Our very own hard-hitting 19 year-old power puncher AJ Bazooka Banal will face off against Rafael Concepcion of Panama for the WBA interim Superflyweight Belt on Saturday evening, July 26, at the Cebu Coliseum here in the Philippines. Tagged as “Laban na Banal,” this fight is a result of the promising career of AJ Banal, who is unbeaten in 17 fights and which many people think as the next Manny Pacquiao. You can watch the live broadcast on ABS-CBN Sports at Channel 2, with a replay on Studio 23.
A Filipino fighter, Bernabe “Kamaong Llave” Concepcion will fight on the undercard of the highly anticipated Cotto vs Margarito Welterweight championship on July 26, Saturday at Las Vegas, Nevada. Both fighter promised to electrify the crowd and make the crowd happy. You can watch the live video of the fight on HBO PPV on Saturday evening, or you can wait for the videos to be posted on Youtube.
Miguel Cotto, winner of previous fights against Shane Mosley and Alfonso Gomez, will try to defend his WBA Welterweight belt against top contender Antonio Margarito of Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday, July 26 27, 2008 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in a fight tagged “The Battle”. Miguel Cotto, who hails from Puerto Rico and is nearing the fame of another Puerto Rican fighter Felix Trinidad, is unbeaten at 32-0, with 26 knockouts. On the other hand, Margarito is a former champion who has worked his way back up for a title contention. Cotto is known for his powerful body punches and sticky jabs, while Margarito is a toe-to-toe fighter who can exchange power punches. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the fight on Saturday night, which will be broadcasted on Pay-Per-View Television by HBO, will be an intense bullfight between two fighters in their prime.
The current odds for the Cotto vs Margarito fight currently favors Coto with a 3-to-1 advantage over Margarito. Media men and boxing fanatics agree on this and either predicts a knockout or a unanimous decision for Cotto, who is also in consideration for the pound-for-pound belt. My prediction for the winner is Technical Knockout in the middle rounds for Cotto, the result of heavy body punches thrown by Cotto.