title Saturday night in Puebla? Don Sulaiman has announced that Manny Pacquiao will be ringside at this event cheering on his countryman...so that may negate the mental edge of home-court advantage for Miranda. :conf Hard hitting Rigo Alvarez (Saul's older brother) will be on the undercard in his bounceback after losing to Marco Antonio Rubio.
Oops - meant to vote Mepranum by decision, but accidentally voted for Miranda. Anyway, I think Mepranum is a level above Miranda, who is good, but really more of a tough journeyman type who can slug. Mepranum can actually box a bit.
Did you see his win over H. Marquez? I'd picked against him at the time based on how awful he'd looked in his previous outing, against Ernie Marquez.
This is Mepranum on the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard. http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/box/Top_Rank_Boxing/16652062#box/Top_Rank_Boxing/16652062 Yahoo videos won't embed on forums...and that's all you can find on him, really. Here's Miranda in the aforementioned eliminator win on the Mijares-Munoz undercard: [yt]jHUKm7obOvA[/yt] *No, it is NOT the same Julio Cesar Miranda that fought Barry McGuigan and contended at super featherweight in the late 80s and early 90s. :yep
Yeah, it was on Top Rank Live, on the Peter-Aguilera undercard. He didn't make a huge impression on me, but he struck me as being pretty decent. He also gave Kaovichit a tough fight, so he can't be too bad. Miranda I've seen a few times and he strikes me more as a crude slugger who is tough. More aggressive than Marquez, but a lot of the same flaws.
