Veteran Ray Beltran will defend his WBO lightweight title for the first time against Jose Pedraza on Saturday, August 25, 2018 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The stakes are high in this boxing match not only because a world title is on the line but because the winner of this contest is rumored to be the next opponent for boxing sensation Vasyl Lomachenko.
Beltran is fresh off winning his first world title and he surely wants to keep the hardware around his waist much longer. His opponent will be looking to win a world title in a second weight class.
Beltran has been fighting professionally since 1999. Prior to winning the vacant WBO lightweight title against Paulus Moses last February, Beltran had challenged for the same belt three times before. In his first attempt in 2013, he ended up fighting Ricky Burns to a split draw in Glasgow. A year later, he got outpointed by Crawford in Nebraska. One fight later, knocked out Takahiro Ao in two rounds but was ineligible to win the belt after missing weight. He would later test positive for a banned substance and would get a nine month suspension. But Beltran has since returned and has won five fights in a row, three by knockout.
Beltran is no stranger to big fights. In the past, he’s fought the likes of Crawford, Burns, Sharif Bogere and Hank Lundy. Not to mention that Beltran used to be the chief sparring mate of Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao when the latter was still fighting a the lower weight classes.
The 37 year old Mexican warrior has a record of 35-7-1 with 21 knockouts. Betran, who fights out of the orthodox stance, stands 5-8 and has a reach of 68 inches. He is known for his quickness and counter punching ability but in recent fights, he’s also displayed decent punching power. Beltran can overwhelm opponents with his pressure and combinations.
Beltran is a very durable fighter who can take punishment and still dish out a winning effort. He likes to wear his opponents down and drag them into a long hard fight because he has the conditioning to go the full route.The knack on Beltran is his age and we’ve seen fighters like him grow old overnight. This could easily be that night for Beltran.
29 year old Jose Pedraza has a record of 24-1 with 12 knockouts. The Puerto Rican is listed at 5-8 and has a 70 inch reach advantage. He is a former IBO and IBF super featherweight title holder and just recently, he won the WBO Latino title. This will be Pedraza’s third fight of the year.
The only blot in Pedraza’s record was a 7th round TKO loss to Gervonta Davis in January 2017 and in fight where he lost his IBF belt. Pedraza won the IBF super featherweight title by beating Andrey Klimov. He successfully defended the belt twice before yielding the belt to Davis. Pedroza then moved up in weight and won a secondary belt in his most recent bout.
Pedraza has won five out of his last six bouts and no question, he is a real threat to Beltran’s reign as lightweight champion. Because of his reach advantage over most opponents, Pedraza likes to lead with his jab and use his speed to dictate the tempo of his fights. He has very quick hands and he loves to be the aggressor.
He also works the body well and has decent combinations. Pedraza isn’t a knockout artist but he’s shown he can drop people with his combination of speed and quick hands. But Pedraza has not record a knockout win since dropping Juan Carlos Martinez in 2014.
Pedraza has some defensive issues here. For instance, he likes to drop his hands more than usual and that could be a death wish against a smart opponent like Ray Beltran. This is also only Pedraza’s third fight at the lightweight division and he is going up against one of the toughest lightweights in the business.
Jose Pedraza is a very good fighter and his combination of youth and speed over the older Beltran makes us want to take a good look at him. On the other hand, you can’t just take Ray Beltran for granted simply because he is already 37 years old.
Beltran has been one of the more consistent fighters since 2015. Following his loss to Terence Crawford four year ago, Beltran has not lost in six fights. The only blot in his record during this period was that no-contest against Ao. Otherwise, Beltran has aged like wine.
Not only is Beltran the experienced man here, he is also the more technically gifted fighter between the two. Make no mistake, Pedraza loves to box and is a very good boxer. But Beltran has a very high fight IQ and once he gets comfortable inside that ring, he’s got a tendency to box flawlessly and frustrate his opponents.
For Pedraza to win, he must turn in a near perfect boxing clinic to outpoint Ray Beltran. He can do that, without a doubt But perhaps not against a grizzled and smart veteran like Beltran. Remember that Beltran survived 12 rounds against perhaps the best technical boxer today in Terence Crawford. I just don’t see Pedraza able to outbox Beltran. I think it goes the other way around.
The more experienced Beltran is going to slow down his younger foe by going to the body early and then once the flood gates open, he’s going to punish Pedraza with his combinations. It’s not going to be easy and Pedraza has a real shot at beating Beltran. But we’re going with the champ here. We’re picking Raymundo Beltran to beat Jose Pedraza via decision.
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