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Omaha, Nebraska native Terence Crawford will defend his recently acquired WBO lightweight championship against Cuban hard hitter Yuriorkis Gamboa, in front of his hometown fans on Saturday, June 28, at the Centurylink Center in Omaha. The fight will be televised live on HBO Boxing after dark at 10:00 PM. ET.
It will be his first title defense, since he won the belt in impressive fashion, when he fought the former champion Ricky Burns in March. This will be the first time since 1972 that a title fight has taken place in Omaha, and Crawford will be trying to make his family and hometown fans proud, by defeating the tough Cuban, Gamboa.
The fights that will take place on Saturday night are:
Matt Korobov (23-0-0, 14 KOs) vs. Jose Uzcategui (22-0-0, 18 KOs)
This is a 10 round middleweight fight that features two undefeated fighters that are trying to climb up the rankings in their division, Korobov turned pro in 2008, but hasn't moved up the rankings as quickly as he had hoped, because he had to deal with injuries, and has changed his trainers a few times. He has gradually worked his way back into contention, winning four fights in 2013, and one so far in 2014, at age 31, he is running out of time to become a champion, and a win against the younger Uzcategui will move him up the rankings.
Uzcategui is a little less experienced than Korobov, and will be fighting outside of Mexico, where he lives, for the first time in his career. The fight against Koborov will be a good test for him to see how he stacks up against a very good middleweight.
Fight Line: Matt Koborov is favored to win the fight, the line is -700.
The two time amateur champ Koborov will win the fight.
Mikael Zewski (22-0-0, 17 KOs) vs. Prince Doku Jr. (18-5-0, 12 KOs)
This light middleweight fight between the former amateur Canadian National Champion Zewski, and the Ghanaian Doku is an interesting fight, while Zewski is undefeated, he hasn't fought any boxer with the experience that Doku has, and hasn't really been tested. Doku is a very powerful hitter, but has lost his last two fights to undefeated boxers, and will be trying to end the streak against Zewski.
Zewski will hand Doku his third straight loss.
Konstantine Ponomarev (23-0-0, 11 KOs) vs. Hector Munoz (23-13-1, 15 KOs)
The 21 year old Russian Ponomarev is trying to make a name for himself in the light middleweight division, and the next person on his list is the hard hitting 36 year old Munoz, who is 2-2 in his last four fights.
Ponomarev should be able to win this fight by knockout.
Terence Crawford (23-0-0, 16 KOs) vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-0-0, 16 KOs)
This fight has the potential to be the fight of the year, because Crawford is a very tough fighter, who just defeated the former champ in his home country, and Gamboa is a fighter that loves to trade punches with his opponents. Gamboa is also an Olympic Gold medalist, and former WBA featherweight and Super featherweight champion. He has hand speed and knockout power, and will be a problem for Crawford, if he decides to trade punches with him. Gamboa does have a weak chin, which might cost him down the stretch of the fight.
Fight Line: Crawford is the favorite in this fight, the line is -190.
If the fight was in a neutral site, I would go with Gamboa, but since it is taking place in Crawford's home town, I will pick Crawford to win a very close and entertaining fight.
