Boxing Preview 4/20

Another fun weekend for Boxing where we have a solid PBC main event, followed by a PPV fight with a pound for pound great! Here’s my preview of all the action.

Saturday April 20

Who: Danny Garcia (34-2 20 KO’s) vs. Adrian Granados (20-6 14 KO’s)

Where: Dignity Health Sports Park, Los Angeles

When: 8pm EST/5pm PST

How: FOX

Implications: This is another in the line of PBC on FOX cards that are ok fights that could give us some action. However, it just makes no sense why they are putting a Chicago fighter and a Philly fighter in Los Angeles. Regardless, both Garcia and Granados have been in big fights, but Danny Garcia has one of the best resumes on paper in boxing. He has beaten the likes of Erik Morales, Zab Judah, Amir Khan, Pauie Malignaggi, Lucas Matthysse and many others, so this fight clearly seems like they are trying to get him back in the title picture. Adrian Granados is a rough and rugged Chicago fighter who has skills but has lost the biggest fights of his career. There is a clear A side and B side in the fight and I do think Danny Garcia gets back on track here. His counterpunching style will help him immensely against the aggressive Granados and he could get a finish.

I am predicting Garcia by KO in the 10th Round.

Speaking of Amir Khan…

Saturday April 20

Who: Terence Crawford (34-0 25 KO’s) vs. Amir Khan (33-4 20 KO’s)

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York

When: 9 pm EST/6 pm PST

How: ESPN Pay Per View

Implications: This is a massive fight for Terence Crawford who currently sits at number 2 on my pound for pound rankings. He has been a classic boxing star looking for his equal and we seem to have hopefully found it in Errol Spence. However, Spence of course fights for PBC and Crawford is with ESPN so in order for the fight to happen the money needs to be there. Spence had a PPV last month that did around 400k in buys, so in steps Amir Khan to try and be the name boos for Crawford in terms of PPV sales.

Khan is a known but flawed fighter who has beaten and lost to big names. He has incredibly fast hands and is a great boxer, but he gets drawn into fights too often and his chin has not held up. So he seems to be the perfect guy to help build Crawford’s name, while also taking a loss.

Crawford is a true superstar who can do everything in a boxing ring right handed and left handed. He also has a killer instict and a flair for the dramatic.

After he unified the whole 140 lb. division he has moved up to 147 and has looked fantastic. Hopefully this PPV sells and we get the fights that everyone wants. I am predicting Crawford by KO within 8 rounds.

*Undercard Notes

We get another look at Superstar in the making Teofimo Lopez (12-0 10 KO’s) as he takes on Edis Tatli (31-2 10 KO’s). Top Rank is matching Teofimo very carefully because they have big plans for his future. So this should be another highlight reel KO for him early in this fight.

We also get another look at Top Rank’s other major prospect in Shakur Stevenson (10-0 6 KO’s) as he faces Christopher Diaz (24-1 16 KO’s). Stevenson made headlines recently for a video of a fight he had at a gas station that looked really bad, so hopefully he can get his head on straight here. Diaz is a very tough opponent who recently fought for a vacant title, so he is not a push over at all. Shakur has title talk on his mind so he needs to be sharp and prepared for a full night’s work. I think Shakur wins this one by decision because Diaz is tough as nails.