March 2022 - Week 1
Friday March 4, 2022
Fresno, CA
ESPN+
Undercard - 7PM Main Event - 8PM
Hype for this Card - 3/10. No belt on the line. Both fighters are good, but not great.
Main Event - Super Lightweight 141 pounds
Jose Carlos Ramirez #3 (26-1-0) -650
vs.
Jose Pedraza #10 (29-3-0) +425
What’s at Stake
This fight may serve as a title eliminator for the Super Lightweight division. With unanimous champ, Josh Taylor on his way up to Welterweight, all four belts will soon be vacated. The winner of this match will almost be guaranteed a title shot when that happens.
Jose Carlos Ramirez
27 years old from the US, Former WBC and WBO Super Light Title holder, he lost his belts to Josh Taylor in 2021. It was the only loss of his career. Taylor’s move to welterweight gives him an opportunity to quickly compete for another title with a win here.
Jose Pedraza
32 Year old from Puerto Rico. Nicknamed “The Sniper”, Pedraza is known as an opportunistic counter-puncher. He is also a former WBO Super Lightweight title holder. But immediately following, lost it to Lomachenko, one of the top pound for pound fighters in the sport. He also has a loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis on his resume. Pedraza seems like a fighter that is on the edge of contention but has difficulty competing against elite talent.
Pick to Win
Ramirez should be able to win here and set himself up for another title run.
Saturday March 5, 2022
San Diego, CA
DAZN
Undercard - 8:30PM Main Event - 10:15PM
Hype for this card - 7/10. No belt on line and it is a lower weight class, but its an opportunity to watch an all time great fight a current champion.
Main Event - Super Flyweight 112 pounds
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez #2 (50-3-0) -164
vs.
Julio Cesar Martinez Unranked (18-1-0) +128
What’s at Stake:
Chocolatito was originally to fight Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBA Super Fly belt. Martinez, a Flyweight WBC Titleholder himself was a late replacement. As Martinez is going up a weight class, a belt is not on the line though.
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez
34 years old from Nicaragua, he has become one of the most prolific boxers of all time while fighting in the lower weight classes. A belt is not on the line, but a win against titleholder Martinez would only cement his legacy. He is a high action fighter that is able to switch stances at will. And he forces a fast tempo, throwing as many as 1300 punches in recent fights. Uses a great mix of skill and violence that should lead to a fun watch.
Julio Cesar Martinez
27 years old from Mexico. Martinez is playing with house money in this fight. Already a title holder at Flyweight, he’s agreed to step up in class to take on Chocolatito. A win here against a legend would be amazing padding for his resume. While a loss could potentially be written off as just being a bit too ambitious. Either way, he may be planning on a future bout against IBF Flyweight titleholder in order to unify belts.
Pick to Win
This is a toss up, but I really do want to see Chocolatito pull this one out if only because he’s got one of the better nicknames in the game right now.