This weekend features several interesting boxing matches from a sports betting perspective. In Tokyo on Friday, Ken Shiro will defend his WBC junior flyweight title against Ganigan Lopez. On Saturday, you can catch two bouts on ESPN+: Jerwin Ancajas’ defense of his IBF junior bantamweight title against Jonas Sultan and Khalid Yafai’s defense of his WBA junior bantamweight title against David Carmona. Check out our boxing betting previews of each fight before you lock in your wagers.
Top Boxing Betting Picks of the Week – May 22nd Edition
Ken Shiro (12-0, 6 KO) vs Ganigan Lopez (29-7, 18 KO) features Shiro’s fourth tilt since the beginning of 2017. In his last fight, back in december, he took down Gilberto Pedroza with a knockout in the fourth round. This is a rematch bout; in the first fight, Lopez dominated the first half of the contest, but Shiro came back and won on the cards by taking control over the points. Shiro stands 5’4” and has a 64-inch reach, and his ring movement is well above average. He sits back and waits with his punches, letting his opponent dictate the pace and then moving in to counter. He can bring power punches to the body, and he can also turn up the aggressiveness and deliver combos that can bring fights to an end. Lopez has won six of his last eight tilts, most recently beating Efren Bautista back in November with a knockout in the seventh round. He thought that the decision loss to Shiro was a mistake by the judges and looks to reestablish himself as an elite junior flyweight. He is an inch taller than Shiro and has one more inch of reach, but he is also 10 years older than Shiro. His straight right has brought knockouts in three of his last five wins, and his punches are accurate. He can eat some punches, as he has only been knocked out once. Shiro has the conditioning edge — and he’s fighting in his home country, which may have influenced the judges last time and may do so again. Boxing Betting Prediction: Shiro wins via decision Jerwin Ancajas (29-1-1, 20 KO) vs Jonas Sultan (14-3, 9 KO) is a fight that was supposed to take place back in April, on the Horn-Crawford undercard, but that fight was postponed, so this one moved back four weeks to fit on this card in Las Vegas. Ancajas is one of the most touted names at 115 pounds. He won his belt back in September 2016 by defeating McJoe Arroyo. Since then, he has mounted four title defenses, keeping Jose Alfredo Rodriguez, Teiru Kinoshita, Jamie Conlan and Israel Gonzalez from taking it. The win over Gonzalez came on February 3 and was Ancajas’ first fight in the United States. Sultan emerged as the mandatory contender after beating Sonny Boy Jaro and John Riel Casimero back in 2017. That gave him five wins in a row, each against increasingly difficult competition. Jaro and Casimero are veterans in the division, but Sultan was able to use superior conditioning and accurate punches to deliver the wins. But can he do the same thing against the champ? I’m not sure he’s faced the sort of competition that he will see on Saturday. Boxing Betting Prediction: Ancajas wins via decision Khalid Yafai (23-0, 14 KO) vs David Carmona (21-5-5, 9 KO) is another fight at the junior bantamweight class, and this bout will take place on the Ancajas-Sultan undercard. Yafai really has his eyes set on a unification bout with the winner of Ancajas and Sultan, but he needs to stop Carmona first. Yafai won the belt when it was vacant, back in December 2016, taking a unanimous decision from Luis Concepcion, who had lost the title the day before for showing up 2 ½ pounds over his weight. Yafai has defended the belt against Suguru Muranaka and Sho Ishida, largely considered tomato cans. But a win over Carmona and a unification bout with Ancajas would definitely represent a solid path for him. Carmona has taken on talented fighters before. He went the distance in a challenge of Naoya Inoue, who held the junior bantamweight world title in May 2016, and also against Carlos Cuadras in a 10-rounder at Madison Square Garden, in April 2017. So he can go the distance with heavy competition — but he has not won yet. Can he turn the corner against Yafai? Boxing Betting Prediction: Yafai wins via decisionRemember, you can view a list of all current boxing world champions on the site. Track all the prospects and contenders in every weight on our divisional pages too. View: https://t.co/2Dv02RjIOw#Boxing #BoxingRankings pic.twitter.com/YbfnkXDtMP
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