Brawls

If you're going to read just one article about the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight, make it this one. Just brilliant.

Let's get to the picks (a bit early today, usually I need a morning of contemplation and reflection before I can guess wrong): I like Pacquiao to beat De La Hoya by decision. Picking the upset has been dangerous for me this year, but I don't think De La Hoya has the energy to fight at Pacquiao's pace for twelve rounds, I don't think De La Hoya's jab will be as effective as it was for the first half of the Mayweather fight, nor do I think De La Hoya will be able to catch him with that one fight-changing left hook. Plus, I think De La Hoya will be there to get hit. A lot.

On the undercard, the fights are all pretty one-sided matchups, so I'm only picking one to pad my record. I can't wait to see how Juan Manuel López tops Sergio Manuel Medina. On top of being technically sound and really versatile offensively, he's one of the those great fighters to watch because he has sneaky power. Punches that look like throwaways are devastatingly powerful, and you never know when the other guys is going to drop. Check this fight out on youtube: the straight left-hand lead from the southpaw stance, followed up by the straight right hand that drops his foe. Both shots were precise and effortless. You don't see a whole lot of knockouts coming on punches like that.

The other interesting fight this weekend is Carl Froch versus Jean Pascal. I haven't watched either a whole lot, but I've always seen Froch get hit a great deal against pretty average guys. That's not good news when you're stepping up. I like Pascal by knockout.