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Pemberton is a tall, lanky super middleweight that can crack, especially with his right hand. Scott does not mess around. He will come forward and try to take your head off from the very beginning. With that style, he was made for TV. Pemberton has been around for a long time but did not get mainstream attention until after his two classic wars with Omar Sheika on Friday Night Fights. After back and forth action and knockdowns on both sides, Pemberton came away with two victories, establishing him as a top contender. "The Sandman" was on a roll heading into 2005 and finally secured the World Title shot that had eluded him his entire career. IBF Champion Jeff Lacy proved to be too strong, stopping Scott in the 2nd round.
After that fight, Pemberton announced his retirement, only to sign to fight Manfredo weeks later. There is no shame in losing to a young, strong brawler like Lacy. This may be Scott's last fight, win or lose. Pemberton will attempt to go out on top against an up and coming prospect on national TV. Personally, I think that he has enough to win. Manfredo is a good boxer, but lacks the overwhelming punching power to take advantage of Pemberton's biggest weakness, his chin. Scott has been through many wars and knows what to do when things are not going his way. Manfredo is in for a long night against a determined old man with a huge heart.
Manfredo (24-3, 10 KOs), on the other hand, is younger and quicker but he has nowhere near the power of Pemberton, nor has he faced down the same level of competition. Manfredo was undefeated as a junior middleweight but seemed to struggle when he moved from 154 pounds to 160 so the jump up to 168 could be more than he can cope with.
Loser in three of his last six fights, including two losses to Sergio Mora in the finals of ''The Contender" series last year and then again in a rematch in Los Angeles, Manfredo has questions to answer, and the roughhousing Pemberton intends to ask them.
Manfredo believes he has too much speed and youth for Pemberton plus the added advantage of having one of boxing's best trainers, Freddie Roach, in his corner. But as Omar Sheika learned, none of that matters if Pemberton walks you down and lands the heavy right hand that made him a top 10 contender for the past several years.
''How can he compete with me?" Pemberton asked last week, pointing out that Manfredo was undefeated at 154 pounds but split six fights at 160 and now is moving up another 8 pounds. ''He thinks he can beat me at 168? I'm not going to lose."
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