Weekend Picks (5/8 - 5/9)

2009: +8.81 units

Craig McEwan vs. Brian Vera
Vera (+285) (Sportsbook)
1 unit

This is great value on Vera considering that McEwan is untested, and Vera will apply the type of pressure that McEwan's never dealt with before.  Vera withstood an early boxing display from another highly-touted Brit, Andy Lee, before wearing down Lee for the upset KO finish.  Plus, Lee arguably presented a greater challenge, as Lee is overall more physically talented than McEwan.  On the other hand, McEwan has the advantage of being trained by the great Freddie Roach, so we know that he'll have a good fight plan.  Still, as my Dad likes to say, "You can't turn chicken sh*t into chicken salad." That's not to say that McEwan is crap, but the point is that a trainer can only take a fighter so far (and we know that Roach has been mostly concentrating on Pacquiao in the weeks leading up to this fight).  We don't know how McEwan's going to deal with adversity because he's never fought anyone of Vera's caliber, so tabbing McEwan as a -350 fave seems like a bit of an overshoot.  Also, the venue's in Vera's favor, as he was born in Fort Worth.  Finally, Vera's only been beaten by physically stronger fighters (Codrington and Kirkland), while McEwan's more of a boxer.  Roach doesn't want McEwan to get into a firefight with Vera, but Vera has a way of forcing his opponent to trade with him.  I'm expecting Vera to begin to impose his will at around the halfway mark, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him stop a worn-down McEwan before the final bell sounds.

Wager type : Straight Bet 

  Sport      : Boxing Fighting   (Middleweight 10 rounds - Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas - ESPN2)
  Selection  : Fight won't go distance  5/8/2009 10:45 PM - (EST) 
               Money Line -120 for Game    
  Amount     : Risking 120.00   To Win 100.00  USD 

Should be a good one throwback.  Just checked into my hotel in time for the main event.  Good thoughts here.   Agree completely that McEwan is the smarter fighter.  Looking forward to seeing a classic brains vs. brawn match up. 

Got a chance to see Broner in person on the Valero - Pitalua undercard.  He looks very promising but got a stern test tonight.  Looks like he's being handled very well by his team and Golden Boy. 

Hey cee.  GL to you this weekend my man.  Yeah, Vera opened at +300 over at Sportsbook.com.  Should have hit that right away.  Oh well - close enough. 

i was on the under for vera....its cool.....both guys lost there legs after 5.......if vera could throw a straight punch and mcewen could punch then it was money.....

McEwan looked better then I thought he would last night, I see some potential there, but he really needs to tighten up his defense.  I think a McEwan-Andy Lee fight would be a great ESPN main event.