JULIO CESAR MIRANDA vs RICHIE MEPRANUM

Filipino flyweight Richie Mepranum boxed beautifully when he ended the unbeaten record of Mexican slugger Hernan “Tyson” Marquez in March. The somewhat surprising win earned Mepranum a title bout with another, but more formidable, Mexican fighter, Julio Cesar Miranda — the two meet for the vacant WBO 112-pound championship in Puebla, Mexico on Saturday.

Miranda is a much tougher proposition that Marquez. He is a seasoned boxer and a hard puncher who has fought at a high level, including two world title bouts.

Marquez was a fighter in the mould of so many heavy-handed types. He thought he could simply go in and overpower his opponent. When things didn’t work out that way, he was clueless.

I must admit I expected more from Marquez, who was the betting favourite in that fight. I have to give credit to Mepranum, though, for a smart, disciplined performance. He was able to make Marquez miss wildly all night while picking up points with crisp, quick punches. He had his opponent bothered and befuddled in the all-southpaw contest. Mepranum looked much better than when I saw him struggle to win a split decision over a willing slugger named Ernie Marquez in Las Vegas last November.

Mepranum faces a very tough fight on Saturday. Miranda is a better fighter than "Tyson" Marquez. He knows how to pressure his opponents in a professional way, and although Miranda boxes in the orthodox stance he will often switch to southpaw. Miranda impressed me in a fifth-round hammering of the unbeaten Omar Salado, a fellow-Mexican who had fought a draw with Ulises Solis in a world title fight. I remember that Miranda’s win over Salado was considered a significant upset. Miranda looked devastating when blowing away former champ Eric Ortiz in the opening round last July.

When Miranda stepped up to meet the very experienced and capable Pongsaklek in a title bout in Thailand 14 months ago he was out of his depth, however, losing widely on points. Miranda suffered a cut over the left eye early in the fight and he was never really able to get into the bout although he made major efforts in the sixth and 11th rounds, when he threw everything he had at Pongsaklek. In most of the rounds, though, the imperturbable Thai veteran had all the answers, making Miranda miss, countering and even backing him up.

Miranda had another tough night on the road when he lost a unanimous decision to Moruti Mthalane in a championship bout in South Africa last November.

This was another fight in which Miranda found himself getting hit while unable to land too much of note himself. Watching the tape, I was only able to give Miranda one round.

So, what we have in Miranda is a very tough, heavy handed fighter who can bang out boxers of a respectable standard but can be outboxed when the calibre of opponent is a notch higher.

This time, though, Miranda is on home territory, which will help him — he will be at his best, with the crowd behind him.

Mepranum’s only loss was on points to the strong and seasoned Denkaosan in Thailand three years ago, and he boxed well against a fighter who went on to become a world champion — one judge had it a close fight, one round from being a draw.

A split decision win Mepranum scored over a fellow Filipino, Rocky Fuentes, now looks much better on his record after Fuentes’s two wins in Orient title bouts in Japan this year.

I went against Mepranum in the fight with Hernan Marquez because it had seemed to me that he was lacking physical strength in the fight with Ernie Marquez in Las Vegas. Mepranum scored a flash knockdown in the second round in the Vegas bout but faded badly, and two of the judges had Marquez sweeping the last three rounds of the six-rounder. If Mepranum hadn’t dropped his opponent early, the fight would have been a draw. Yet Mepranum looked a different fighter in his win over the other Marquez, Hernan. At times he was almost toying with the Mexican fighter.

Mepranum will be facing a much more consistent type of pressure in Saturday's fight, and he cannot afford to make too many mistakes because he is meeting a hard hitter who has 24 KOs in his 31 wins.

As difficult and as dangerous as the fight is for Mepranum, though, I think he stands a good chance of pulling off the upset. He has trained at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles for this fight and his confidence should be high after the way he dominated Marquez. Mepranum does not have a great deal of punching power and my concern for him is that he might not be able to hold off Miranda in the later rounds. If he can keep boxing and moving, though, making Miranda miss and countering him, he can win enough rounds to take a close decision.

I’m giving the slightest edge to Mepranum — I think his movement and boxing skills can get him home, if barely.