Shane Mosley faces Sergio Mora this Saturday, September 18, in a light middleweight bout in honor of the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence Day. The bout headlines an HBO pay-per-view event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. In the coming days, Inside Fights will preview the four fights being featured on the pay-per-view telecast. Next up, Daniel Ponce de Leon against Antonio Escalante in a featherweight bout.
Daniel Ponce de Leon vs. Antonio Escalante
Daniel Ponce de Leon (39-2, 32 KOs) is a former super bantamweight champion that will put himself in line for a featherweight title shot with a win this Saturday. The only problem for Ponce de Leon, should he win, is that he would be matched up with WBO Featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez. Lopez scored a 1st round TKO of Ponce de Leon in 2008. The only other time Ponce de Leon stepped up in class, he was defeated, by Celestino Caballero in 2005. Ponce de Leon has always been an exciting fighter, yet one that could never get over the hump of elite-level fighters. Ponce de Leon is 5-0 since his loss to Lopez and has adopted a more technical boxing style. It’s been enough to get him past the likes of Orlando Cruz and Cornelius Lock, but will it be enough to secure him a rematch with Juanma Lopez?
Unlike Daniel Ponce de Leon, Antonio Escalante (24-2, 15 KOs) hasn’t tasted the world title scene yet. An upset win over Ponce de Leon would put Escalante in position for just that. At just 25 years old, the young Mexican is looking to establish himself as a legit player in the featherweight division. Escalante is 10-0 since his last loss, a 2007 TKO to Mauricio Pastrana. Six of those ten wins were stopped in five rounds or less. It would be in Escalante’s best interest to turn this into a brawl; try to get Ponce de Leon to go back to his old ways and take advantage of an early mistake. Escalante has the ability to outbox the reprocessed Ponce de Leon, but I don’t know if he has the patience.
If Antonio Escalante can turn this into a brawl, then it’s anyone’s game. Daniel Ponce de Leon will be better suited to box and frustrate the younger Escalante over the course of the 12 rounds. I see Ponce de Leon being patient and using his ring experience to his advantage in route to a unanimous decision. 118-110.
