Luis Alberto López vs. Joet González Odds, Pick and Prediction: Back the Featherweight Champion on Friday (September 15)

Odds Luis Alberto López vs. Joet González

Luis Alberto López has real reasons to be the best featherweight in the world. “Venado” López (28-2, 16 KOs) will defend his IBF featherweight world crown against former world title challenger Joet González (26-3, 15 KOs) on ESPN this Friday night, a clash between two Mexican stars in honor of the Mexican. Independence Day weekend.

Lopez won his IBF featherweight title in shocking fashion against then-undefeated Brit Josh Warrington last December, where Lopez went to Leeds in the UK, Warrington’s home, and fought his way to a surprising majority decision victory. , which honestly should have been unanimous.

Warrington opened as a -1100 favorite and closed around -140, according to proboxingodds.com

Lopez survived a second-round cut from a headbutt, as well as many unwanted rabbit punches, to earn a near-stolen decision victory on the road. More impressively, he completely destroyed former Top Rank favorite Michael Conlan, once poised to be an Ireland star, last May in Belfast.

Conlan was caught by an incredible right hook that ended the fight immediately as his corner quickly threw in the towel.

González is the classic safe contender, in terms of perception. He’s a guy who’s credible enough to get a title fight, but as a promoter, you’re perfectly fine pitting your guy against him because he hasn’t been that a great threat worldwide. That’s the mold Gonzalez is trying to break out of for this fight, as he is 0 for 2 in his bid to be world champion, having lost to Shakur Stevenson and Emanuel Navarette by unanimous decisions in 2019 and 2021.

Analysis of the fight between López and González

Physically, Gonzalez has a bigger advantage here despite being a big underdog, something we’ll get to shortly.

Gonzalez, 5-foot-6 with a 70-inch reach, will have the outside advantage against the smaller Lopez, who is 5-foot-4 with a 66.5-inch reach.

Will it matter? I’d say Lopez has the power advantage, and while both have a decent amount of knockouts, I wouldn’t say either rival Deontay Wilder in terms of finishing ability. Lopez has had some notable stoppages in the last two years and is apparently building a reputation as a powerful puncher, but other than Conlan, who was knocked out once before, he hasn’t finished another featherweight of real note.

Neither does Gonzalez, unless we include Jeo Santisima, who he stopped in the ninth round in their fight in March 2022, which, okay… I guess.

Ultimately, Lopez has many of the key advantages and is the better fighter. I think he can get a little sloppy defensively at times, but I’m not sure Gonzalez can muster enough to make him pay terribly outside of a few moments.

López against González Bet

Lopez is overrated at -900, but he should win this fight.

I flirted with the idea of ​​an upset for Gonzalez, and while I don’t think Lopez will be as overwhelming as Stevenson and Navarette, I think he will muscle his way to victory and be too much for the tough Gonzalez.

My pick is for Venado López to win by decision, which is +100 on FanDuel. I also like the fight coming in at -156 range, and whatever the over is for the over/under, which is not yet available as of this writing.

Lopez has power and I can bet that he will score a knockdown against Gonzalez, but Gonzalez has three losses, all by decision, including Navarette. The KO is certainly possible, but I think this covers all twelve, with Lopez raising his hand.

Enjoy the fight and don’t get ruined!

The Pick: Venado López by decision (+100 on FanDuel)

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