Preview: Showtime Championship Boxing Super Welterweight Tripleheader

The 154-pound weight class will take center stage for Showtime’s championship tripleheader on Saturday.

In the evening’s main event, decorated Cuban Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA super welterweight world championship against Vanes Martirosyan in a rematch of their 2012 bout that ended in a technical draw. Meanwhile, Jermall Charlo will put his IBF super welterweight strap on the line against Austin Trout in another featured bout, while his brother, Jermell Charlo, will face John Jackson for the vacant WBC super welterweight world title.

The action takes place at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. ET. Here is a closer look at the evening’s three featured matchups.

Erislandy Lara (22-2-2) vs. Vanes Martirosyan (36-2-1)

The Matchup: The first meeting between Lara and Martirosyan was not visually pleasing, but it did prove that Martirosyan can at least be competitive against an upper echelon opponent.

The contest proved to be a contrast between Martirosyan’s aggression and Lara’s movement and selective offense. Early on, that favored the Armenian-born Californian, as he pressed forward against Lara and landed enough right hands so that a mouse formed under Lara’s left eye. In the seventh and eighth rounds, however, Lara began to assert himself with his trademark counter left hands and ultimately outlanded his adversary by a 74-to-43 count.

However, a foul-filled contest ultimately came to a premature ending when an accidental clash of heads gave Martirosyan a cut over his left eye and rendered him unable to continue. The contest was scored where it ended, with one judge giving seeing it 86-85 for Martirosyan and another submitting a 87-84 score in favor of Lara. A third had it 86-86, making the final verdict a technical draw.

In order to achieve some measure of satisfying closure, Lara will have to do his best to avoid the inactivity that tends to plague him for stretches of his fights. It cost him several key rounds in his first meeting with Martirosyan, and if “Nightmare” elects to do the same in the rematch, Lara could find himself facing an early deficit.

The southpaw Lara’s speed, four-inch reach and technical skill are his greatest advantages against Martirosyan, who is average defensively. However, his awkward style gave Lara pause last time, and it is usually the Cuban who is adept at making foes look bad.

Lara is at his best when he can bait opponents into chasing him so that he can land his powerful counter left hand; it simply took him too long to get that working in 2012 against Martirosyan. Lara uses his jab nicely to set up his counter left, and his sense of timing on that 1-2 combination is impeccable. If there is a complaint about Lara’s bread and butter, it’s that he can became too predictable with it.

Martirosyan is normally more comfortable at distance, and he will circle in both directions after throwing punches. The straight right is his weapon of choice and it is backed by a decent jab. Like Lara, he can be prone to lulls in activity, but he seemed to be aware that aggression was key in their first fight. Ultimately, Martirosyan was rewarded for forward movement despite landing little offense of note; it’s unlikely that he will be that fortunate again, although his ability to make the fight ugly could keep Lara from establishing a rhythm.

The Pick: This is unlikely to be a pretty fight, but expect Lara to have at least a greater sense of urgency considering his track record with judges in close fights. Martirosyan does seem to match up better than most with Lara, but he has been up-and-down since that first fight. Lara emerges with a clear-cut decision win.

Jermall Charlo (23-0, 18 KOs) vs. Austin Trout (30-2, 17 KOs)

The matchup: Charlo captured the IBF 154-pound belt with a third-round technical knockout of Cornelius Bundrage in September 2015. He was dominant in his first title defense against Wilky Campfort last November, as he controlled the fight with his jab and combination punching en route to knocking his foe down three times within four rounds before Campfort was unable to continue.

While Charlo’s track record is impressive, the strength of his opposition leaves something to be desired. Bundrage is likely his signature victory, but that man known as “K-9” was 42 years old at the time of their bout and likely past his prime.

That Charlo has been relatively untested to this point makes Trout an interesting opponent. The 31-year-old Las Cruces, N.M., native has bested Miguel Cotto and has also been in the ring with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Erislandy Lara. While “No Doubt” was more competitive against Alvarez than the final scorecards would indicate, the matchup against Lara wasn’t especially close.

Since then, Trout has gone largely unnoticed in racking up four consecutive victories. It’s possible that Trout has flown under the radar due to the nature of his loss to Lara, but the Cuban is a boxer that specializes in making foes look bad. At the very least, Trout is a slick southpaw who could give Charlo some problems in a longer fight.

Charlo, who initially developed more slowly than his brother, Jermell, is an aggressive fighter with a bit of mean streak. Playing catchup to his twin might have played a role in that in-ring demeanor. At any rate, Charlo’s best weapon is his jab, which he uses to set up combinations and countering opportunities but also to do damage on its own.

Charlo tends to welcome exchanges, as he is heavy on his feet in order to sit down on his punches. While this gives him more power in his shots, he is also a more stationary target. Trout, a skilled tactician who is accurate but not especially powerful, might be able to take advantage of Charlo’s lack of movement as the fight progresses.

Trout’s defensive tendencies and preference for counterpunching will prove frustrating, but Charlo can quickly change the course of the fight by landing a few clean jabs and combinations. The Houston resident is the more dangerous fighter and has the capability of ending the night early, although Trough has never been knocked out. At the very least, Charlo is more likely to land the more damaging shots.

The Pick: Before his breakthrough against Cotto, Trout struggled to find opponents because his was a difficult style to face. His stock may be down following the loss to Lara, but Trout will test Charlo. Ultimately, though, Charlo lands the more memorable punches and retains his title in a hard-fought decision victory.

Jermell Charlo (27-0, 12 KOs) vs. John Jackson (20-2, 15 KO)

The Matchup: Jermell Charlo is more of a slick boxer/tactician than his twin brother Jermall, who possesses the more menacing KO ability of the two. It will make for an interesting study in contrast when he squares off against Jackson, a knockout artist himself. The Virgin Islands native has intriguing power but has struggled when stepping up in competition, most notably suffering a fifth-round TKO loss to Andy Lee in a bout he had been winning.

Charlo recently parted ways with longtime trainer Ronnie Shields in Houston to open his own gym in Dallas. His last outing, a sixth-round stoppage of Joachim Alcine, was his first fight under the guidance of new cornerman Derrick James. The victory ended a streak of four straight decision victories for Charlo, as he landed crisp punching combinations, hard right hands over the top and powerful left hooks against Alcine. While it was an encouraging sign for Charlo, Alcine is on the downside of his career, so it is more reasonable to expect Charlo to return to his slick boxing ways here.

That would be especially prudent in this matchup because Jackson will have a two-inch reach advantage to go with his fight-ending power. Jackson is a skilled enough technical boxer to make things interesting, as he proved in a decision loss to Willie Nelson in 2012, but his ability to land the big punch is his best chance to pull the upset.

Charlo is adept at slipping and dodging punches, changing levels and utilizing his quick feet to control the range and avoid damage. He is accurate with quick hands that allow him to beat his opponent to the punch in exchanges, and he often prefers to fight on the outside behind his jab. His decision win against Vanes Martirosyan, while not enthralling, showcased both his ability to use his lead hand as well as his ability to his footwork to avoid his foe’s most dangerous blows.

Footwork and movement will be critical here since Charlo is not the longer fighter. Occasionally Charlo can get overconfident and take punches he shouldn’t, but against a hard hitter like Jackson he must avoid such lapses.

The Pick: Charlo is likely far too capable a technician for Jackson, but Charlo’s lack of finishing ability means that Jackson will always have the proverbial puncher’s chance for as long as he is in the fight. Charlo by unanimous decision.