Jermell Charlo vs. Vanes Martirosyan

Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, NV, March 28
TV: Showtime
By Peter Lim

These two guys were sparring partners when Martirosyan was training under Ronnie Shields in Charlo's hometown of Houston so they are no strangers to each other. But since Charlo was a 19-year-old work in progress at that time and Martirosyan was already a ranked contender, Charlo is more of an unknown quantity to Martirosyan than vice-versa. Plus, Charlo is now trained by Shields, who is all too familiar with both fighters' strengths and weaknesses and will devise a game plan accordingly.

Charlo (25-0, 11 KOs) has developed into a pure boxer who uses the ring well and deploys every punch in the book in fluid combinations. But what he has in abundance of education, he seems lack in punching power, as his 44 percent knockout rate suggests. This is in stark contrast to his twin, Jermall (20-0, 16 KOs) who will be fighting on the undercard riding a 14-fight knockout streak.

Martirosyan (35-1-1, 21 KOs) is one of those erratic fighters who can box and who can punch but hasn't been able to seamlessly combine the two modes of combat to deserve the label boxer-puncher. He has fought better-caliber opponents than Charlo but fell a tad short in his two most significant bouts, a split decision loss to Demitrius Andrade for the vacant WBO junior middleweight belt, and a ninth-round technical draw against Erislandy Lara.

The winner of this fight simply boils down to who's faster on the trigger, and that will be Charlo. The Texan will dictate the tempo by moving side to side while using his jab to set up straight rights and combinations. Martirosyan will find a measure of success by pressing the action and land some solid punches but the defensively-sound Charlo will dip, duck and slide out the side door when the going gets too up close and personal. The scores will be close, in the 115-113 range, but nobody will dispute the verdict.

Afterthoughts:

Couldn't have been more right on this one.

Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Gary Russell Jr.

Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, NV, March 28

TV: Showtime

By Peter Lim

Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) hits so hard that he can stop just about anybody but at the same time, his chin and body are so frail that he can be stopped by just about anybody too. Two of his three knockout losses came against southpaws (Toshiaki Nishioka and Gerry Penalosa) and he was dropped and dominated by yet another lefty, Daniel Ponce de Leon.

Gary Russell Jr. (25-1, 14 KOs) has only average punching power but so did Penalosa and that didn't prevent him from sinking Gonzalez for the full count with a shot to the ribcage. Russell's whiskers withstood the blows of Vasyl Lomachenko but as accomplished as the Ukrainian is, his punches pale in comparison to the whipper-snapper missiles that Gonzalez launches.

Russell's speed, more than his southpaw style, will trouble Gonzalez in the early goings of the fight, but Gonzalez's impressive boxing prowess is often overlooked because of his explosive punching power. Neutralizing speed with timing, Gonzalez will soon exploit the chinks in Russell's armor that Lomachenko exposed with lead right hands. Somewhere in the middle rounds, he will follow one of those rights with a sizzling left hook that separates Russell from his senses, ending the fight.

Afterthoughts:

Couldn't have been more wrong on this one.

Sergei Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal

March 14, Bell Center, Montreal, Quebec

TV: HBO

By Peter Lim

As intriguing and competitive as this bout might appear, Kovalev will become the first man to stop the sturdy-chinned Pascal in a relatively one-sided bout. Granted, Pascal had the punch to drop Hopkins twice in their first encounter, and the whiskers to absorb the formidable artillery of Froch and Bute, but the cold-blooded and calculating Russian assassin is simply half a notch or two more proficient than the tough Canadian pugilist in most areas of the game – offense, defense, firepower and adaptability. The one intangible here is Kovalev’s chin, which has never seriously been tested.

It might take Kovalev a few rounds to figure out the chinks in Pascal’s armor, but once he does, he will blast away with his signature Soviet shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later mode of combat. Mixing his attack upstairs and down, he will viciously zero in on the body when Pascal gets too protective of his head, break him down, bust him up and finish him off somewhere between the middle to late rounds.

Afterthoughts

The stoppage was way premature considering how Pascal came back from his near-death experience in the third round and was rocking Kovalev with counters while seemingly out on his feet.

Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero

March 7, MGM Grand, Las Vegas

TV: NBC

By Peter Lim

Everything matches up evenly with both these guys including Thurman's youth against Guerrero's experience. But styles make fights and forward-moving boxer-punchers are typically more vulnerable to bait-and-blast exponents than vice-versa.

The more aggressive Guerrero is, the more exposed he will leave himself to Thurman's punishing counters. Should Guerrero choose to exercise caution and box tactically from the outside, which he certainly has the capacity to do, it will be a closer, albeit less exciting, fight. But Guerrero's machismo will get the better of him and play directly into Thurman's hands.

Guerrero will make adjustments in the middle rounds and find some success in countering Thurman's counters from his southpaw stance but Thurman will also adjust and continue to get the better of the exchanges. Thurman will win a lopsided decision that doesn't reflect the closeness of most of the rounds in what turns out to be a spirited and suspense-filled fight.

Afterthoughts

Thurman's cannon of a right hand might be the most overlooked fight-ending punch in the game. Anyone other than Guerrero would have wilted.