Earlier this year the young Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr (14-1-1, 7) claimed his first world title by defeating the more experienced Rodrigo Guerrero for the IBF Super Flyweight title. Sanchez Jr has defended that title once, by defeating former champion Juan Alberto Rosas and this week end will be looking to defeat another former world champion in a defense of his own title as he faces Rodel Mayol (31-5-2, 22).
At just 21 years old Sanchez is one of, if not the, youngest world champion out there at the moment, and is also one of the least experienced. Despite this he's not being given the softly softly treatment of so many young fighters out there who refuse to face a decent test until they've milked their world title for a year or two.
Sanchez has been a professional since 2008, when he was just 17. He would start his career with 7 straight victories with 6 of those coming by T/KO. His winning run however ended abruptly with an opening round technical decision with journeyman Felipe Acosta. Following the Acosta bout, Sanchez suffered his first (and so far only) loss as he was stopped in 2 rounds by Daniel Rosas (who later went on to fight for a world title himself).
Since suffering the loss to Rosas, Sanchez has rebuilt his career brilliantly with 7 straight wins. Not only has he scored notable wins over Guerrero and Rosas (as mentioned in the paragraph) but he has also beaten the then 18-0 Juan Francisco Estrada (who has recently stopped former world title challenger Ardin Diale). These victories have proven that Sanchez at least deserves his place amongst the top men at 115lbs even if he's not the top dog himself.
In terms of Sanchez the fighter, he is a huge southpaw who is not only difficult due to his stance but also his freaky frame. He manages to make 115lbs despite standing over 5'8". This freakish size sees him towering almost everyone else at the weight and although he may not be the most powerful guy at the weight (in fact he's only scored 1 T/KO in his last 9 fights) he does hit hard enough to hurt guys.
Unlike the champion, the challenge is an experienced veteran. Not only has Mayol been in more than twice as many bouts but he's been in the ring with some true top talent in a career that spans over a decade.
Mayol debuted as a professional 2000 when he was just 18 and he started his career with an excellent 22 fight winning streak before fighting for his first world title. In his first title tilt, he faced Japanese based Thai Eagle Den Junlaphan and despite putting up a spirited effort Mayol was out pointed.
Ever since his first world title bout, Mayol has been in the title picture with a number of world title fights against some of the best fighters out there. Over the past few years Mayol has faced Ulises Solis, Adrian Hernandez, Ivan Calderon (twice), Edgar Sosa, Omar Nino Romero (twice) and Julio Cesar Miranda. Whilst he suffered losses in a number of those bouts (Solis, Hernandez, Calderon and Romero) he also picked up some credible wins, including stopping Sosa and out pointing the tough Julio Cesar Miranda.
Whilst he's an experienced fighter and a tough fighter, Mayol does have a reputation for being dirty. Not only has he got 2 technical decisions with Ivan Calderon due to head clashes but his victory over Sosa was also marred by a nasty headbutt that Sosa never recovered from.
Despite being quick handed and aggressive Mayol doesn't have the power in his punches that he maybe needs against the best fighters at 115lbs. Whilst he did drop Miranda numerous times last time out in a bout made at the Super Flyweight limit it needs to be noted that Miranda himself was a career Flyweight going into that bout.
So now, to this bout. Whilst Mayol certainly has the experience and the craftiness to make life difficult for everyone in the lower divisions of the sport, I can't help but think that the size difference here will really show. Sanchez is longer, taller and not going to be easy to headbutt, he'll try to stay on the outside but even on the inside the Mexican should be stronger and able to almost push Mayol away with his shots. Mayol is tough and tenacious, having not been stopped in over 4 years and whilst I expect he will see the end, don't be shocked if he is down at some point.
Prediction-Sanchez UD12
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