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| The dream year of Argentinean Carlos Baldomir continues this Saturday evening at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when he defends his WBC Welterweight Championship against pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Cast your mind back to January. In what was seen by many as a routine defence by Zab Judah before an April superfight against Mayweather, Baldomir upset the |
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odds by hurting Judah in round six before bossing the remainder of the fight to win a points decision.
The fairytale continued in July of this year when Baldomir entered the lion’s den of Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Again an underdog, this time against hometown hero Arturo Gatti, Baldomir made his size advantage count, flooring the challenger twice in the ninth and forcing the stoppage. The question now is can he make it three in a row against the ultimate challenge?
Floyd Mayweather is an extra ordinary fighter. A four weight world champion, he is a man that can adapt to any style. In his 36 fight professional career, he has fought all styles. He has also never looked in danger of being beaten. For many, his closest call was when he took the WBC Lightweight Championship from seasoned Jose Luis Castillo back in 2002, although I felt he won comfortably. This win was then repeated in the rematch later in the year.
The one weakness I see in Mayweather is that he is sometimes not comfortable with pressure fighters. This was evident in fight one with Castillo and also early in his last bout against Judah. That being said, he rallied and won clearly enough in both fights.
Baldomir will certainly bring pressure this Saturday night and the size advantage, too. However in analysing the fight, you can point to Baldomir’s last two contests. Against both Judah and Gatti, the Argentinean certainly didn’t have things his own way before pulling out the win. In Mayweather’s case, it was target practice against Gatti and after a shaky start he took the initiative away from Judah, winning widely.
For all the flash, Mayweather has he has also displayed mental toughness and this will serve him well against Baldomir.
The Argentinean will press Mayweather but style wise, he will be outjabbed on the way in. Also unlike the Gatti fight, Baldomir will find it hard to connect with his strong right hand.
No matter which way you look at this fight, I cannot see a Baldomir victory. The WBC champion is so strong and big for the weight, so I also cannot see Floyd stopping him either but I think the American will be too good for him winning a 12 rounds points decision.
