Talented Cuban Richard Abril (17-3-1, 8) will face US based Ugandan Sharif Bogere (23-0, 15) this coming Saturday on Showtime in a bout for the WBA Lightweight title, a belt that many feel already belongs to Abril who was widely viewed to have been robbed last year when he lost a decision to Brandon Rios.
Abril, 30, is viewed as a very talented boxer who may lack power though makes up for it by using his skills to fight to his strengths whilst neutralising his opponents, something he did spectacularly well to Brandon Rios. Sadly for Abril it's his lossesmore than his skills that he is best known for, with reverses to Breidis Prescott, Henry Lundy and most famously Brandon Rios (all by split decision), despite this Abril does have a number of notable victories himself including decisions over Jose Reyes and Miguel Acosta.
At 5'11" Abril is a tall fighter for the Lightweight division, he's rangy, has a solid jab, ties up very well under pressure and knows how to use the ring excellently. Whilst he may not be a whole lot of fun to watch he's a fighter who know what it takes to score victories and how to bag rounds. Sadly it's the fact that he's not fun to watch that may have put some fans off watching him, although when he opens up, as he did against Acosta he can be very effective (though sadly that was a faded Acosta).
Whilst Abril is somewhat well known to boxing fans for his ability to shut down offenses it's fair to say his opponent Sharif Bogere is best known for his now legendary ring entrance where by he wears the dead skin of a lion. Despite the gimmicky costume Bogere, like Abril, is a very credible fighter at 135lbs and has also scored notable victories, though unlike Abril he's unbeaten.
At 24 years old Bogere is by far the younger man and despite having fought more times as a professional he's also the lesser experienced of the two thanks to Abril's long amateur background. That however doesn't mean that Bogere lacks experience himself having been a professional since 2008.
In his 23 fights to date Bogere has beaten some very credible opponents including Manuel Leyva, Raymundo Beltran and Sergio Rivera (an opponent that both men have beaten). Admittedly however the fight with Beltran was very close and had Bogere not been unbeaten going in there is every chance he would have been beaten that night.
Whilst Bogere has a plus 50% KO rate he's not a huge puncher. His shots are hurtful though aren't concussive, especially near world level, instead Bogere will need to use his speed to dart in and out from Abril whilst hoping not to get caught on the way in. Whilst he has speed, he will not only need be cautious of being caught by Abril's shots coming in but also burning out lat in the fight having only been 7 or more rounds twice in his career (as opposed to Abril who has been 7 rounds or more on 7 occasions).
It's with good reason that Abril starts as a 1/4 favourite, and it's those odds I like.
Prediction-Abril by Decision.
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