2019 Jun 15

Yunior Dorticos vs. Andrew Tabiti

12 rounds, for vacant IBF interim cruiserweight title

Yunior Dorticos vs. Andrew Tabiti is the other semifinal of the WBSS cruiserweight tournament. The winner of this bout will face the winner of Briedis vs. Glowacki. Yunior Dorticos is a very explosive fighter. He has good skills and the power is real. He probably has the best one punch knockout power out of the 4 fighters in the semis. We kind of know what to expect from Dorticos because we have seen him in against a variety of styles. In his lone career loss against Murat Gassiev he was really doing well for himself. He dominated the first few rounds but he got tired and that’s when Murat gassiev took over the fight. Some fighters with long amateur careers like Dorticos have a hard time adjusting to the 12 round fights in the pros. They are used to emptying the tank in 4 rounds and that’s exactly what it looked like against gassiev. His defense and reflexes wasn’t the same in the second half of the fight and it eventually led to him being knocked out late in the fight. He might have learned from that and can pace himself more. Andrew tabiti is very talented naturally and he trains with Floyd Mayweather Sr in Las Vegas. He is undefeated with 17-0. He has steadily been improving his opposition. His last 3 fights have been his most impressive wins so far with him beating Steve Cunningham, Lateef kayode and Ruslan fayfer. His team have big expectations of him, as you would expect. Tabiti may be unbeaten but he has never faced the kind of challenge that Dorticos presents, nowhere near that. But that does not mean that he can’t raise his game and beat Dorticos. Tabiti has shown to have good defense and ring generalship and he can also punch. He knocked out Lateef kayode with a beautiful right uppercut and he has knocked out others with that punch also.

There have been reports on some heavy money being laid on Tabiti in Las Vegas and the odds have shortened substantially. Dorticos is still the more proven fighter with more experience both as a professional and an amateur. We are picking Yunior Dorticos to win this fight and advance to the finals of the World Boxing Super Series.

The Pick: Yunior Dorticos to win fight