Predictions: O’Shaquie Foster vs Abraham Nova

We do NOT have Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk predictions this week! That’s a shame, but we do still have a couple of main events, both on Friday night, that we’re going to weigh in on.

The main focus is on O’Shaquie Foster defending his WBC super featherweight title against Abraham Nova in a Top Rank main event on ESPN and ESPN+.

Can Foster successfully defend the belt for a second time since winning it a year ago, or will Nova claim his first world title in an upset?

Who wins Foster vs Nova?

Scott Christ (2-0)

I promised myself I would go with my head over gut feelings, whims, and my love of betting on the underdog this year.

I lasted two cycles of picks. Nova UD-12

Wil Esco (2-0)

I think O’Shaquie Foster has really proven his quality as a boxer over his last few fights, enough so that I believe he’s the clear and obvious favorite to beat Abraham Nova. Nova was clipped by Robeisy Ramirez, also a very talented boxer, fairly recently, and despite Foster not being a southpaw, I expect Nova to run into a lot of the same issues in this fight.

Should Foster be able to get off to a fast start and make a concerted effort to go to the body, I think he’ll have a shot to score a late round stoppage. I think it’s more likely, however, that he widely outpoints Nova on the cards. Foster UD-12

John Hansen (2-0)

O’Shaquie Foster was forced, appropriately, to fight a style he didn’t like and that didn’t favor him against Rocky Hernandez. He still rallied and finished Hernandez off to secure the win.

This time, Foster is the house fighter and the A side of the event, he’s not fighting in hostile territory, and he’s likely to get friendly refereeing that won’t put him out of his comfort zone. And, with no disrespect intended to Abraham Nova or his ever-present Carnival float mascot… Nova is the weakest opposition Foster’s faced in almost two full years.

Foster should pile up rounds on his way to a wide decision in a much less crowd-pleasing fight than we got his last time out. Foster UD-12

Patrick Stumberg (1-1)

It would be deeply unkind of me to write off Nova for losing to Robeisy Ramirez or underwhelming against Adam Lopez; those aren’t particularly uncommon fates even among the upper tiers of their respective weight classes. I just don’t see that spark in him. In the politest possible sense of the phrase, he’s not special; good power, good technique, respectable speed, but nothing to carry him into the realm of the truly elite.

Though Foster doesn’t exactly leap off the page himself outside of that heroic effort against Hernandez, his fundamentals are rock-solid and nothing in Nova’s arsenal is extraordinary enough to overpower them. Nova’s best chance is to try and recreate Hernandez’s pressure-heavy approach without that unfortunate hiccup, but he’s not that sort of slugger and I don’t see him turning himself into one. Expect Foster to win a 116-112, 117-111 sort of fight with steady footwork, constant jabs, and clean counters. Foster UD-12