Anthony Olascuaga vs Jonathan Gonzalez Preview October 14th, 2024
WBO Flyweight Champion Anthony Olascuaga of Los Angeles, California will be battling it out with WBO Light Flyweight Champion Jonathan Gonzalez of Puerto Rico this Monday, October 14th. The 12-rounder from Tokyo, Japan can be seen live in America on ESPN+ at 4 am while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports + at 9 am. Olascuaga last boxed in July when he halted Riku Kano in the third round to capture the vacant WBO Belt. Gonzalez’s last fight resulted in a 12-round unanimous decision over Rene Santiago to defend his title in March.
Olascuaga vs Gonzalez Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jonathan Gonzalez +240
- Anthony Olascuaga -300
My Pick
The 25-year-old Olascuaga is trained by veteran cornerman Rudy Hernandez and steps into the ring with a mark of 7-1 with 5 Ko’s. He was a actually a replacement for Jonathan Gonzalez on just two weeks notice back in April, 2023 when he fought Kenshiro Teraji for the WBA and WBC Light Flyweight Titles. He was already in Japan in training for a fight in South Korea and had sparred against Teraji several years earlier as a teenager. However he was stopped in the bid for the belts by Teraji in the ninth round. Olascuaga has boxed just 42 rounds since making his pro debut in 2021 and has already had two world title fights in his eight pro bouts.
Olascuaga measures 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 65.5-inch reach and kicked off his pro career with a second-round stoppage of Edwin Reyes and followed it up with a six-round unanimous decision over Saul Juarez. He then beat Gilberto Pedroza by eight-round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBA Fedelatin Featherweight Crown and defended it against Gustavo Alvarez by stopping him after the eighth round and halted Marco Sustaita in the first stanza in October, 2022.
He then lost to Teraji and bounced back with a seventh-round TKO win over Giemel Magramo and his title-winning bout against Kano. As far as power goes, 71.5 per cent of Olascuaga’s wins have come by stoppage including his last four but he isn’t really known as a one-punch knockout artist. He’s a fine young prospect who enjoyed a successful amateur career and should enter the fight with some confidence and momentum.
The 33-year-old Gonzalez is a southpaw who has 199 rounds under his belt since making his pro debut in 2011 following a fine amateur career. He stands 5-feet-2-inches tall with a 62-inch reach so gives up two inches in height and 3.5-inches in reach to Olascuaga. Gonzalez enters the ring with a mark of 28-3-1 with 14 Ko’s. Since turning pro he’s also won the interim WBO Youth Flyweight Title in 2012 and the NABA Light Flyweight Crown in 2015. He also captured the the WBC Latino Flyweight Belt in 2015 and has captured his WBO NABO Title a couple of times.
His lone draw came against Michael Ruiz Jr in 2014 over eight rounds while his three defeats came at the hands of Kosei Tanaka by seventh-round stoppage in 2019; to Jobert Alvarez by sixth-round KO in 2016 and to Giovani Segura by fourth-round KO in 2013. The loss to Tanaka came in a shot at the WBO World Flyweight Crown but he won it two years later with a unanimous decision over Elwin Soto and defended it three times. Gonzalez has been stopped in all of his losses so it’s fair to say he has a suspect chin.
He’s also beaten the likes of Shokichi Iwata, Juan Alejo, Julian Yedras, Ricardo Rodriguez, Carlos Ruiz, Miguel Del Valle, Omar Soto and Danny Flores. Gonzalez isn’t known as a heavy puncher as 50 per cent of his wins have come by way of stoppage and he’s gone the distance in his last four fights and in five of his past six. Gonzalez has experience against top-tier boxers though and that should be an advantage for him this weekend.
Prediction…
Olascuaga is eight years younger than Gonzalez but has had just eight pro fights. He does appear to have legitimate power though and that could make a big difference against Gonzalez. This has the potential to be a very interesting fight between an aging champion who’s moving up slightly in weight against a young and inexperienced beltholder. It’s a hard call as I can imagine Gonzalez taking him to school due to his experience or Olascuaga proving to be too powerful and catching Gonzalez with his heavier shots. I’ll give Olascuaga a very slight edge in a close fight
Olascuaga possesses more power.
Play: Olascuaga -300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Anthony Olascuaga betting • Jonathan Gonzalez betting