by Jeremy "Fasttalker" Bjornberg- 11/01/2005
Mexico bested Thailand and won Oscar De La Hoya's cup with a sweep. Fernando Montiel and Daniel Ponce De Leon both proved their heritage by gutting out gritty decisions. Montiel looks a lot like a young De La Hoya and Ponce De Leon just plain brings it. Montiel's eye was absolutely grotesque but he held on despite being hurt to earn a well fought decision. Montiel seems to have recovered fully from the loss to Mark Johnson a few years ago. Ponce De Leon was dropped in round 2 but came back to dominate the fight via 12 round decision and also took the 122 pound WBO strap in the process.
I am really excited for Nov. 4 and 5 on Showtime. I am not sure which night will be better. You can't go wrong matching top prospects like Allan Green and Jaidron Codington or Sechew Powell and Archak TerMelikstein. Nov. 5 is possible Gatti vs. Ward clone Jeff Lacy vs. Scott Pemberton.
Jeff Lacy is currently a -750 favorite to win, very overwhelming odds considering that the fighter who gave Lacy the most trouble is Omar Sheika. Scott Pemberton was involved in a series of wars with Sheika that could rival any fights in history. They were both lower budget affairs on ESPN2 but both featured back-and-forth knockdowns and near stoppages for both men. Pemberton won the first by decision and stopped Sheika in the second fight. Lacy and Sheika fought a close decision and many have felt that Sheika lasting the distance with him proves he isn't as big of a puncher that has been advertised. Sheika won some rounds and was competitive the whole way. Pemberton is currently a +525 underdog, which seems a bit confusing. +250 or +300 seems much more consistent with his chances of winning.
Lacy and Pemberton definitely seems as if it wouldn't be competitive but that is far from the truth. Pemberton will surely test Lacy and is a live underdog in any match-up. This fight is not expected to go the distance by the oddsmakers as the over on rounds is 8 ½ and is at +145. The under is -110 and people are all over the board whether this will be a Fight of the Year type, so I do think a lot of action will be put on the over/under.
Expect many East Coast fans to bet on the underdog Pemberton and push the odds more likely in the +550 range. You definitely won't want to miss out on Doc's picks for this fight and the undercard fight featuring IBF Bantamweight champion Rafeal Marquez (34-3, 30 KOs) taking on undefeated No. 1 contender Silence Mabuza (18-0, 15 KO). Doc's was able to uncover some great values in both of these match-ups and as always Doc's is on top of any and all factors unlike the oddsmakers who rely strictly on numbers and book knowledge. The only way to guarantee a consistent winner in boxing is to have full access to the kind of sources we have built for 34 years.
Due to all the questions sent in Doc's is going to start a monthly mailbag to sort out all your boxing and gambling questions. It also gives you a forum to express your opinion. Please send all correspondence to service@docsports.com