Alan David Picasso vs Azat Hovhannisyan Preview August 24th, 2024
Azat Hovhannisyan of Armenia steps into the ring to take on unbeaten Alan David Picasso of Mexico City in Picasso’s hometown this Saturday, August 24th. The 12-round junior featherweight tilt is on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs John Gotti III exhibition fight and can be seen live in most nations on DAZN pay-per-view. Hovhannisyan was last in the ring in February, 2023 when he was stopped in the 11th round by former world champion Luis Nery after being dropped in the 10th round. Picasso, who’s also known as Alan Picasso Romero and David Rey Picasso, last boxed in May when he halted Damien Vazquez in the fifth round.
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Picasso vs Hovhannisyan Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Azat Hovhannisyan +400
- Alan David Picasso -600
My Pick
Hovhannisyan just turned 36 years old and owns a record of 21-4 with 17 Ko’s. He’s known as a hard hitter as 81 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including six of his last seven. He’s got 130 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2011 following a fine amateur career which saw him win the 2010 Armenian National Championships and fight at the 2009 AIBA World Championships and the 2010 European EUBC Championships. His first pro loss came at the hands of Juan Reyes by a four-round unanimous decision in his pro debut.
He was then beaten by Walter Santibanes via a six-round majority decision in 2014 and by Rey Vargas by unanimous decision in 2018 in a shot at the WBC Super Bantamweight Title with his last defeat coming to Nery in his latest outing. The loss to Nery snapped a seven-fight winning streak with six of them coming by stoppage. Since turning pro he’s captured the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Bantamweight Title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Sergio Frias and has also beaten Ronny Rios, Jesus Martinez and Glenn Porras. Hovhannisyan stands 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 65-inch reach.
Picasso will be fighting for the 30th time as a pro despite being just 24 years of age. He made his debut in 2017 as a teenager and has boxed 152 rounds since, which is more than Hovhannisyan. He makes the ring walk with a near-perfect mark of 28-0-1 with the lone blemish on his record being a four-round technical draw with Martin Jiminez Delgado in March, 2018 when Delgado was originally credited with a fourth-round TKO but the decision was overturned.
Unfortunately there’s no height and reach information for Picasso so we don’t know how he stacks up size-wise against Hovhannisyan. We do know he doesn’t possess as much power though as 57.1 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage and he’s on quite a roll at the moment as he’s halted 10 of his last 12 opponents. He captured the vacant WBC Youth Jr Featherweight Title in 2019 and defended it once.
Picasso added the vacant NABF Jr Featherweight Belt in 2022 and then took the WBC Silver Crown in 2023. He will be taking a step up in class this weekend as none of his first 10 opponents had a winning recod when stepping into the ring. His biggest wins to date have been against Carlos Alberto Ocampo, Victor Proa, Anthony Jiminez Salas, Jesus Gomez Quintana, Edixon Perez, Kevin Villanueva, Yeison Vargas and Erik Ruiz.
Prediction…
Hovhannisyan and Picasso are both aggressive action boxers with plenty of power and this should be a bit of a brawl while it lasts. Picasso is a pretty hot commodity at the moment as he’s undefeated and he’s also 10 years younger than Hovhannisyan. We must remember that Hovhannisyan has also been in some wars in the past and hasn’t fought for 18 months. It’s tough to pick a winner here but Hovhannisyan is a fading warrior while Picasso is a legitimate young prospect. There’s going to be a lot of leather thrown and landed and no result will be a surprise here. I’ll give a slight edge to the younger Picasso though in an entertaining bout and he’s also fighting at home.
A tossup with Picasso’s youthfulness and recent activity giving him the edge,
Play Picasso -600 @ BetOnline.ag
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Alan David Picasso betting • Azat Hovhannisyan betting