🚨Upset Alert Elif Nur Turhan vs Gabriela Tellez 🥊 Every young fighter eventually arrives at a fork in the road. One path says, “Trust your talent.” The other says, “Trust your emotions.” The fighters who become champions usually know the difference. Because if Gabriela Tellez fights with her head, I think she stuns the boxing world and wins a world title at just 19 years old. If she fights with her pride then she could wake up staring at Desert Diamond’s arena lights. Let’s start with the obvious. Power is the great equalizer in boxing. Power is also the great liar. Because sometimes, it convinces us a fighter is better than they actually are. When I watch Turhan, I see genuine, world-class punching power. The kind of power that changes behavior. The kind of power that makes opponents stop throwing combinations they were throwing comfortably two rounds earlier. Make no mistake about it, Turhan is carrying dynamite in her gloves. The problem is she lights the fuse in public. More on that later. When you move beyond the power, questions start rapidly appearing. The last time we saw Turhan in the ring she spent long stretches looking like a hunter chasing footprints instead of prey. She doesn’t cut off the ring particularly well and falls in love with headhunting. She’s flat footed, squares up and isn’t especially athletic. She needs to have her feet planted to generate the power we’ve see on her highlight reels. Most importantly, Turhan isn’t deceptive. She loads up. And loaded punches can be identified before they leave the station. Now, enter Gabriela Tellez. Only 19 years old. Which sounds extremely young and underdeveloped until you watch her fight. Then you stop thinking about her age and start thinking about her ability. Because this isn’t some prospect learning on the job. This is a terrific young fighter. Gabriela started boxing at 6 years old. She had 90 amateur fights and was an 18x national champion. Her sister, Reina, fought Amanda Serrano in January. Boxing is in her DNA. She has an excellent boxing foundation. And stylistically, she possesses tools that create real problems for Turhan - a sharp jab, fast hands, great punch variety and good foot feints. She also possesses the ability to close distance quickly. People are gonna look at the tale of the tape and immediately say, ‘5 inch reach advantage. That’s a problem’. No. It’s only a problem if you know how to use it. Turhan doesn’t have a consistent jab. That’s the tool you’re supposed to use to make reach matter. That’s the ruler. That’s the fence. That’s the thing that keeps the other person on the other side of the property. If you’re not sticking that jab out there, measuring distance, controlling geography, then all of a sudden those 5 inches become a number on a piece of paper instead of an advantage in a fight. And Tellez isn’t exactly standing still waiting to be hit. The kid’s got good feet. She’s got head movement. She knows how to get underneath punches and close ground without taking the front door. That’s important. Because when a fighter can move their head and bring their feet with them, distance starts shrinking real fast. So, while everyone else is staring at 5 inches of reach, I’m looking at 5 inches that may never actually show up in the fight. If Tellez is doing what she’s supposed to do - feinting, moving her head, changing levels, stepping in behind angles - that reach advantage might be sitting in the corner all night like an expensive sports car with no gasoline in the tank. Now, let’s talk about something people don’t like discussing. Pressure. Not ring pressure. Expectations. Turhan has Matchroom behind her. She’s being positioned. Marketed. Built. People have plans for her. #BamVargas #TurhanTellez #CardenasMartinez #Boxing #Boxeo #BettingPicks

Kenneth Llover vs Michael Angeletti 🥊 To me, this is the best fight on the card. Not because it’s the highest profile fight, because it’s the fight where the styles have the greatest chance of colliding in spectacular fashion. When I watch Kenneth Llover, the first thing that jumps off the screen isn’t his power. It’s his acceleration. Some fighters travel from Point A to Point B. Kenneth skips the trip entirely. There’s a difference. He appears to teleport through space in short bursts. One second he’s outside range, the next he’s standing in your living room throwing hooks to the body. You can clearly see the influence of Manny Pacquiao in the way he attacks. The bounce. The explosive entries. The willingness to attack from unusual angles. Now, he’s not Pacquiao. Let’s not get carried away, but the influence is there. And what makes Llover dangerous is that he doesn’t attack in straight, predictable sequences. He’ll leap in with a right hook. He’ll whip a hook around the guard. He’ll suddenly chop at the body like a lumberjack trying to bring down a tree before you even realize he’s in range. The downside? At times he gets impatient. He sees the front door and forgets to check who’s standing behind it. We saw some of that against early on vs Baldor before he settled down. Against Michael Angeletti, that impatience could become custom jewelry expensive. But here’s the thing…Young fighters can learn patience. You can’t teach that kind of athletic explosiveness. Angeletti’s path to victory is very clear. Use the reach. Use the jab. Control the geography. When Llover explodes forward, take half a step back and make him pay for crossing the border. Simple in theory, but difficult in practice. Because while Angeletti possesses a 6½-inch reach advantage, I’ve watched him get hit flush by fighters who were significantly slower than Kenneth Llover. That’s what concerns me. The reflexes aren’t elite. The defensive awareness isn’t elite. And when you’re facing a fighter whose greatest weapon is unpredictability, those are dangerous shortcomings. Make no mistake, Angeletti is good. Good jab. Good fundamentals. Solid across the board. But when I watch him, I keep coming back to the same thought - What’s his defining trait? What’s the thing he does that makes the opponent lose sleep? Talented fighter, but I don’t see one elite attribute. Not one thing where I say, “That’s the difference-maker.” And at 29 years old, that’s a legitimate question because elite prospects usually become contenders by now. Instead, PBC’s 2022 Prospect of the year is still trying to convince people what kind of fighter he is. Meanwhile, Llover feels like a fighter whose arrow is still pointing upward. Now, stylistically, this fight reminds me of a matador trying to control a bull that refuses to charge in straight lines. The matador knows exactly what he’s supposed to do. The problem is the bull keeps appearing from different directions. That’s the challenge Angeletti faces. And I think the key word in this fight is feints. If Llover simply rushes forward recklessly, he’ll give Angeletti opportunities. But if he feints, draws reactions, freezes the jab, then explodes into combinations, I think he’ll repeatedly breach that reach advantage. The body work will be critical too. Because if Llover can force Angeletti to lower his hands and second-guess his reactions, the openings upstairs become much larger. Now if I’m in Angeletti’s corner, the strategy is obvious - Jab. Jab again. Then jab some more. Keep the fight in the airport terminal. Don’t let Llover get on the plane. Because once Kenneth lands in close range, that’s where the fight starts becoming uncomfortable. #YabukiCalixto #GarciaMoloney #LloverAngeletti #NeryCasimero #Boxing #Boxeo