LUIS ABREGU vs DAVID ESTRADA

There is always a question mark hovering above untested fighters with impressive KO records: What happens when they are in with someone who can take their punches and reply with something of their own — and can keep on doing it?

Argentina’s undefeated Luis Abregu can certainly punch, with 21 KOs in his 24 successive wins. On Friday we should see how he holds up when he meets stiff resistance, because Abregu faces by far his toughest test when he takes on the seasoned and sturdy David Estrada in the 10-round main event on ShoBox.

Abregu was glimpsed on Wednesday Night Fights in July when he blew out the tall Thomas Davis in two rounds. He was aggressive and hard punching, no question about that, but the 36-year-old Davis seemed to want to surrender the first time he got hit. It wasn’t possible to tell how good Abregu might be — it was just too easy for him.

I was able to get a look at one of Abregu’s earlier fights in Argentina but, again, no real clues were available because his opponent, Cristian Paz, a former junior lightweight who hadn’t won a fight in three years, was hopelessly outgunned in a one-round mismatch. Paz was down twice (one knockdown incorrectly ruled a slip by the referee) and given a standing eight count when the ropes kept him up. Nose bloody, Paz had a “Get me out of here” look, and his corner got the message and tossed in the towel.

So, we know that Abregu can get people out of a fight in a hurry, with 14 opponents stopped inside three rounds (including a win by disqualification). He hits hard with either the right hand or the left hook, but there seems a bit of rawness about him, and at 25 he is obviously still developing as a fighter.

Abregu looks promising, though. He is the South American champion, a protégé of former world champ Carlos Baldomir, and he hasn’t had to go the distance in three years. On Friday, however, Abregu has a fight on his hands. Estrada, 29, has fought on a much higher level than the Argentinean, with gritty losses against world champions Shane Mosley, Kermit Cintron and Andre Berto. In his last fight he was giving the formidable Jesus Soto Karass a very tough tussle for seven rounds only to get caught and stopped in the eighth.

Whereas past opponents have wilted when Abregu has hit them, Estrada is likely to come right back at him. Estrada is tough, game and capable. If he can stand up to Abregu’s early attack and then come on with his pressure and combinations he can take the Argentinean to a place he has never been before.

I see this as an evenly matched fight. Abregu’s people are gambling that they are catching Estrada at exactly the right time, when his punch-resistance might be diminished. Estrada is, however, a serious step up in class for Abregu.

When Estrada lost to Soto Karass he was behind by just one point on two of the judges’ cards going into the eighth round, and right up to the finish I wasn’t sure who was going to win.

Still, while I respect Estrada I have to go with the unbeaten puncher in this fight. Abregu is likely to be pushed hard, but from what little I have seen of him — three rounds — I think that he has the potential and power to get past a reliable gatekeeper-type such as Estrada, possibly on a wearing-down type of stoppage around the ninth round.