|
Empire: 5 is tonight, and it is an all light heavyweight card. This division has a number of young, inexperienced fighters with few matches on their resumes. With 8 matches including a title fight on tap, this card should illuminate who is the strongest in Empire’s deepest weight class.
The opener is a matchup between a pair of strong boxers in Joe Boxer and Max Payne. The Sicilian Boxer is a strong fighter when standing upright, but Payne is his equal in that respect and can score a submission if the fight gets taken to the ground. I’ll take Payne by submission in the 2nd.
The next fight is between Ken Mokoto and Max Powers, each of whom are represented by Joe Boxer’s manager, Don Tony. This is a fight between mirror images of each other, with two submission specialists who will want to fight on the ground. This one will be ugly and is nearly impossible to pick a winner, but I’ll take Mokoto by submission in the 1st.
In another all Don Tony fight, Dominican Republic native Eladio Chu faces off against New Yorker Karl Van Horn. In this one, two nearly identical career 0-2-0 fighters may be fighting for their careers. It may come down to who is feeling more confident heading into the match, in which case I think Chu will win by majority decision.
The fourth fight is a rematch from Empire: 3 between Jerome Biggs and Yonnis Chico. Biggs dominated the first fight between the two, scoring a cut on Chico and eventually scoring a submission. While Chico is a better BJJ fighter, it will mean nothing since he will have to absorb major damage from Biggs’s punches first. I expect this one to go similarly with Biggs winning by TKO on strikes in the 2nd.
The fifth fight is also a rematch, but it has been a month and a half since their first bout at Rise of the Empire. This one sees Iraqi Mahdi Dirjal, who won the last matchup but is coming off a loss to Eddie Miles, and Polish fighter Januszov Goatov, who was last seen defeating Zivan Radosavjevic. Goatov came into their last match injured, so I expect to see a stronger version of him this time, but I do not see the result changing. I expect another unanimous decision win for Dirjal, but it will be much closer than the beatdown we saw last time.
The next fight is between Hunter Broderick and Jaco Camden. Broderick should do major damage to Camden while upright, while Taco, as he’s more commonly known, should struggle to take Broderick to ground, as the Burbank native is the superior wrestler. I cannot see any other result than a Broderick win. I think he gets it done by a lopsided unanimous decision.
The penultimate matchup sees Micheal Turner face Santiago Munez, who has missed weight for his last two fights. If he can make weight, I think Munez will take it due to his superior Muay Thai skills when upright, but I think it is much more likely that he misses weight again. Why Empire owner Psycho Serrano has not released Munez yet is beyond me.
The main event is the title fight, the one everyone is looking forward to. 6-0-0 champion Hatebreed Rebel has been doing a lot of talking online, challenging anyone and everyone to take him on. He will have the chance to back up his talk when he squares up against Eddie Miles. With each fighter coming off a win in their first Empire fight, this should be a contrast in styles, as Miles is a strong boxer, while Rebel is a master on the ground. If Miles can stay upright the whole time, he should win, but that seems unlikely. I expect Rebel to defend the belt by submission in the 1st.
Article views:
29
» Donate to this author |
