HUMBERTO SOTO vs ANTONIO DAVIS

Humberto Soto has, for me, been disappointing in his last two fights. He struggled in a stoppage win over fellow-Mexican Gamaliel Diaz last October and then he surprisingly had to go the full 12 rounds in his rematch with Francisco Lorenzo when most people (me included) thought he would carry on where he had left off in their previous meeting and overpower the veteran.

Could it be that “La Zorrita” has peaked? I tend to think that this is not the case. Soto is only 28. I think that Diaz’s spoiling, awkward style made it difficult for Soto to get settled down: the constant clinches prevented him from getting into his rhythm.

When Soto met Lorenzo, I suspect that he wasn’t really as motivated as we thought he would be. After all, he had already knocked out Lorenzo once, except that the referee awarded the beaten man a disqualification “win” that boggled the mind. In Soto’s mind, he probably felt he was just going over old ground again and the fight was probably a tiresome chore for him.

Soto has, I think, a chance to look good when he defends his WBC super featherweight title against Antonio Davis on the PPV show in Tijuana.

Davis is a gritty, come-forward fighter who likes to put pressure on his opponents and bang them to the body. At a certain level he is very good at what he does. For instance, he stormed right through the prospect Leon Bobo in five rounds. The clever southpaw Bobo couldn’t keep Davis off of him and he was beaten up in what had seemed, on paper, to be an even match.

When Davis steps up to the world-class level, though, he has problems. He was outclassed by Steven Luevano and Joan Guzman in his two biggest fights, when he hardly won a round.

Durability, guts and conditioning got Davis through to the final bell in these fights but he was taking a lot of punishment from Luevano in the later rounds, and he went down in the 11th round, while he also suffered a cut and swollen eye.

I think that Davis probably took a bit out of himself making 126 pounds for the Luevano fight after boxing at junior lightweight and even lightweight for most of hs career. He will be stronger at 130 pounds, which is his natural fighting weight, and I think that, true to form, he will take the fight to Soto and do his best to back him up and outwork him. Unfortunately for Davis, though, he is once more up against a superior all-around fighter and one who would seem to hit harder than he does.

Davis is a capable fighter, a former international-class amateur (Pan American Games bronze medallist) and he’s certainly strong — he was a high school wrestling champion. However, fighters such as Soto are simply a level above him.

I am expecting a very game and determined effort from Davis, but his style means that he will be coming onto Soto’s punches. For the first time in a little while, Soto will be meeting a straight-ahead, willing fighter who won’t be trying to grab him, smother him or generally mess him around. I think that Davis’s fighting style will make this bout entertaining but it will also give Soto an opportunity to show what he can really do. I have a feeling that we will see Soto back to his best form in this fight.

It isn’t easy to stop someone like Davis, whose only inside-schedule defeat came in his fifth bout, against Edner Cherry — and that was six years ago. I do feel, though, that Soto can gradually break down the challenger. Soto will be boxing in his Tijuana hometown for the first time in more than four years and he will surely be looking to put on an impressive and exciting performance. I think that he can hammer Davis out of the fight in the later stages, maybe around the ninth or 10th round.