After a few weak years the Super Featherweight division really does seem like it's picking up. Not only does the division have Takashi Uchiyama as the stand out guy and the WBA champion but below him are some very exciting fighters such as the former Featherweight champion Mikey Garcia and Roman Martinez, as limited as he is, is always in good fights.
When you get good fighters in a division it's impossible for their not to be some great match ups that do get made and that's what we have as the headliner for this weeks "Friday Night Fights" as IBF champion Argenis Mendez (21-2, 11) takes on Afghan born Canadian Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10). It's a fight that may not grab the attention of many but should still be a genuinely good match up.
Dominican Mendez is with out a doubt one of the most gifted fighters in the Super Featherweight division. He's got delightful technical skills, beautiful speed and although he's not a banger he can hit hard enough to take fighters out when he decides to hold his feet and let loose. In fact it's his combination of speed and power that can make him such a devastating fighter with his punches coming quicker than many fighters can react to.
Unfortunately for all the talent Mendez has he can blow hot and cold. At his best he's the division's best fighter behind the destructive Uchiyama. At his worst however he can really under-perform as he did against Martin Honorio in their first fight and Juan Carlos Salgado in their first fight, however he looked a much improved fighter in rematches with both men.
On a bad day Mendez would only be competitive with any of the top 10 in the division, though on his best days he's genuinely sensational.
In the opposite corner to Mendez will be the once beaten Usmanee, a man many including believes should be unbeaten. Unfortunately for Usmanee his most recent bout, a controversial decision loss to Rances Barthelemy, is probably his highest profile, thankfully however that bout was on ESPN's Friday Night Fights meaning that most who will be tuning in will now about the loss.
Usmanee is a talented and hard working fighter. He's not the slickest or the biggest hitting but he's a very determined fighter who has a tremendous engine, an engine that saw him throwing over 1000 punches against Barthelmy. In fact had he had some real power he'd likely have stopped Barthelmy thanks to his 34% connect rate in power shots.
As talented and hard working as Usmanee is it's likely he will need to hope that Mendez is having an off night if he's to win. Of course that's not out of the question with Mendez having his hot and cold reputation though if Mendez is on form this could be a very harsh bout for Usmanee who is talented but not in the same league as on fire Mendez.
Prediction-Mendez UD12
No comments:
Post a Comment