By Eric Thomas: Unbeaten #4 WBC heavyweight contender Magomed Abdusalmov (18-0. 18 KO’s) will be looking for his 19th straight knockout this Saturday night in a scheduled 10 round bout against 28-year-old former Cuban amateur Mike Perez (19-0, 12 KO’s) on HBO on the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin vs. Curtis Stevens card Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
Perez, 6’0″, is a very good heavyweight with excellent skills and a high work rate. His problem is his lack of size for the heavyweight division and his inactivity. The 235 lb. Perez has only fought once in the last two years in beating journeyman Travis Walker by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision last May. Perez needs to be fighting a lot more frequently than once ever two years if he wants to get ranked high enough to one day get a world title shot.
Abdusalmov, 32, has looked good for the most part in beating guys like Jameem McCline, Maurice Byarm and Victor Bisbal. However, his defense and his chin both leave a lot to be desired and it’s unlikely that Abdusalmov will be able to capture a world title due to those factors. He’d have to be able to defeat the likes Chris Arreola and Bermane Stiverne for him to win a world title, and it doesn’t seem likely that Abdusalmov will be able to do that. McCline dropped Abdusalmov hard in the 1st round last year in September.
If McCline put in a little effort to finish Abdusalmov off in that round then it’s very likely that Abdusalmov would have been stopped. Abdusalmov figures that he’s within two to three fights away from a world title shot. The only way that happens if he can be steered around Arreola and Stiverne because those guys are better fighters and have better chins than Abdusalmov.
Perez has the style to beat Abdusalmov on Saturday night if he can take his hard shots. Perez likes to throw nonstop punches and he’s capable of doing that for 10-12 rounds without tiring. If he can do that on Saturday night against Abdusalmov then we may see a knockout win for Perez. He doesn’t have a lot of power, but it may not because Abdusalmov’s chin is really shaky. The major question is whether Perez can take Abdusalmov’s big power shots for the first five rounds. If so, then Perez should be able to score a knockout because Abdusalmov doesn’t have great stamina and he’s always on the heavy side with excess weight on his frame. This will help Perez if and when Abdusalmov tires out after the 5th round.
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