Boxing Preview Analysis: Undercard Of Mayweather vs. Hatton

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As well as the big welterweight fight between Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas sees other big fight action too this Saturday.

Two fighters who are no strangers to British fans, Jeff Lacy and Peter Manfredo, fight in an intriguing 10 round super middleweight bout.

Jeff Lacy, just two years ago, was being touted as the best super middleweight fighter in the world. An undefeated IBF champion with 21 wins and 17 KO’s, Lacy was backed by many to defeat Welshman Joe Calzaghe in an eagerly awaited unification bout in March 2006. 12 rounds later, Lacy was left battered and totally defeated and left the ring at the Manchester Arena an ex-champion.

Since that rude awakening, Lacy has fought just the once, 12 months ago, in a rematch against old foe Vitali Tsypko. Lacy that night didn’t look impressive, just managing to scrape a 10 round majority decision win. Now, he aims to get back into the title picture.

Opposing him this Saturday is another former Calzaghe foe, Peter Manfredo. With a useful record of 28-4, Manfredo is more famous to the casual fan as a competitor in the reality boxing show “The Contender”, reaching the final. His reward for this achievement was a high profile challenge for Joe Calzaghe’s title in April this year where he was stopped in three rounds.

It will be interesting to see how much Lacy has left since the Calzaghe defeat. We’ve only seen him once competitively and he was far from impressive, so the jury is still out. However, I can’t see Lacy slipping up this Saturday and I think he will stop Manfredo.

The potential show stealer of the night could very well be Daniel Ponce de Leon’s defence of his WBO Super Bantamweight championship against fellow Mexican Eduardo Escobedo.

Ponce de Leon ,with a pro record of 33-1 with 30 knockouts, is pure dynamite. Following in the tradition of fellow Mexican greats like Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, who have both held this belt, the champion attempts to bulldoze his way to superstar status on this big bill.

The challenger Eduardo Escobedo is strong and aggressive, but it’s still early days in the 23 year old’s career.

Given the styles of both men, this could be an entertaining slug fest. However, if it is a slugfest, I think the fists of Ponce de Leon will have the final word.

If that wasn’t enough, the bill on Saturday is also backed up by an interesting rematch in the lightweight division when prospects Edner Cherry and Wes Ferguson The two men last met in June, when, in a hard fought ten rounder Cherry was the man who had his hand raised. Ferguson looks to even the score.

Three fights that could be main events in their own rights are the starter for what hopes to be a great main course in Mayweather vs. Hatton. Roll on ,Saturday!