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BetUS sports betting action on Saturday, when HBO televises a 12-round WBO super bantamweight title fight between power-punching champion Daniel Ponce De Leon of Mexico and Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez. It is part of the undercard of the Kelly Pavlik-Gary Lockett middleweight title fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

BetUS boxing betting odds:

WBO Super Bantamweight (122-pound) title
June 7 -- Atlantic City, NJ

DANIEL PONCE DE LEON -185
JUAN MANUEL LOPEZ +145

Over 10.5 Rounds -135
Under 10.5 Rounds -105

For betting purposes, let's size up the contestants:

PONCE DE LEON (34-1, 30 KO's), the -185 favorite in the BetUS boxing betting odds, is one of those fighters with early power. Turning pro in March of 2001 with a first-round knockout, he has knocked out ten of his opponents in the opening stanza, including two of them in title defenses. Ponce De Leon won something called the "WBC World Youth Bantamweight title" in August 2002 with a third-round TKO of Idelfonso Martinez. That happened to be just one of 21 straight knockouts he had to open his career. Ponce De Leon suffered his only career loss in February 2005 when he lost a decision to Celestino Caballero. But three fights later he won the WBO title with a 12-round decision over Sod Looknongyangtoy, who he also defended against with a one-round KO. Ponce De Leon beat Gerry Penalosa (the current WBO bantamweight champ) in a fight that went the distance last March, and in August scored what was probably his most impressive win when he knocked out Rey Bautista, who came into the fight with a 23-0 record, in the first round. In his last fight, Ponce De Leon made his sixth successful defense with a decision over Eduardo Escobedo.

LOPEZ (21-0, 19 KO's), the +145 underdog at BetUS, turned pro in January 2005 and has kept rather busy ever since. He fought more experienced fighters very early in his career; an example was a third-round TKO of Luis Bolano, a veteran of 45 fights, in November '05. He won the WBO Latino title at 122 pounds June of last year with a first-round TKO of Giovanni Andrade. He's made three defenses of that crown, the most recent being a third-round stoppage of Jonathan Oquendo on February 23.

Both of these fighters appeared in the Olympics - Ponce De Leon for Mexico and Lopez for Puerto Rico. These are two southpaws opposing each other, though their respective approaches are different. Lopez has been highly touted as a prospect, but lacks experience at the world-class level. He holds a height advantage over Ponce De Leon, and is known as the better boxer. What he is going to try to do is use those boxing skills to keep his distance but take measured shots that may well have a chance of succeeding, if he can land them with enough extension. No one should underestimate his power, as he has stopped his last nine opponents and 19 out of 21 overall, but it is hard to gauge what he can do unless he is in there with someone of championship caliber. Ponce De Leon encountered another young star on the way up when he fought Rey Bautista, who came into their August fight last year with a lot of pomp and circumstance, but went out less than three minutes later. Sometimes taking that big step up is very difficult. I have seen Lopez in one of his better results, against a non-combative Andrade, and I was somewhat less than impressed. he's gone eight rounds or more just twice in his career. And Ponce De Leon might well have the better "equalizer" in his left hand.

I will go with experience and (maybe) more punching power here, and take Ponce De Leon, the -185 favorite in the BetUS boxing betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: PONCE DE LEON TO WIN (-185) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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