HUGO CAZARES vs NELSON DIEPPA

Mexico’s Hugo Cazares won the 108-pound title from Nelson Dieppa in somewhat unsatisfactory fashion in April of last year when the Puerto Rican was cut from head clashes and the bout went to the scorecards in the 10th round. A clear resolution to the proceedings is to be hoped for in the rematch on Saturday.

In the last fight, two judges had close scores of 96-94 in favour of Cazares while the third judge had it wide — 98-92.

In a “consensusâ€? score — when all three or two out of three judges agree on who won a round — Cazares would have been ahead by 98-92. Yet the judges were divided in six rounds, which suggests that the fight was competitive and not easy to score.

Cazares has to be favoured. He won the last fight, he is on a run of 14 wins in a row and at 28 he is seven years younger than Dieppa, who for a junior flyweight is an old man at 35.

There is danger here for Cazares, though. Dieppa can punch much harder than suggested by his record — 14 opponents stopped in 29 fights. He has lost twice (three times really, but Will Grigsby tested positive for marijuana after outpointing Dieppa and the result became a no decision).

Two of Dieppa’s title-fight opponents — Filipino Andy Tabanas and fellow-Puerto Rican Alex Sanchez — were taken out of the ring on a stretcher, concussed, after 11th-round knockout defeats.

Dieppa showed he can be dangerous early, too, when he knocked out the Colombian southpaw Kermin Guardia in the first round. It was Dieppa’s heavy hitting that kept stylish Mexican Ulises Solis too concerned about getting hit to win the fight.

Going into their last fight it was believed that Cazares, who had been stopped twice, might simply be unable to withstand Dieppa’s power — he did, and he won. But in a title defence last October, Cazares had a narrow escape when he had to get off the floor to win in the sixth against the unheralded Thai, Kaochin.

Cazares does seem to be a better boxer than Dieppa, though, and I think it might be to his advantage to use his boxing, movement and counter punching — I am not too sure about the Mexican’s chin.

Dieppa figures to be coming straight ahead and looking to land his heavy shots. Emotions have been running high and I wonder if Cazares might come out and try to hurt Dieppa instead of seeking to outbox him. If the two men get into a toe-to-toe type of fight, Cazares could lose because I think that Dieppa has the better chin and is the better puncher.

Cazares (23 wins and a draw in 27 fights, 17 stoppages) is adept at switching up, which could confuse Dieppa a little. Although an orthodox boxer, Cazares can fight well as a southpaw — when he knocked out Kaochin it was with a left hand from the southpaw stance.

It is very unlikely that Cazares will be able to stop Dieppa but he can certainly outpoint him. Dieppa struggled a bit when outpointing Mexican journeyman Juan Alfonso Keb Baas last October — Cazares stopped Keb Baas in nine rounds — but I am relucant to say that age is catching up with Dieppa. I thought that about Kevin Kelley and he has just proved me wrong by licking Carlos Hernandez.

With a title at stake and apparently fuelled by a genuine dislike for Cazares, I think that Dieppa is going to be at his best. He had a good 10-round tune-up fight in May when outpointing the game Mexican Erik Ramirez, whom he dropped in the opening round and almost stopped late in the fight. Cazares won his last fight on a first-round KO but his Dominican opponent went down very easily.

Boxing in Puerto Rico should not be a problem for Cazares, who has won there three times before. I think that Cazares is smart enough to box a tactical fight and not get involved in the type of shootout that would give Dieppa his best chance.

I will go for the age advantage and better boxing of Cazares to take him to a decision win after a tough, possibly thrilling fight which will be available on American television only to subscribers to the DirectTV satellite system.