Ricardo Sandoval vs Angel Acosta Preview July 6th, 2024
Former WBO Light Flyweight champ Angel Acosta of Puerto Rico meets up with Ricardo Sandoval of Montclair, California this Saturday, July 6th in a 10-round flyweight contest. The clash comes from Ontario, California and can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Acosta was last in the ring in August when he beat Carlos Buitrago via a 10-round unanimous decision in a rematch of their 2018 bout which Acosta won by 12th-round TKO. Sandoval last saw action in March, when he also faced Buitrago and stopped him in the eighth round.
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Sandoval vs Acosta Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Angel Acosta +350
- Ricardo Sandoval -500
My Pick
The 25-year-old Sandoval enters the ring with a fine record of 24-2 with 17 Ko’s. He has 135 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in Mexico in 2016 as a teenager after a good amateur career. As an amateur he reached semifinals of the 2014 USA Junior Olympic National Championships where he was beaten by Keyshawn Davis. Sandoval stands 5-feet-6-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach.
As far as his power is concerned, Sandoval has pretty heavy hands for a flyweight as 70.8 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but he’s gone the distance in three of his past five fights. His first defeat came at the hands of Alonso Ceja by four-round majority decision in 2016 in his fifth pro outing. He then reeled off 16 straight wins before dropping a 12-round majority decision to David Jiminez in July, 2022. Jiminez was deducted a point in round seven for holding and Sandoval was decked in the 11th round.
Sandoval captured the vacant WBC Youth Inter-Continental Flyweight Title in 2019 when he stopped Christian Orenday in the sixth round. He also has wins over Brent Venegas, Oscar Vasquez, Marco Sustaita, Gilbert Gonzalez, Carlos Buitrago, Raymond Tabugon, Jay Harris, Jerson Ortiz and Rocco Santomauro. Sandoval has been pretty active as he has 26 fights to his name and is just 25 years of age.
The 33-year-old Acosta turned pro back in 2012 and has compiled a pretty good record so far at 24-4 with 22 big Ko’s. He’s obviously known as a big hitter as 91.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. Just two of his victories have gone the distance with the first coming in 2021 when Gilbero Mendoza went eight rounds with him after he was dropped in the seventh round. The second man to go the distance was Carlos Buitrago in his last fight.
Acosta stands 5-feet-4-inches with a 63.5-inch reach so gives up two inches in height to Sandoval. He has has boxed a total of 144 rounds since turning pro in 2012 following his amateur career. His first pro defeat came at the hands of Kosei Tanaka of Japan in May, 2017 by unanimous decision in a shot at Tanaka’s WBO Light Flyweight Title. Tanaka then vacated the belt and moved up in weight while Acosta took on Juan Alejo Zuniga for the crown and stopped him in the 10th round for the vacant belt.
He then defended the title with a 12th-round TKO over Buitrago, stopped Abraham Rodriguez in the second round four months later and stopped Ganigan Lopez in the eighth round five months after that. He then lost his title to Elwin Soto when he was stopped in the 12th round in June, 2019. Acosta challenged Junto Nakatani in September, 2021 for the WBO Flyweight Belt but was stopped in the fourth round. His last defeat came to Angelino Cordova in April, 2023 when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision in a shot at the vacant WBO International Flyweight Title.
Acosta has also beaten Victor Ruiz, Armando Vazquez, Juan Guzman, Luis Ceja, Raymond Tabugon and Japhet Uutoni. Acosta won the vacant WBO International Flyweight Crown with his fifth-round stoppage of Tabugon in October, 2019 and had previously won the vacant WBC Fecarbox, and WBO Latino Light Flyweight Crowns. He has gone the distance just four times in his 28 pro fights with three of those instances coming in his last five fights. He’s 3-2 in that span with two stoppages to his name.
Prediction…
Both men have power but Acosta’s seems to have gone missing in action lately as he’s gone the distance in three of his last five fights and is 3-2 in that stretch. He’s now 33 years old while Sandoval is eight years younger. As long as Sandoval can handle Acosta’s power he has a good chance at winning this fight but he’s going to have to work hard for it. This a great matchup and I’m expecting it to be quite close, but I do think Sandoval has a slight edge in overall skills and will have his hand raised at the end of this fight.
A close call with Sandoval’s chin being a big factor.
Play Sandoval -500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Angel Acosta betting • Ricardo Sandoval betting