Ishe Smith v Carlos Molina

It's not too often that a world title fight looks like it will cure insomnia but this weekend's IBF Light Middleweight title fight between defending champion Ishe Smith (25-5, 11) and Carlos Molina (21-5-2, 6)  may well be as close as boxing can come to sending a crowd to sleep.

Although that sounds like a major slight on both men it's not actually supposed to be. The problem is that both men are incredible skilled, especially defensively, and have had a knack of neutralising their opponents. When you have two men who are fantastic at neutralising fighters then it's unlikely that a fight between the two will be particularly exciting, though for the purists it's likely to be a genuinely interesting contest that pits two intelligent fighters against each other.

Smith won the title last time out when he defeated Cornelius "K9" Bundrage via a majority decision in a rather scrappy fight, at his best however Smith is an excellent defensive fighter who would make life difficult for most opponents. He blunts attacks, looks to counter, and recent bouts seems to have shown a bit more of an offensive game plan. He'll never be an all out offensive fighter but he's certainly throwing more than he did a few years ago.

As well as the victory over Bundrage, Smith holds wins over David Estrada, Randall Bailey, Ahmad Kaddour and Powell Wolak and has also been in with the likes of Daniel Jacobs, Fernando Guerrero, Sergio Mora and Joel Julio.

Since linking up with Floyd Mayweather Jr, Smith has seen his career effectively turn around and he has gone from being a talented but uncertain fighter into being a confident fighter, almost feeling the Mayweather confidence rubbing off on him. Unfortunately whilst he may be more confident he hasn't suddenly become Mayweather and he's not got his handspeed, or natural ability. He's good, but nowhere near that good.

Of course it takes two to tango and Carlos Molina is, like Smith, a very defensively sound fighter. At his best Molina is capable of giving any fighter a hard time with his smart movement, intelligent defense and excellent shot selection, at his worst however he looks an octopus holding on to opponents, spoiling fighters and using incredibly negative tactics to see out rounds.

Although Molina has failed to win against many of his highest profile opponents, including a loss and a draw to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, a draw with Erislandy Lara and losses to both James Kirkland and Mike Alvarado he has never really been out classed. In fact not only has he held his own but many of his losses have come with a real cloud of controversy with many feeling he was jobbed in a number of his notable bouts.

As well as Molina's losses he has also won against several noteworthy opponents including Kermit Cintron and Cory Spinks.

When fighting at his best Molina is a nightmare. He is light on feet, has quick hands and although he lacks power he is very accurate able to land clean and precise shots. Unfortunately his lack of power rarely stops an opponent in their tracks but he has shown an ability to slip shots and smother opponents when he needs to. This has made him incredibly tricky to land clean on and next to impossible to really grind down, though it did look like Kirkland was beginning to grind him down in their controversial bout from last year.

With both men knowing how to hit with out getting hit this is bout to be ugly. On a card that also features Floyd Mayweather Jr v Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Danny Garcia v Lucas Matthysse, this bout certainly won't be the one people are tuning in for, though on the other hand it's probably the most evenly matched contest on the card.

With the even nature of the contest I've got to favour Smith. I don't think Either fighter will be hugely effective or massively offensive but with Smith having his links to Mayweather, it's possible that he'll manage to get the slight edge in the close rounds and as a result do just enough to claim the victory.

Prediction-Smith MD12

Cornelius Bundrage v Ishe Smith

Light Middleweight veteran Cornelius "K9" Bundrage (32-4-0-1, 19) will attempt to make the 3rd defense of his IBF Light Middleweight title as he faces the under-rated but talented Ishe Smith (24-5, 11). Although this bout is a pretty notable one, especially stateside with the winner likely joining the running for the Canelo sweepstakes it has been heavily overlooked by many due to the unattractiveness of the fighters involved.

Although the 39 year old Bundrage is the champion is generally seen as one of the weakest champions, not just in his division but in the whole of boxing. He's powerful but crude and really was lucky to find an aging and disinterested Cory Spinks 2010 to dethrone. Since winning the title Bundrage has been relatively inactive defeating the barking Sechew Powell in 2011 and Spinks again in 2012.

Aside from title fights Bundrage is best known for his appearance on the television show "The Contender" where he beat Michael Clark and Walter Wright before losing to Steve Forbes. As well as his time in the Contender he is known for being in a memorable 22 second bout with Sechew Powell in which both men were simultaneously dropped before Bundrage was unable to fully regain his feet.

Despite his famous moments it does need to be accepted that Bundrage has scored a few noteworthy wins as well as his title victories, including wins over Kassim Ouma and Zaurbek Baysangurov.

Sadly for Bundrage he has a lot more negatives than positive and 2 stoppage losses he's been shown not to have a great chin, his skill levels are genuinely low, especially for a world level fighter and the combination of age and inactivity will not help him. On the flip of this he is powerful, he does throw some very awkward punches that you're not likely to see from too many other fighters and he does have a lot of confidence in him self thanks to his very public belief in god. It may just be a shame that god can't help fighters beat father time.

Aged 34 the challenger is no spring chicken himself though Smith is a very skilled fighter who often shows all the cute moves you'd expect to see from a fringe world class fighter. He knows how to use his defense excellently, he can throw almost all the shots in the book however his own downfalls come in regards to his lack of power and often his lack of work-rate as he falls into his defensive shell for too long and gives rounds away.

Like Bundrage, Smith was also featured on "The Contender" where he defeated Ahmad Kaddour and Anthony Bonsante before losing a split decision to eventual winner Sergio Mora. As well as his fights in "The Contender" Smith has faced (and beaten) a number of recognisable names including Alfonso Gomez, David Estrada, Randall Bailey, Pawel Wolak, and Ayi Bruce. Likewise he has also lost to recognisable names including Sechew Powell, Joel Julio, Daniel Jacobs and Fernando Guerrero though he did often run them closer than the cards show.

If Smith can fight to his potential then for me this is an easy win for the smoother, more skilled fighter however if Smith decides to stay defensive for too long he could very easily find himself giving rounds away to the crude but offensive work of Bundrage. In my eyes as long as Smith works his offense from the off he shouldn't struggle to claim the victory by a wide decision, or in fact even a late stoppage.

Prediction-Smith Decision