O’Shaquie Foster vs Abraham Nova Preview February 16th, 2024
WBC Junior Lightweight Champion O’Shaquie Foster of Orange, Texas defends the belt for the second time when he takes on Abraham Nova of Puerto Rico this Friday, February 16th. The 12-rounder from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City can be seen live in America on the ESPN platform while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports Action and those in Canada can see it on TSN 2. Foster last saw action in October when he rallied to stop Eduardo Hernandez with 22 seconds left in the fight while trailing 110-99 and 107-102 on two of the judges’ scorecards while the other judge had him ahead 1-6-103. Foster beat Rey Vargas by a comfortable unanimous decision to win the vacant belt eight months earlier. Nova last fought in July when he halted Jonathan Romero in the third round.
Foster vs Nova Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Eduardo Hernandez +550
- O’Shaquie Foster -900
My Pick
The 30-year-old Foster climbs through the ropes with a mark of 21-2 with 12 Ko’s and has boxed 134 rounds since making his pro debut in 2012. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and made it to the 2007 National Silver Gloves Final in the 12/13-year-old division and reached the 2010 USA Junior National Championship Semifinal but lost a couple of times to Joseph Diaz and was also beaten by Oscar Valdez.
As a pro, Foster has captured the WBC Silver Super Featherweight Title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Jon Fernandez in 2018 and took the vacant WBA Fedecentro Super Featherweight Belt in 2019 when he stopped Jesus Bravo in the eighth round. He also has wins over Miguel Roman, Alberto Mercado and Fatiou Fassinou. His defeats came at the hands of Samuel Teah by eight-round unanimous decision in 2015 and to Rolando Chinea via an eight-round split decision a year later.
Foster stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and as far as power goes, 57.1 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He’s currently riding a 11-fight winning streak but has gone the distance in six of those contests prior to stopping Hernandez in his last outing his previous stoppage win was in November, 2020 when he halted Miguel Roman in the ninth round.
Nova is also 30 years of age and makes the ring walk with a mark of 23-1 with 16 Ko’s and has boxed 112 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016. He had an extensive amateur career where he faced the likes of Jamaine Ortiz, Gary Antuanne Russell, Richardson Hitchins, Frank Martin, Jaron Ennis and Gary Antonio Russell. He reportedly boxing at the age of 12 and went 167-11 with 60 Ko’s as an amateur and won the 2014 USA National Championships Finals and reached the final of the 2016 New England Golden Gloves where he lost to Jamaine Ortiz.
As a pro, Nova’s lone defeat came at the hands of Robeisy Ramirez by fifth-round stoppage in a shot at the vacant IBF USBA, and WBO Global Featherweight Titles in June, 2022. He won the NABA Super Featherweight Belt in 2018 with a 12-round unanimous decision over Sulaiman Seagawa and also has wins over Luis Castillo Leal, Pedro Navarrete, Avery Sparrow, William Encarnacion and Adam Lopez. Nova measures 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach which means he’s just half-an-inch taller than Foster. As far as power goes, he packs a pretty decent punch as 70 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has just two in his last six fights and has gone 5-1 in that stretch.
Prediction…
The slick-boxing Foster had to dig down deep in his win over Hernandez last year as he was about to lose his title on the scorecards. Give him credit for that but many fans were surprised to see him struggle so much against his opponent and his raw power. Foster’s chin held up though and it will be tested again this weekend by Nova. In fact a Nova win wouldn’t be a big surprise here due to his power and the betting odds should probably be quite a bit closer. This could go either way but I’ll go with Foster’s overall skills here and hopes that he learned a lesson against Hernandez.
Foster has the skills to retain his belt.
Play: Foster -900 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Abraham Nova betting • O'Shaquie Foster betting