Jose Pedraza 140.4 lbs vs. Mikkel LesPierre 141-lbs – weigh-in results

By Boxing News - 06/17/2020 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Jose Pedraza will be fighting this Thursday night on June 18 against Mikkel LesPierre in a 10 round bout on ESPN & ESPN Deportes at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Te fight card begins at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Pedraza weighed in at 140.4 pounds on Wednesday. His opponent LesPierre came in at 141 lbs.

(Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/ Top Rank)

The recent defeats that the 31-year-old Pedraza and LesPierre suffered resulted in a drop in rankings. Neither guy at this point can afford another loss if they want to be involved in a significant fight. Pedraza should have a good idea of whether he fits in the 140-pound division. The fact that he struggled against lightweight Vasiliy Lomachenko’s power indicates that he shouldn’t be fighting at 140.

Pedraza will be fighting for the second time since moving up to 140 last September, and he doesn’t look like he’s got enough power to compete.

Pedraza with the advantage in experience

The former two-division world champion Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) will be appearing for the first time since his 10 round unanimous decision loss to Jose Zepeda on September 14 last year.  One would think that the results of the fight should have been enough to dissuade Pedraza from staying at 140, but he’s giving it another try by fighting LesPierre.

Image: Jose Pedraza 140.4 lbs vs. Mikkel LesPierre 141-lbs - weigh-in results

The problem with Pedraza facing an inexperienced guy like LesPierre is it’s not going to prove anything by beating him. Pedraza doesn’t have the size or the pop in his punches to mix it with the elite level light-welterweights like Jose Ramirez, Regis Prograis, and Josh Taylor. Beating LesPierre won’t do anything for Pedraza other than give him a boost in the rankings.

Ideally, Pedraza’s best hope is for the top 140-pound fighters Prograis, Ramirez, and Taylor, all moving up to 147. With those guys stepping up in weight soon, it’ll give Pedraza a chance to make waves in the division.

‘Sniper’ Pedraza has mixed it at a much higher level than the 35-year-old LesPierre, who was beaten soundly by former WBO 140-pound champion Maurice Hooker on March 9, 2019. LesPierre was over-matched against the 5’11” Hooker, which isn’t surprising given the vast differences in experience between them.

Pedraza, who comes from Puerto Rico, he held the IBF 130-pound title from 2015 to 2017 until being dethroned by Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in a seventh-round knockout defeat.

140 not a great division for Pedraza

Before losing his IBF super featherweight strap, Pedraza defended it successfully twice, beating Stephen Smith and Edner Cherry. Pedraza won the vacant IBF belt in defeating Andrey Klimov by a 12 round unanimous decision in June 2015.

After Pedraza’s loss to Tank Davis in 2017, and moved up to the lightweight division and won the WBO title in beating Raymundo Beltran by a 12 round unanimous decision in August 2018. Sadly, Pedraza didn’t hold onto the WBO 135-lb strap for long, as he was soundly by Vasiliy Lomachenko by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in December 2018.

After fighting one last time at 135 in beating Antonio Lozada Torres by a ninth-round knockout previous year in May, Pedraza moved up to 140 and took on Jose Zepeda for the vacant World Boxing Council United States last September and ended up losing a 12 round decision.

Image: Jose Pedraza 140.4 lbs vs. Mikkel LesPierre 141-lbs - weigh-in results

“My team and I have had a great training camp,” said Pedraza. “I have done many runs up the mountains in Cidra, Puerto Rico. I am now focused on giving the fans a great show on June 18 against Mikkel LesPierre.

“We know he is a world-class fighter, but I am, too, and I am determined to return to the top once again,” Pedraza said.

LesPierre is a very winnable match for Pedraza, and he just needs to make sure he doesn’t get caught with anything too big from LesPierrer. Pedraza has the pedigree to win this match without too many difficulties, but he’s got to keep his hands up and not make the same mistakes that he did in his loss to Tank Davis.

Other weights on Thursday night’s Pedraza vs. LesPierre card on ESPN:

  • Adrian Servin 118 lbs vs. Robert Rodriguez 120.3 lbs
  • Victor Rodriguez 140.2 lbs vs. Justin Horsley 140.7 lbs
  • Frevian Gonzalez 129.4 lbs vs. Jose Martinez 127.8 lbs
  • David Kaminsky 164.3 lbs vs. Clay Collard 163.6 lbs
  • Gabriel Flores Jr 132.4 lbs vs. Josec Ruiz 132.4 lbs

Unbeaten lightweight Flores (17-0, 6 KOs) will be taking on Ruiz (21-2-3, 14 KOs) in a 10 round fight. This fight stands out among the undercard fights, and it may even overshadow the main event between Pedraza and LesPierre.

Flores, 20, recently defeated Matt Conway by an eight-round decision last February on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas, Nevada. Flores, who comes from Stockton, California, has been with Top Rank for the last four years, and they’ve high hopes for him in grooming him to be a world champion.

It’s going to be interesting to see how well Flores does against Ruiz in their 10 round bout on Thursday night. This is a slight step up in class for Flores, so we’ll have to see how well he does against this opponent.  The 20-year-old Flores has a long way to go before he is ready for the big time. It would be interesting to see Fores and Ryan Garcia square off to see which of the two youngsters are te better fighters.

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