We went with the matchup between unbeaten Alex Saucedo (21-0, 14 KOs) of Oklahoma and Clarence Booth (13-2, 7 KOs) of Florida last week for our pick of the week. The bout was the main event and took place at the Sportsmans Lodge, in Studio City, California. Top Rank promoted the event which was aired on Unimas. Saucedo was the favorite entering the fight but this was a major step up for he and Booth. It was Booth arguably that had the harder path coming up on the ballroom circuit while Saucedo fought on multiple major events on the undercards. The fight lived up to its expectations as both fighters gave as good as they got. Saucedo was in control of the fight for the most part and won a hard fought unanimous decision. We selected Saucedo as our pick so we were winners as well.
This week we have decided to go with the rematch between WBA Super world super middleweight champion Fedor Chudinov (14-0, 10 KOs) of Russia and four-time world champion Felix Sturm (39-5-3, 18 KOs) of Germany. The main event is scheduled for 12 rounds and will take place at the Koenig Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Chudinov won a split decision in the first fight that took place in Sturm’s native Germany 9 months ago.
The first encounter started off as a competitive affair the first half of the fight. The second half of the fight Chudinov seemed to pull away. His conditioning was very superb the entire fight. He never seemed to slow down at all. Sturm seemed spent down the stretch. He was still throwing punches and moving forward but being the aggressor really isn’t Sturm’s strength. His game for years has been based off of his strong jab. Chudinov just would not allow him to get any momentum going with the jab. He was able to slip the jab quite a bit and land many counters upstairs and downstairs. Chudinov is not a power puncher but his accumulative body work really seemed to drain Sturm late in the fight. Sturm did not look like a winner at all in the end even though one judge had him winning. We don’t see Sturm being able to win the 7 necessary minimum rounds to lift the crown from Chudinov. We have Chudinov as our selection to retain his title.
Disclaimer: Boxing360’s Pick of the week is strictly for entertainment purposes only.
