Saturday April 12th at Atlantic City, N.J. (HBO): Miguel Cotto vs. Alfonso Gomez, 12 rounds, for Cotto’s WBA welterweight title.

Many will remember Alfonso Gomez from the first and ultimately the best season of ESPN’s “The Contender” where he was a fan favorite and fierce competitor.  Since his appearance Gomez has been making a name for himself and at 18-3-2 with 8 KO’s hes has worked his way up the ladder to challenge Cotto 31-0 with 25 KO’s for the WCB Welterweight Title.  Its not going to be any picnic for Gomez going up against a more experienced and most would say harder hitting Cotto.  Zab Judah and Shane Mosley found out the hard way that Cotto is not to be underestimated after convincing whoopings that he put on both of them in his last 2 fights.  Regardless Gomez has the heart to make it a great fight and I doubt he will let us down.  Heres the current moneyline odds on the fight:

Miguel Cotto -1225 (risk $1225 to win $100)
Alfonso Gomez +700 (risk $100 to win $700)

Total Rounds over 9.5 +135 (risk $100 to win $135)
Total Rounds under 9.5 -175 (risk $175 to win $100)   

My Pick:  In this case its obviously foolish to take the favorite, no one is going to bet on a line that high, especially in boxing where a lucky kidney punch can end it before it gets going.  The play is Gomez +700 but not for your usual $100 bet, more like $50.  I also like the Over 9.5 rounds +135, I know Cotto hits hard but Gomez is kinda like Arturo Gatti in that you just can’t put him down, he takes a beating real good but won’t be knocked out. By the way Gomez destroyed Gatti last year and actually did knock him out so the previous statement may be a little vexing…

Click here for Live Boxing Lines

Not a GamblersPalace.com member yet?  Click here for a FREE membership