Anselmo Moreno vs. William Urina Preview Aug. 10
Anselmo Moreno, the WBA’s ‘super’ Bantamweight champion of Panama will be taking on challenger William Urina of Colombia this Saturday, Aug. 10 in Panama City, Panama. For the 28-year-old Moreno this will be his first time in the ring since dropping a unanimous decision last November to Abner Mares. He’ll try to get back on track by fighting in front of his hometown fans.
Moreno, who turned pro 11 years ago, has an impressive record of 33-2-1 along with 12 Kos. He’s one of the top 118 lb boxers in the world and is blesses with a good defence, reflexes and boxing skills. Many purists regard him as one of the top boxers on the planet, but he’s lacking in power.
The 27-year-old Urina obviously doesn’t have that problem since he’s racked up a record of 24-2 with 20 Kos. Urina would rather finish off his opponents within the distance rather than putting his bouts in the hands of the judges. This is especially true when fighting in his opponent’s backyard, which is what he’ll be doing here on Saturday against Moreno.
Urina, a southpaw, has lost just a pair of bouts so far in his pro career. However, these came in the junior bantamweight division against Omar Narvaez and Johnny Garcia. He’s won all seven of his bouts since being beaten by Narvaez back in the summer of 2011.
Moreno has the better boxing talent here and is often hard to hit. Urina will be hoping that his power will be the answer though and it’s unlikely he’ll try to outbox the champion. Their hand speed is about the same, but Moreno has more experience, faced better opposition and is a little more accurate with his punches. Neither of these guys throws a lot of punches and their chins are also pretty evenly matched.
Prediction
Moreno is an excellent defensive boxer, but he can still be hit and beaten. He gets tagged with a low 17 per cent of opponents’ punches so Urina will need to make sure he throws as many as he can each round. Moreno is good with his jab and combination punching, but he lacks the power to change a fight in his favour with just one punch. Urina is also pretty good defensively and knows how to keep his distance.
To be successful, Urina needs to control the pace and keep busy. Their styles are similar so it could be a non-eventful fight. Urina really needs to land some power shots to sway the judges by trying to turn the boxing match into a brawl. This isn’t very likely to happen though and after 12 rounds of boxing look for Moreno to keep his title by a comfortable unanimous decision.
Odds
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Anselmo Moreno betting • William Urina betting