Showtime Championship Boxing Picks

Welterweight Bout: Adrien Broner (33-3) vs. Jessie Vargas (28-2)

Nolan Howell: Adrian Broner looks to bounce back after a lopsided decision loss to Mikey Garcia in a catchweight bout against Jessie Vargas, who comes in as a replacement for Omar Figueroa at 2-2 in his last four, but those losses coming against Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley.

This is essentially a loser goes to gatekeeping fight and might be Broner’s last chance at salvaging any performance value in his career outside of his name. While he brings in a new trainer this fight, the reborn AB narrative has seemingly followed him from fight to fight recently.

While Broner is a gifted fighter, he relies too much on a Mayweather impersonation that takes away from the fact that he can pop. Vargas is a pocket type fighter and while Broner can absolutely exploit that at his best, it is just hard to ever trust that anymore. Look for Vargas to wade through the 1-2 and shell from Broner to put him on the back foot and force him to trade inside to his detriment all fight long. Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision.

Interim WBC World Middleweight Championship: Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-1) vs. Jermall Charlo (26-1)

Nolan: After reeling off highlight reel stoppages of Julian Williams and Jorge Heiland, Jermall Charlo looks to secure the WBC interim middleweight title against Hugo Centeno Jr., who scored a KO himself last outing against Immanuwel Aleem.

This is about as academic as it gets this weekend, as Charlo is now putting together power with a solid technical base he demonstrated early on in his career. This should be no different. Jermall Charlo by seventh-round KO.

WBA Super World Junior Lightweight Championship: Gervonta Davis (19-0) vs. Jesus Cuellar (28-2)

Nolan: Gervonta Davis looks to take the WBA super featherweight title against Jesus Cuellar. Davis has steamrolled competition, with 19 wins in his undefeated streak, but lost his title on the scales last time out against Francisco Fonseca despite finishing him (albeit in controversial fashion). Cuellar dropped a close split decision to Abner Mares last out.

Davis’s biggest opponent seems to be himself, between weight cutting issues and lapsing in the middle of fights. He comes in with the same trainer as Broner for this fight and the ceiling is really not even on the building for this guy if he doesn’t want it to be. Cuellar is a tougher out, but the power and technique favor Davis, as well as those intangibles. His fight to lose. Gervonta Davis by sixth-round TKO.