The first fight we can recall watching in our youth, from ring walk to post-fight analysis, was Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns. There may have been others before that, but they were long ago replaced by memories of other sporting events. When we saw Hagler-Hearns we were instantly hooked on boxing. And we were young and clueless enough at first to think that’s what all boxing matches would look like. And then years passed before we saw another fight quite like it.
While Zepeda-Baranchyk may not rise to that level for many, it’s the fight of 2020 so far. And by a wide margin. We knew Baranchyk would attack relentlessly. As a fellow boxing observer pointed out last year, Baranchyk “has taken a piece of everyone he’s ever been in the ring with.” And by the end of this fight Tim Bradley was telling us that Baranchyk had left a piece of himself inside the ring on Saturday. If there were questions about Zepeda heading into this one, they revolved around whether or not he could rise to the occasion when he absolutely had to. And even if he could, would he be willing to go to the lengths necessary? If his technical ability and natural ring generalship weren’t enough to carry him to victory, could he call upon whatever primal force it is that people call upon to accomplish extraordinary feats? And while it’s terribly unfair to assume that a person can’t or won’t, surely this is a question that many humans have about themselves if they haven’t had occasion to prove it. That’s what separates fighters from the rest of us. They put themselves in a position to answer these questions. I’m sure this sounds like a bunch of nonsense from some guy who sits on the couch and watches from afar. But take it from Jose Zepeda. When Mark Kriegel suggested in the post-fight interview that he may have doubted himself, Zepeda said “It happens to me all the time in every fight and I doubt myself too much. I’m a fighter who only had 16 amateur fights. I’m always doubting myself and this was tough.”
If you haven’t seen the fight, go watch it right now.
Okay, a quick review of our portfolio:
Boxing Betting Annualized Rate of Return (since 9/17/20): 292.58%
Mutual Funds Annualized Rate of Return (since 9/17/20): 55.57%
The only fight we’re betting this week is Emanuel Navarrete vs Ruben Villa. This is unquestionably the biggest fight of Villa’s career. He’s a crafty southpaw with good movement who uses his feet to control range and never let you get set. He’s also spent his whole career fighting at 126 pounds where this fight will take place. Navarrete burst onto the scene in 2018 with a big upset of Isaac Dogboe and reaffirmed it with a victory in the rematch. He’s not fancy. Many have pointed out that he’s technically flawed but it hasn’t mattered. He’s long and can get away with mistakes because he is relentless and has power in both hands. He has been marking time since the Dogboe fights steamrolling lesser opposition. Villa will be the second-best fighter he’s ever faced and Navarrete will be moving up to fight at 126 for the first time. But he’s got more reach than Villa. And even though we like Villa, respect his skills, and think he’ll have a long and successful career…we don’t think he has enough to turn back Navarrete. This fight has a lot going for it and it has unfortunately not gotten the hype it deserves.
$66 on Emanuel Navarrete at -302