DAVID LOPEZ vs SAMUEL MILLER

Mexican middleweight David Lopez has been winning in such a consistent fashion that one almost gets the feeling that a loss is somehow imminent. For the past three years he has been beating everyone put in front of him, but it must be frustrating for Lopez that he is no nearer to a title fight. Can he maintain his concentration and dedication as he heads into yet another Telefutura bout? He will need to do so, because his opponent on Friday is the dangerous and capable Colombian, Samuel Miller, who is best known for his exciting war with the veteran Darrell Woods.

This is a fight that Lopez should win. He is the more experienced boxer, a tall southpaw, and has fought at a higher level. I see a significant risk for Lopez in this fight, though.

Miller, 28, is just as tall as Lopez at 6ft 2ins and he is the fresher of the two fighters. Although Miller lost to Woods, I think that he learned a lot from that fight, in which he almost scored a first-round knockout win but, I think, punched himself out in his attempts to finish his wobbling opponent.

I thought that Miller looked much improved in his next bout, even though he lost a majority decision — and a questionable one at that — to the Contender slugger Brian Vera. Friday Night Fights analyst Teddy Atlas had Miller winning eight of the 10 rounds and the computer punch count heavily favoured the Colombian.

Since then Miller has scored a KO win back home in Colombia, and now he is making a welcome return to American TV — he is a fan-friendly fighter whose 15 KOs in 18 wins show that he can hit.

Lopez showed worrying signs of wear in his last fight, even though he finished strongly to beat Michael Walker on points. For four rounds, this was a serious struggle for Lopez, and in the third and fourth rounds in particular he was under a lot of pressure.

One thing I like about Lopez, though, is that he has the ability to dig in and fight his way through a difficult patch. He is a competent boxer and a useful puncher with the left hand from out of his southpaw style. Usually he is the bigger man in the ring, but that will not be the case on Friday.

Lopez’s fight with Miller could be explosive if the Colombian goes right into the attack, and I think there will be danger for Lopez in the early stages. If Lopez can get into his groove and box steadily, using the jab and the left hand, I think that his seasoning and awkward cleverness will see him through.

My main concern about Lopez is that he has seemed merely to be going through the motions in a few of his recent bouts. If he is going into Friday’s fight expecting a routine win he could find himself in trouble, because Miller has ambition and hits hard enough to hurt the Mexican boxer.

If Lopez wins it will probably be by decision, a victory for Miller will most likely be on a stoppage. Lopez has come a long way after an unpromising start to his career and I think it would be a shame if he blew it all away with an unmotivated performance. One would think that he knows he is in a tough fight on Friday and will be ready mentally and physically. I am going to stick with the proven reliability of Lopez to secure the win but I certainly do make him an overwhelming favourite.