High Stakes Preview: Who Wins?
By Miguel Maravilla
The Ring High Stakes card takes place this weekend as the card is headlined by welterweights Mario Barrios of San Antonio, Texas and Victorville, California’s Ryan Garcia at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. At stake will be Barrios’s WBC title as Garcia looks to dethrone the champ.
Prior to the welterweight showdown, the undercard includes two world title matchups between IBF super lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins taking on the always tough Oscar Duarte as well as WBA welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Japan’s Andy Hiraoka. Super lightweights Frank Martin and Nahir Albright square off and opening the pay per view super middleweights Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev vs. Sena Agbeko.
A look at the matchups.
Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev vs. Sena Agbeko
In the first bout of the pay-per-view, Melikuziev (16-1, 13 KOs) from Uzbekistan and Agbeko (29-4, 23 KOs) from Accra, Ghana square off in a WBA super middleweight title eliminator. For Melikuziev, he is coming off a unanimous decision over Darius Fulghum as Agbeko is coming off an eighth-round knockout over Pierre Williams. Bek “The Bully” is carrying all the momentum coming into this fight, an overwhelming style with power often bullying his way in fights. Agbeko also carries power but has been prone to being stopped early. I expect Bek the “Bully” to bully his way in this one.
Melikuziev KO
Frank Martin vs. Nahir Albright
An interesting matchup, Martin (19-1, 13 KOs) bounced back from his only defeat to Gervonta Davis by scoring a fourth-round knockout over former world champion Rances Barthelemy. Albright (17-2, 7 KOs) is coming off a unanimous decision over Kelvin Davis in handing Davis his first defeat. It was sweet revenge for Albright as he avenged his prior defeat to Davis’s brother, former world champion Keyshawn Davis. That fight was later turned into a no-contest. This will be a competitive and entertaining fight as both have a lot on the line in a high stakes’ matchup; the winner here goes on to more notable matchups down the line. It’s an even match here. This fight goes the distance with Martin edging it out.
Martin by close decision
Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Andy Hiraoka
Making the first defense of his WBA super lightweight title, Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) of Capital Heights, Maryland captured the title with a dominant unanimous decision victory of Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela. Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs) of Japan stopped Ismael Barroso in his last fight as he gets his first opportunity at a world title. The Japanese fighter comes into this fight having arrived from Japan 3 days prior to the fight as Hiraoka VISA was stalled. Not a good way to come into this fight if your Hiraoka. Style wise and skill wise, this matchup favors Russell as the only thing going for Hiraoka will be his will to make it a fight.
Russell by Decision
Richardson Hitchins vs. Oscar Duarte
Making the second defense of his title, Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) of Brooklyn captured the title by edging out Liam Paro by split decision and is coming off an eighth-round stoppage over former world champion George Kambosos Jr. For Duarte, (30-2-1) of Parral, Chihuahua Mexico scored a majority decision over Kenneth Sims Jr. as he is riding a 4-fight win streak since his knockout defeat to Ryan Garcia. Overall, it’s Hitchins that has everything to lose in this fight. A good matchup as Duarte always brings it. Hitchins has the advantage here in this fight.
Hitchins by unanimous decision
High Stakes Main Event: Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia
The champ Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) has rebounded since his back-to-back defeats to Tank Davis and Keith Thurman. Capturing the WBC welterweight title with a win over Yordanis Ugas and is coming off a draw to the legend Manny Pacquiao. Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) dropped a unanimous decision to Rolando “Rolly” Romero in his last fight. It’s a “High Stakes” matchup for the two. A win for Barrios adds Garcia to list of names on his resume and makes him a serious player in the welterweight division. A newly crowned WBC champion in Ryan Garcia if he prevails and a major player in the division.
In this matchup you are looking at two fighters that can turn the fight around with one punch. Barrios has proven to go to deep waters and show grit as there is no questioning his toughness. For Garcia you don’t know which one to expect. Will you get the Ryan that showed up vs. Haney or Rolly?
The pick, Ryan Garcia by KO but don’t be shocked if Barrios wins. Don’t call it an upset.
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