Miguel Marriaga vs Mark John Yap Odds & Picks
- Miguel Marriaga vs Mark John Yap goes Thursday, July 16th, at 8:00 PM ET
- Does Marriaga make it five straight or does Yap get back to the win column in a big way?
- Check out the main card odds and predictions below
Miguel Marriaga and Mark John Yap collide in the latest installment of Top Rank’s Summer Series. Marriaga vs Yap emanates from The Bubble inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday (July 16th) starting at 8:00 PM ET. This featherweight bout is scheduled for ten rounds.
The outcome on Thursday can do a lot to determine the division’s hierarchy for the calendar year. Marriaga was targeted for a fight with Shakur Stevenson prior to all of the COVID-19 event cancellations. This underscores that some sort of big-money fight and a title opportunity loom in his near future, if he can keep his focus and get the job done over Yap on Thursday night.
Marriaga vs Yap Odds
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Miguel Marriaga | -3335 |
| Mark John Yap | +850 |
| Fighter | Odds |
| Felix Verdejo | -455 |
| Will Madera | +290 |
Odds as of July 14.
Mark John Yap’s Resume
Fortune has not exactly been smiling upon Mark John Yap in recent times. He has lost three of his last four fights with back to back defeats heading into this Marriaga bout.
Yap carved out his career on the Japanese circuit. He won and defended the OPBF bantamweight title multiple times. He is largely a journeyman-caliber fighter who would go on winning streaks but has also suffered multiple losing streaks in his career, as well.
Yap’s last two fights were in Las Vegas, as well. Perhaps the third time will be the charm.
Marriaga’s 2020 season
Marriaga fell short in back-to-back bids for the WBO featherweight and super featherweight titles. He endured a winless 2017 campaign where he was bested by Oscar Valdez and Vasyl Lomachenko. After that pair of losses, he embarked on a four-fight win streak with a one-hundred percent KO rate.
His last outing was a stoppage win over Alfredo Mejia Vargas in December of last year, a highlight that was circulating on social media a fair bit after it took place.
Miguel Marriaga delivered the KO of the weekend with this wicked body punch from Saturday’s @TRboxing show pic.twitter.com/bFsBNJaIPP
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) December 9, 2019
The levels that these two have operated on have been a great deal different. Though he has fallen short in prior world-title bids, Marriaga seems to be coming into his own, seemingly poised to actualize his full potential on a world scale.
Even on a puncher’s-chance level, Yap doesn’t really have the knockout resume to inspire confidence. His 50-percent KO rate doesn’t make me buy into Yap catching Marriaga on the button and putting his lights out.
Marriaga vs Yap Tale of the Tape
| 29-3 | Record | 30-15 |
| 25 | Knockouts | 15 |
| 5’8 | Height | 5’6 |
| 67″ | Reach | 70″ |
| Eduardo Montoya, Guy Robb, Guillermo Avila | Significant Wins | Takafumi Nakajima, Seizo Kono, Kentaro Masuda |
| Orthodox | Stance | Orthodox |
Unfortunately, this is not a Rocky movie and the journeyman fighter all too often takes the fall against the surging contender. Yap is quite a durable pugilist who has only been stopped twice across fifteen career defeats. That being said, I see Marriaga adding a third stoppage loss to Yap’s record inside of six rounds.
Pick: Miguel Marriaga (-3335)
Main Card Picks for Marriaga vs Yap
- Felix Verdejo vs Will Madera: A lot of eyes are on Verdejo who has been groomed by promotional figurehead Bob Arum for great success under the Top Rank banner. Though Madera has never tasted defeat as a pro, I think that will change later this week. I see Verdejo getting it done via unanimous decision. Pick: Felix Verdejo (-455)
A part-time writer and full-time broadcaster, Dylan has hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, and covered some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage.
