Jamal James vs Alberto Palmetta Preview February 25th , 2023
Former WBA World Welterweight Champion Jamal James of Minneapolis, Minnesota will be fighting in his hometown this Saturday, February 25th when he takes on Alberto Palmetta of Argentina. The 12-round welterweight tilt can be seen live in America on Showtime. James last fought in October, 2021 when he was stopped by Radzhab Butaev in the ninth round to lose the title which he had won by beating Thomas Dulorme via a unanimous in August, 2020. Palmetta stopped Thomas Mendez in the third round in November in his last outing.
James vs Palmetta Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Alberto Palmetta +190
- Jamal James -240
My Pick
Jamal James is a 34-year-old with a mark of 27-2 with 12 Ko’s and has boxed 182 rounds since turning pro back in 2010. His power is mediocre with a current knockout ratio of 41.4 per cent with his last stoppage coming in 2019. He’s pretty big for a welterweight as he stands 6-feet-2-inches tall but his reach is just 70 inches. The only other blemish on his record so far is a 10-round unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Yordenis Ugas in 2016.
James enjoyed a pretty good amateur career with wins over George Rincon, Johnny Garcia and Jonathan Garcia with a loss to Jose Benavidez in the USA National Golden Gloves final in 2009. He reached the semifinals of the tournament in 2008 and 2006 as well as the quarterfinals of the USA National Championships in 2008 and fought in the 2003 National Silver Gloves and USA National Junior Olympics tournaments.
Since turning pro he beat Mohammed Kayango for the Minnesota State Welterweight title and has wins over Angel Hernandez, Wayne Martell, Juan Carlos Abreu, Javier Molina, Ionut Dan Ion, Diego Chaves and Abel Ramos. James will have some ring rust to get through as this is his first fight in 16 months.
The 32-year-old Palmetta is a southpaw who enters the ring with a mark of 18-1 with 13 Ko’s and has 88 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2017. Before that he enjoyed a pretty extensive amateur career and fought in the World Series of Boxing, at the 2011 Pan American Games and the 2016 Olympics where he was defeated in his opening bout. His only pro loss came at the hands of Gonzalo Coria when he was stopped in the fifth round after dropping Coria in the third.
As a pro, Palmetta won the vacant WBA Fedecaribe Welterweight Title in 2018 by stopping David Martinez after three rounds. He then added the vacant WBA International Belt by halting Tre’Sean Wiggins in the sixth round. Palmetta has also beaten the likes of Yeis Solano, Jose Garcia, Saul Corral, Erik Ortiz and Jeremy Bryan.
Palmetta measures just 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 69-inch reach so he gives up seven inches in height to James but just an inch in reach. As far as power goes, Palmetta has a current knockout ratio of 68.4 per cent so he’s got a bit of power in his punches and has stopped 11 of his last 12 opponents. He’s used to fighting on the road and this will be his 10th pro fight in America.
Prediction…
Palmetta has a good chin and more power than James but will have to deal with the seveninch height difference. Both boxers have plenty of amateur experience but James has faced tougher opposition as a pro. This is a tough call actually as I can see the fight going either way or ending in a draw. I’ll go with James though in a close fight due to his tougher pro experience up to now.
This is a tossup, but James has better pro experience.
Play James -240 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Alberto Palmetta betting • Jamal james betting