Just a few years ago the Super Featherweight division looked genuinely dead. Other than a bout between Takashi Uchiyama and Adrien Broner nothing there really interested me. Right now however the division appears to be heating up with a rumour of a Gamboa/Uchiyama in the pipeline and a very attractive looking bout in Mexico this coming weekend.
This weekend's bout sees WBC champion Takashi Miura (25-2-2, 19), an extremely hard hitting and tough Japanese fighter traveling to Mexico to take on the fun to watch though criminally under-rated Sergio Thompson (27-2, 15), a man best known for stopping Jorge Linares.
Miura won the title earlier this year stopping Thompson's countryman Gamaliel Diaz in destructive fashion. Whilst Diaz was little more than a journeyman champion the performance, or rather the result, was impressive with Miura really showing his power off.
Despite the stoppage of Diaz being the highlight of Miura's career so far his power was already well known following his all-Japanese bout with Uchiyama in which Miura managed to drop Uchiyama in eye catching fashion. Unfortunately for Miura he was later stopped by Uchiyama in what was his first world title fight.
Although not the busiest fighter in the ring Miura is, as mentioned, a hard hitter with a real toughness to him. He's a fighter who can be outboxed but always has the potential to end a fight with his destructive left hand which is something every fighter needs to be wary of.
Thompson, like Miura, is a fighter who is tough and hits hard. He's a fighter who despite having little, other than Linares victory on his record has the talent to defeat almost anyone at 130lbs and possibly even 135lbs, where he is probably a little less comfortable but still a very destructive force.
As Thompson's record indicates he rarely gets rounds under his belt, in fact his 29 fight career has only seen him in 118 rounds, that's not much more than 4 rounds a contest. This has seen him going 10 rounds once and 12 rounds once, incidentally losing both of those contests by decision. This of course leaves me wondering just what his stamina's like, especially in bouts. Sure he's as destructive as they come early but can he cope with a fighter who takes his power and pressure?
Although Thompson is the challenger what he going for him is home field advantage here. Japanese boxers are notoriously bad on the road and if Miura can't get into a groove from the off he's going to find it very hard to ever get going against Thompson. That's not to say he can't win but if he lets Thompson set the pace he will have to look for a single shot to turn the fight around and there is no saying that chance will come.
Whilst I do give Miura a chance, it is only a 20-30% chance and I really do favour Thompson, probably by mid round stoppage in what could well be a FOTY style war for as long as it lasts.
Prediction-Thompson TKO6
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