The next few days are amongst the most important in Minimumweight history. Inside a week the WBC, WBO and IBF titles will all be up for grabs and they will all be fought for across Asia.
For me the most interesting of those three bouts is for the WBO title as the unbeaten Filipino Merlito Sabillo (23-0, 12) looks to make the second defense of his title. Sabillo, who successfully defended his belt Jorle Estrada in July, will be facing his third successive Latin America as he takes on unbeaten Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago (27-0-0-1, 16) in what looks likely to be a special contest.
Of the two men it's probably the challenger who is better known by boxing fans due to the huge amount of hype and expectation Buitrago has had on his shoulders over the past few years. The Nicaraguan, viewed by many as next great fighter from that country, has been tipped as a world champion since he was just a teenager.
It was about 4 years ago that hardcore fans began to hear about a Nicaraguan wonder kid who had the natural tools to go a long, long way. Of course some kids fail to ever reach their potential but Buitrago built on his excellent skills and has shown, in a number of fights, that he can do almost anything.
Unlike many South American's Buitrago has built his style on fundamental building blocks. This has seen him developing an excellent jab, a great straight and wonderful movement. Sure he has been showing it against mostly limited opponents but the fact that he has those tools in his locker is invaluable at the world level.
Although Buitrago is well known it's odd that the champion really isn't. In fact prior to this year almost nobody in the sport was talking about Merlito Sabillo, who has now become one of real dangermen at 105lbs.
Sabillo first popped on to the world stage courtesy of a stunning stoppage over Luis De La Rosa in Colombia back in March. This victory over De La Rosa, an all out war, saw Sabillo claiming the WBO interim world title that was later upgraded to the regular title when Moises Fuentes moved up to the Light Flyweight division.
Sabillo is a bit more of a warrior than Buitrago, in fact he was apparently spotted having street fights prior to becoming a professional boxer. He looks tough, he looks strong and although his record doesn't indicate it he does hit hard, as shown by the fact he has stopped his last 5 opponents.
It's this growing power and belief in Sabillo that makes me favour him by stoppage over the Nicaraguan visitor. In terms of pure boxing skills Buitrago is better but something makes me think that Sabillo's "street fighter" heart will come out and he'll eventually get close and break Buitrago down in the later rounds of an absolute classic.
Prediction-Sabillo TKO11
Showing posts with label Carlos Buitrago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlos Buitrago. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Julian Yedras v Carlos Buitrago
Less than a week after Melito Sabillo of the Philippines successfully defended his WBO Minimumweight title for the first time stopping Jorle Estrada, the WBO "interim" Minimumweight title is up for grabs.
Although on paper I really like the match up on paper between Julian Yedras (21-0, 13) and Carlos Buitrago (26-0-0-1, 16) I can't fathom the WBO's decision to have a belt on the line rather than just making the bout a final eliminator.
As you can see from the records both men are unbeaten with spectacular records, it's also worth noting that both men are young with Yedras being 25 and Buitrago being just 21. In my eyes both men are effectively prospects who shouldn't be fighting for an interim title, but I guess this is the boxing world that we live in.
Nicaraguan Buitrago has been a fighter who has been on my radar for several years. He's a fighter a fighter that many in Nicaragua have been tipping as a potential superstar and has been compared, in terms of potential, to Roman Gonzalez-a man I am a huge fan of. He hasn't just just been touted by his promoters but also sparring partners including Juan Palacios, a former WBC and WBA interim champion at 105lbs and Gonzalez the current WBA Light Flyweight super champion.
Having been lucky enough to have seen Buitrago coming through his development it's great to see the fighter he has become. Sure he's not the next Gonzalez (a total wrecking ball) of the next Alexis Arguello (legend) but he's still an incredible talent with very solid technical grounding, a fantastic jab, hurtful power and the ability to throw almost every punch in the book. Despite his age he's very mature, though he has been a professional for over 5 years and like mentioned has sparred with some genuinely fantastic opponents.
To date the most notable names on Buitrago's record are Jorle Estrada-who lost to Sabillo last weekend, Carlos Melo-a former world title challenger, Eddy Castro-another former world title challenger and the world ranked Yader Escobar. Not a great list of opponents but certainly not bad either for a 21 year old fighter.
Yedras, a Mexican dubbed "El Nino Artillero" (apparently "The Kid Gunner" or something to that effect) isn't a fighter who has been on my radar for as long as Buitrago, though in my defense has hasn't been a professional as long, though he did turn professional in 2009.
From what I've seen of Yedras (or Yedra) he looks somewhat slow and predictable. He has a solid defense though offensively he looks crude with his shots often looping wide or falling short. When he connects he appears to have heavy hands though against the quality of opponents he's been facing it's hard to tell if he actually hits hard or if they would have collapsed with a swift breeze.
Whilst Buitrago has faced fringe world level opponents Yedras has only faced a handful of opponents with winning records, none of which are anywhere near world level. Worryingly a number of these weak opponents have almost beaten Yedras.
Using Boxrec's rating systems Yedras is currently ranked #35 in the division, just 2 places above Ali Raymi who is quickly becoming a name to keep an eye out for, Buitrago on the other hand is ranked at #15.
From the footage available it's impossible to pick against Buitrago. Sure he's fighting in Yedras's native Mexico but the skill level between the two men is huge as is the experience (in terms of real experience, not number of bouts). In fact the only advantage Yedras has is that he's fighting at home and that won't be able to really help him here.
At the beginning of this preview I said I liked this bout on paper. I think that's the only way I actually like this bout because in all honesty it's a mismatch.
Prediction-Buitrago TKO 6
Although on paper I really like the match up on paper between Julian Yedras (21-0, 13) and Carlos Buitrago (26-0-0-1, 16) I can't fathom the WBO's decision to have a belt on the line rather than just making the bout a final eliminator.
As you can see from the records both men are unbeaten with spectacular records, it's also worth noting that both men are young with Yedras being 25 and Buitrago being just 21. In my eyes both men are effectively prospects who shouldn't be fighting for an interim title, but I guess this is the boxing world that we live in.
Nicaraguan Buitrago has been a fighter who has been on my radar for several years. He's a fighter a fighter that many in Nicaragua have been tipping as a potential superstar and has been compared, in terms of potential, to Roman Gonzalez-a man I am a huge fan of. He hasn't just just been touted by his promoters but also sparring partners including Juan Palacios, a former WBC and WBA interim champion at 105lbs and Gonzalez the current WBA Light Flyweight super champion.
Having been lucky enough to have seen Buitrago coming through his development it's great to see the fighter he has become. Sure he's not the next Gonzalez (a total wrecking ball) of the next Alexis Arguello (legend) but he's still an incredible talent with very solid technical grounding, a fantastic jab, hurtful power and the ability to throw almost every punch in the book. Despite his age he's very mature, though he has been a professional for over 5 years and like mentioned has sparred with some genuinely fantastic opponents.
To date the most notable names on Buitrago's record are Jorle Estrada-who lost to Sabillo last weekend, Carlos Melo-a former world title challenger, Eddy Castro-another former world title challenger and the world ranked Yader Escobar. Not a great list of opponents but certainly not bad either for a 21 year old fighter.
Yedras, a Mexican dubbed "El Nino Artillero" (apparently "The Kid Gunner" or something to that effect) isn't a fighter who has been on my radar for as long as Buitrago, though in my defense has hasn't been a professional as long, though he did turn professional in 2009.
From what I've seen of Yedras (or Yedra) he looks somewhat slow and predictable. He has a solid defense though offensively he looks crude with his shots often looping wide or falling short. When he connects he appears to have heavy hands though against the quality of opponents he's been facing it's hard to tell if he actually hits hard or if they would have collapsed with a swift breeze.
Whilst Buitrago has faced fringe world level opponents Yedras has only faced a handful of opponents with winning records, none of which are anywhere near world level. Worryingly a number of these weak opponents have almost beaten Yedras.
Using Boxrec's rating systems Yedras is currently ranked #35 in the division, just 2 places above Ali Raymi who is quickly becoming a name to keep an eye out for, Buitrago on the other hand is ranked at #15.
From the footage available it's impossible to pick against Buitrago. Sure he's fighting in Yedras's native Mexico but the skill level between the two men is huge as is the experience (in terms of real experience, not number of bouts). In fact the only advantage Yedras has is that he's fighting at home and that won't be able to really help him here.
At the beginning of this preview I said I liked this bout on paper. I think that's the only way I actually like this bout because in all honesty it's a mismatch.
Prediction-Buitrago TKO 6
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