Alberto Puello vs. Batyr Akhmedov: Boxing Preview, Odds, Picks & Prediction (8/20)
Sandwiched in between a title fight in Hector Luis Garcia vs. Roger Gutierrez and right before the main event between Omar Figueroa and Sergey Lipinets, the co-main event of Showtime’s main card on Saturday could very well end up being the best fight on the card.
In it, Alberto Puello will take on relative newcomer Botirzhon Akmedov for the WBA (Super) welterweight title in one of the more evenly matched fights on the entire card.
Let’s take a closer look at both fighters and how this one might shake out.
These odds were taken from FanDuel Sportsbook on August 17, 2022
Alberto Puello (20-0-0, 10 KOs) vs. Batyr Akhmedov (9-1-0, 8 KOs)
Alberto Puello, a Dominican who turned pro in 2015 at age 21, has amassed 20 straight victories en route to Saturday’s fight. Puello won the WBA Fedaltin and WBC Latino super-lightweight titles, as well as, more recently, the WBA interim super-lightweight title, on his path to this battle for the vacant WBA light-welterweight title.
Puello’s early career was filled with knockouts and technical knockouts, but as opponents have gotten tougher, Puello has found it harder to finish them. Only two of Puello’s previous seven fights have gone inside of the distance.
The 31-year-old Russian fighter Akhmedov has won eight of his first 10 professional fights by way of KO/TKO; thus, he hasn’t had any trouble with knockouts or technical knockouts. Akhmedov won the gold medal in the 2015 International Kadyrov Tournament in Russia. Shortly after, he became professional and won seven bouts in a row until facing Mario Barrios in September 2019.
After losing the bout, which was for the WBA (Regular) super-lightweight title, by unanimous decision, Akhmedov recovered and won two straight fights, both of which were won within 12 rounds.
Bottom Line
Despite having just half the number of professional fights as his opponent, Akmedov comes into this fight with more quality experience and an impressive resume, despite the loss. This is a classic example of not all losses being made the same, as his loss to Barrios, solidified professional, is about as good a loss as you can have.
While Puello may get an early round or two, I like for Akmedov to win this fight in the later stages. Despite missing the best number of -189 when this one opened, I think anything below -200 still has value and will be keeping an eye on this number as fight night approaches in Florida.
Pick: Batyr Akmedov -195
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