Ernesto Mercado vs Jose Pedraza Preview January 25th, 2025
Former world super featherweight and lightweight champion Jose Pedraza of Puerto Rico returns to the ring this Saturday, January 25th when he takes on unbeaten Ernesto Mercado of Upland, California. The 10-round super lightweight tilt from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Pedraza last fought in February when he was stopped in the sixth round by unbeaten prospect Keyshawn Davis for his second straight loss after dropping a 10-round unanimous decision to Arnold Barboza Jr in a shot at the WBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight Title a year earlier. Mercado last saw action in July when he halted Hector Edgardo Sarmiento after three rounds.
Mercado vs Pedraza Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jose Pedraza +600
- Ernesto Mercado – 1000
My Pick
The 23-year-old Mercado enters the ring with a perfect record of 16-0 with 17 Ko’s and has fought just 45 rounds since making his pro debut in July, 2021. Mercado enjoyed an extensive amateur career which saw him win the 2018 USA Youth National Championships, the 2018 USA Eastern Regional Youth Open and the 2018 USA Youth Golden Gloves Final. He also captured the 2016 USA Junior Open Final. Mercado was runner-up in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and was an alternate for the 2021 Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Power has been the name of the game so far for Mercado in the pro ranks as he’s stopped 15 of his 16 opponents for a highly-impressive knockout ratio of 93.8 per cent. The only man to go the distance with him has been veteran Xolisani Ndongeni, who went 10 rounds in a unanimous decision defeat in July, 2023. Mercado has six stoppages in the first round, five in the second, two in the third and one each in the sixth and seventh rounds. These include wins over Jeremia Nakathila, Deiner Berrio, Hank Lundy, Jose Angulo and Jayson Velez.
Mercado stopped Velez in the sixth round in October, 2022 to win the vacant NABF Super Lightweight Title and defended it against Lundy and Angulo. He measures 5-feet-10-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach. Mercado now fights out of Pomona, California. He’s already fought some solid pros but is arguably taking another step up in class against Pedraza this weekend.
Jose Pedraza is now winless in his last four outings as he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to former world champion Jose Ramirez in March, 2022, then drew with former world champ Richard Commey over 10 rounds five months later. He was then beaten by Arnold Barboza and Keyshawn Davis in his last two outings. Before that, the 35-year-old was on a three-fight winning streak. His previous defeat was to Jose Zepeda via a 10-round unanimous decision in September, 2019 for the vacant WBC USNBC Junior Welterweight Title.
He bounced back from that loss by beating Mikel LesPierre via a 10-round unanimous decision then downing Javier Molina by 10-round unanimous decision and stopping Julian Rodriguez in eight rounds. Pedraza is a former IBF Super Featherweight Champion who won the vacant belt in June, 2015 when he beat Andrey Klimov by unanimous decision. He defended the crown twice by beating Edner Cherry and Stephen Smith by split and unanimous decisions respectively. Pedraza then lost his belt in his third defence when Gervonta Davis stopped him in the seventh round in January, 2017.
After that he managed to beat Jose Luis Rodriguez, Antonio Moran and Raymundo Beltran by unanimous decisions, taking the WBO Lightweight Belt in the win over Beltran. Pedraza then ran into Vasyl Lomachenko in December, 2018, was dropped twice in the 11th round and lost a unanimous decision and his title to the then-WBA Lightweight Champ. After that he stopped Antonio Lozada Torres in the ninth round and lost to Zepeda.
After all of that action Pedraza climbs through the ropes with a record of 29-6-1with 14 Ko’s. He measures 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 70.5-inch reach and has boxed 276 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011. He gives up two inches in height to Mercado. Pedraza prefers to fight from the outside if possible and isn’t much of a banger as just 48.3 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in 10 of his last 13 fights, but his power shouldn’t be underestimated.
Pedraza also owns a unanimous decision over Alberto Garza and a seventh-round TKO over Sergio Reyes. He enjoyed a fine, extensive amateur career and represented Puerto Rico at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where he lost in the second round of competition. Since turning pro he’s also won the WBC Youth World, USBA, and IBO World Super Featherweight Titles to go along with his WBO Latino Lightweight Crown.
Prediction…
There isn’t really a weak side to Mercado’s game and his power and boxing skills have simply been too much for all of his opponents so far. Pedraza is a solid pro and former world champion but can’t match Mercado in any area at this stage of their careers and is also a dozen years older than his opponent. Pedraza doesn’t really have the power to keep Mercado at bay for 10 rounds and I’m expecting Mercado to earn another win here, likely by stoppage after a few rounds
Mercado has the edge in power and is 12 years younger.
Play Mercado -1000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Ernesto Mercado betting • Jose Pedraza betting