Our pick last week was the rematch between Mexican countrymen Julio Ceja (30-2, 27 KOs) and Hugo Ruiz. (36-3, 32KOs). The bout took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Their first fight was really exciting this past August that saw both me hurt. In the end it was Ceja who stopped Ruiz inside the distance. The rematch was set but this time for the full WBC 122pound title. Ruiz like he did in the first fight started out strong but this time finished Ceja off to score the first round stoppage. It was a loss for us as we had Ceja as our pick.
This week we are going with the matchup between Fernando Guerrero (28-2, 20KOs) of Salisbury, Maryland by way of the Dominican Republic and Tony Harrison (22-1, 18 KOs) of Detroit, Michigan. The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds and will take place at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethelehm, Pennsylvania. The show will be promoted by Marshall Kauffman (King’s Promotions) and aired live on Showtime.
Harrison was thought by some to be the next big thing out of Detroit entering his bout with Willie Nelson last July. He was unbeaten and a heavy favorite. Nelson got through some tough early moments and came on late to stop Harrison. It was a major setback for Harrison even though it was just his first loss. The expectations were just that high for him. He came back to pick up a win just three months later but did not look like the same dominating fighter he was prior to the loss.
Guerrero himself was once a highly touted prospect. A few set back losses have seen him have to rebuild multiple times. Through it all he is still just 29 years old with an opportunity to still make his mark in boxing. He is not new to ShowTime having fought on the network multiple times. The fight is also not that far away from his hometown and he could have on hand his fair share of supporters.
Each guy here is trying to get by the prospect stage. Guerrero has been trying to do this much longer than Harrison. Guerrero has some key wins on his record with the biggest being over former world champion Ishe Smith. Both fighters have suffered at least one knockout loss so neither can be too careless in there. This is a tough one to call but were going to go with Guerrero who has fought and beaten the better competition of the two.
