Pedraza vs. Cherry: BoxingScene.com Staff Predictions

By Jake Donovan

Whenever Adrien Broner fights in his hometown, he IS the show. Even in not talking to the media, all eyes have been on the fighting pride of Cincinnati ahead of his showdown with Khabib Allakhverdiev at U.S. Bank Arena.

That doesn't mean everyone else on the show has to bow down and settle for second place. With that mindset, Jose Pedraza and Edner Cherry have every intention of making sure fans remember who they are at the end of their super featherweight title fight.

Their scheduled 12-round affair serves as the opening leg of a Showtime-televised doubleheader, pitting a recently crowned titlist versus a determined veteran fighting as if he has nothing to lose.

Pedraza (20-0, 12KOs) has been stuck with a backseat view essentially from the moment he turned pro in 2011. A member of the 2008 Puerto Rico Olympic boxing team, the unbeaten boxer from Cidra, P.R. began his career as a fighter to watch, but saw his name mentioned a little bit less upon the pro debut of fellow Boricua boxer Felix Verdejo in 2012.

Eventually the boxing public was forced to stand up and take notice of his career. A 12-round whitewash of Michael Farenas last December thrust Pedraza into the title picture, where he was equally as dominant in a 12-round win over Andrey Klimov in June.

The latter win - which came on the Showtime-televised undercard of Alabama's Deontay Wilder in the first defense of his heavyweight title in his home state of Alabama - netted Pedraza a vacant super featherweight title. More so, it provided the opportunity to put his entire arsenal on display.

He will need to rely on every trick in the book versus a crafty fighter like Cherry (34-6-2, 19KOs) who insists he is reborn.

The proof comes in an 11-fight unbeaten streak spanning seven years since his last loss. Cherry knew he was a fish out of water in challenging then-unbeaten 140 lb. champ Timothy Bradley Jr.. but he knew he'd regret not taking the opportunity, and with that assuming the risk that came with his 12-round points loss.

Slowly, Cherry has eased back into his natural weight class at 130 lbs. The past two years of his career have been spent under the watchful eye of boxing masterminds Dan Birmingham and Chris Getty, the team responsible for guiding the likes of Winky Wright, Jeff Lacy, Chad Dawson and most recently Keith Thurman to world titles.

The 33-year old Florida-based Bahamian is confident his name will be next on that list. Included among his wins since joining the St. Pete Boxing Club are knockouts over Vicente Escobedo, Osumanu Akaba and most recently versus one-time rising prospect Luis Cruz in July.

Can the veteran boxer keep the momentum rolling and land a career-defining win? Or will youth be served, with the unbeaten champ continuing his climb towards divisional supremacy?

Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the action will go down tonight in Cincinnati.

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: JOSE PEDRAZA vs. EDNER CHERRY

Ryan Burton (Pedraza TKO9): Cherry has been very good since moving down to 135 and 130 but I think that this will be The Sniper's coming out party and he will score a spectacular knockout.

Jake Donovan (Pedraza Dec.): I try my hardest to never pick against any fighter trained by Dan Birmingham. Cherry will provide the stiffest test of Pedraza's career, but with the rising star from Puerto Rico prevailing in the end.

Michael Gibbons (Pedraza UD): Cherry has always struggled when he goes in with the next level guys. Pedraza is a next level guy. This should be a 117-111 or 118-110 type fight.

Takahiro Onaga (Pedraza Unan. Dec): Pedraza looks like the #3 fighter at 130lbs and will school Cherry to continue his rise.

Cliff Rold (Pedraza Dec.): It's nice to see the always engaging Cherry get a shot but he's outclassed here as Pedraza will show his continuing improvement.

Victor Salazar (Pedraza Unan. Dec.): Cherry is a tough and rugged as they come and if Pedraza gets through him, it proves he is legit. It is a fight that Cherry will try to drag out in a war but a fight Pedraza can win on the outside using his range and length. If it gets on the inside, look out.

Reynaldo Sanchez (Pedraza Dec.): Very good fight. Pedraza will have the best challenge of his career when he faces Cherry.

Alexey Sukachev (Pedraza UD): Cherry is very tough, and he is also bigger than Pedraza but the latter impressed me much with his skills against Andrey Klimov, whom he has dominated even more so than Terence Crawford.

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