Avila Perspective, Chap. 355: California or Bust

Just in case you didn’t know, if the state of California were its own country, it would be the fourth richest in the world according to Gross Domestic Product.

Boxing is one of those riches it possesses.

This weekend a boxing card featuring a youngster from South Central L.A. and an Aussie fistic queen headline at the Chicken Ranch Casino in Central California and 400 miles south a cruiserweight world title fight takes place in Los Angeles.

Diego Pacheco (24-0, 18 KOs) meets Kevin Sadjo (26-0, 23 KOs) in a super middleweight regional title fight and Skye Nicolson (14-1) meets Yuliahn Luna (28-4-1) in a super bantamweight clash on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Stockton, Calif. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

Born and raised in South Central L.A. the tall Pacheco has carved out a reputation as a big hitting super middleweight with wins over Jack Cullen, Maciej Sulecki, and Trevor McCumby. And now faces dangerous punching Sadjo who wins by knockouts, not decisions.

It’s a solid test for both fighters.

In the co-main event, former female world titlists Australia’s Nicolson and Mexico’s Luna clash to discover where they stand in the super bantamweight world. Both were recently dethroned and looking to rebound.

Nicolson, 30, is a speedy southpaw who lost the featherweight title to Tiara Brown this past March and opted to drop down in weight where more options are available. Fighting on the outside is her specialty but its inside close where she has problems.

Luna, 31, a former bantamweight world champion, lost the title to Denmark’s Dina Thorslund. The Mexican fighter has been fighting professionally since 2011 and is moving up in weight. She has fought mostly Mexican fighters and has problems fighting outside of Mexico.

It’s an interesting contrast with Nicolson moving down a weight division and Luna moving up. Will Nicolson jab and run or take this fight inside to prepare for a rematch against Brown?

An added bout features blazing Pomona prospect Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) against Antonio Moran (31-7-1, 21 KOs) in a lightweight match set for 10 rounds. Mercado has called out every lightweight in the universe including Shakur Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis. He also wants a crack at Cuba’s Andy Cruz who is also signed with Matchroom. That fight is a strong possibility to occur depending on what happens on Saturday.

“He’s coming in off the back of a win, and he’ll be high on that, so we wanted a fight like this, to get a WBO belt and get that fight with Teofimo Lopez, so this is all building up to what I want,” said Mercado about fighting Moran. “I want to fight both Teofimo and Shakur, so I’m almost a little disappointed that one of them is going to take an ‘L’ as it might diminish when I beat them but it should be a great fight and they are trying to put on the best fights which is really good.”

A lot of eyes will be on this fight between Mercado and Moran.

Los Angeles

WBC cruiserweight titlist Badou Jack (29-3-3, 17 KOs) faces Noel Mikaelian (27-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday Dec. 13, at Ace Mission Studios in downtown Los Angeles. The Bash Boxing card will be shown on Amazon Prime pay-per-view.

This is a rematch between Sweden’s Jack and Armenia’s Mikaelian. They fought last May in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with Jack emerging the winner by majority decision.

It’s fitting that the cruiserweight match take place in L.A. where unified cruiserweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez trains. Zurdo has agreed to meet David Benavidez early next year, it was announced recently by Golden Boy Promotions. Could we see the winner of this fight meet the winner between Ramirez and Benavidez?

Cruiserweights have long been the domain of East European fighters until just recently. This match could be the start of future cruiserweight battles in Southern California.

The Bash Promotions card will also feature another rematch but this time with female light flyweights Gloria Munguilla (8-2) and Brook Sibrian (8-2). Their first meeting saw Munguilla walk away the winner last January. Can she repeat or will Sibrian make necessary adjustments?

Both Sibrian and Munguilla live in Southern California and will be competing for a vacant light fly title. It is a very important match for both.

NYC talk

Two of the best talkers in boxing have agreed to meet each other next year.

WBO super lightweight champ Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) will defend against Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) on Jan. 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. DAZN pay-per-view will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.

Both have reputations as over-the-top conversationalists. They also have reps as boxers willing to avoid engaging on the inside. They need space at all times to score. Both are lightning quick but less inclined to take chances.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Diego Pacheco (24-0) vs Kevin Sadjo (26-0); Skye Nicolson (14-1) vs Yuliahn Luna (28-4-1).

Sat. Prime pay-per-view 6 p.m. Badou Jack (29-3-3) vs Noel Mikaelian (27-3).

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