Denis Lebedev vs Guillermo Jones Preview May 18
WBA Cruiserweight king Denis Lebedev will be putting his title on the line in Moscow, Russia on Saturday May 18 against challenger and former champion Guillermo Jones of Panama. The 33-year-old Russian champion will enter the ring at 25-1 with 19 Kos while Jones carries a record of 38-3-2 with 30 Kos. This will be the third defense of Lebedev’s reign as champion.
Lebedev and Jones both have good knockout power and there’s a good chance this bout doesn’t go the full 12 rounds. The champion’s last fight took place in December when he stopped challenger Santander Silgado in the fourth round. Lebedev’s only loss came to Marco Huck of Germany in a controversial decision back in late 2010.
The champion is more of a brawler than a boxer and isn’t one to shy away from slugging it out with his opponents. He doesn’t have the greatest boxing skills around, but they’ve got him this far so it’s hard to criticize him. His head movement is pretty good and his power is basically the equalizer in all of his bouts.
The challenger Jones is now 41 years old and the former WBA belt holder. He won the championship back in the fall of 2008 when he stopped Firat Arslan. He’s on quite a hot streak as he’s only lost one bout in the past 18 and that was to former champion Steve Cunningham by a split decision way back in 2005.
If Jones was more active and a little younger he’d have a good shot here. However, he’s likely going to have to shake off some ring rust since this will be his first bout in over 18 months. He’s only been in the ring three times in close to five years. He’s a good boxer with fine hand speed. His punches are quite accurate, but his overall conditioning and skills have tailed off a little due to his age. But like Lebedev, he still has the power to quickly turn a fight around.
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Prediction
Lebedev will likely be in better shape and is naturally the more aggressive boxer. He’s also faster and a bit harder to hit. This bout could eventually turn into a brawl, but it will probably start out as a boxing match. If they do decide to go toe-to-toe then this could be anybody’s bout due to the power each man possesses. However, it could also turn out to be a bit of a snooze fest if both men decide to use their boxing skills instead of looking to land power shots along the way. This makes it a hard fight to predict. But since the champion has been much more active, is younger and probably hungrier, look for him to take the fight and keep his title belt by a decision or a late stoppage.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Jones win at +400 and a Lebedev victory at -500. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done of late capping the fights.
Denis Lebedev betting • Guillermo Jones betting